With 30 goals and three red cards across 10 Premier League games, there was an appropriate mathematical theme to gameweek three of the 2023-24 season, where Manchester City were the only team to stay perfect with a 2-1 victory at Sheffield United.
Arsenal dropped points for the first time this season in bitterly disappointing fashion as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Fulham, but Manchester United came from two goals down to put Nottingham Forest to the sword 3-2.
The 10 men of Liverpool also defied the odds to sink Newcastle United 2-1, while Tottenham Hotspur strolled past Bournemouth by two goals to nil on the South Coast.
Friday's action saw Chelsea put three goals past Luton Town for their first competitive win under Mauricio Pochettino, but Brighton & Hove Albion were unexpectedly hammered 3-1 by West Ham United.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa's goal-happy crop were on song in a 3-1 win over Burnley, Everton suffered their worst-ever start to a Premier League season with a 1-0 loss at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Crystal Palace rescued a point away to Brentford in a 1-1 draw.
Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week for the latest round of fixtures.
DEFENCE
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Special mentions must go to all of Alphonse Areola, Bernd Leno and Wes Foderingham in between the posts, but Wolves number one Jose Sa was simply impenetrable during his side's slender success over Everton, coming up with seven stops - including a save-of-the-season contender from Abdoulaye Doucoure's header, somehow tipping the ball over the bar while falling into the goal - as well as five high claims.
While Aston Villa's attacking stars continue to take most of the plaudits under Unai Emery, right-back Matty Cash demonstrated his proficiency in front of goal with an unlikely brace in their success over Burnley, crashing home at the back post before leaving James Trafford rooted to the spot with a crisp first-time finish - some way to mark his 100th game in Villa colours.
Speaking of goalscoring defenders, Joachim Andersen continued his eye-catching start to the campaign with Crystal Palace by coming up with the Eagles' deserved equaliser against Brentford - squeezing the ball under Mark Flekken and over the line from a tight angle - while he also created a whopping five chances and won all four of his ground duels in a dominant all-around display.
Andersen was not the only London-based defender to come up with the goods in gameweek three, as Tottenham new boy Destiny Udogie demonstrated why the Lilywhites faithful are so excited about his potential, cutting back for Dejan Kulusevski and posting a 92% passing success rate in the win over Bournemouth, and Spurs fans breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that his late substitution was just precautionary.
MIDFIELD
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A first-touch masterclass from Jarrod Bowen saw the West Ham attacker unexpectedly outshine Brighton's effervescent wingers at the Amex this weekend, as the Englishman brought the ball down exquisitely before poking home into the far corner, while another delightful touch preceded his long ball to Michail Antonio for a deserved assist too.
Over at Bramall Lane, Sheffield United were moments away from a praiseworthy draw against treble winners Man City, only for the indomitable Rodri to come up with yet another contribution of paramount importance - sending a ferocious half-volley into the top corner to deny the Blades a point - while he also completed 98% of his passes and won both of his aerial duels in a typically assured performance.
Man United were also indebted to their own midfield maestro for their spectacular comeback success over Nottingham Forest, as Bruno Fernandes put in a true captain's performance, heading the ball across goal for Casemiro to strike before completing the turnaround with an unstoppable low penalty past Matt Turner.
One of Fernandes's compatriots was the hero for the visitors to the Emirates too, as 10-man Fulham were seemingly down and out against Arsenal, but the returning Joao Palhinha picked out the far corner with a delicate half-volley to steal a slice of the spoils for the Cottagers, while his six tackles, two interceptions and five clearances did not go unnoticed either.
While Arsenal were left to rue what could have been, there was success in the capital for Chelsea, as Raheem Sterling ran the show and then some against Luton. From weaving in and out of tackles before breaking the deadlock, a calm first-time strike and deflected cross for Nicolas Jackson, the 28-year-old enjoyed arguably one of his best displays in Chelsea blue yet.
ATTACK
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Bowen is not the only West Ham attacker to waltz his way into our Team of the Week, as Michail Antonio will be giving Adam Webster nightmares for weeks to come. The 33-year-old firstly bullied the Brighton defender out of the way and played a fortunate pass for James Ward-Prowse to finish, before holding up the ball and turning away from a beleaguered Webster to pick out the bottom corner - his Amex tally could have increased had he not sliced a gilt-edged chance for a second too.
However, one man who did end the weekend with a brace to his name was Liverpool's super sub Darwin Nunez, as the 10-man Reds snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Newcastle thanks to two near-identical finishes from the Uruguayan, who sent a pair of crisp strikes across Nick Pope's goal into the bottom corner and may have belatedly played his way into a first Premier League start of the season next weekend.
SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK
Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (3-5-2): Sa; Cash, Andersen, Udogie; Bowen, Rodri, Fernandes, Palhinha, Sterling; Antonio, Nunez
Ben Knapton
