Premier League weekend review: What we learned

Following a weekend of Premier League drama, Alex Keble looks at the key talking points and tactical lessons including: 

- Brentford target Chelsea's weakest areas
- Burnley play a dangerous game in defeat to Bournemouth 
- Emery's half-time switch helps Villa overcome Luton
- Unwanted record a real possibility for Sheff Utd
- Brighton's surprising struggles continue

Brentford’s system perfectly targets Chelsea flaws

Just when Chelsea looked to have turned a corner, a 2-0 home defeat to Brentford has set them back again.

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As with earlier struggles under Mauricio Pochettino, the problem wasn’t creating chances, but failing to put them away.

Chelsea drew a blank off an Expected Goals (xG) of 1.9, and only two of their 17 shots were on target.

Nevertheless Brentford deserve the plaudits for restricting Chelsea, particularly in the second half, when Thomas Frank’s slight tweak successfully shut down the spaces in which Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer had been dominating.

Throughout the first 45, Chelsea’s two most creative players were popping up between the lines and carving out opportunities but after the break, Frank made sure his strikers Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa dropped deeper.

Mbeumo's goal v Chelsea

They successfully squeezed the pockets of space, forcing Chelsea into tame passing from side to side.

At the other end, Brentford successfully targeted the hosts’ weakest area of the field, taking advantage of some poor tracking from Raheem Sterling to expose Marc Cucurella.

Chelsea were warned when Vitaly Janelt’s shot forced a sharp save from Robert Sanchez after an attack down Cucurella’s side.

A similar move ended with Mbeumo clipping the ball to the back post for Ethan Pinnock’s opening goal.

Chelsea have now lost eight Premier League matches at Stamford Bridge in 2023, their most in a calendar year since 1986, and have failed to score in three of their last four at home.

Bournemouth victorious thanks to typical Burnley errors

AFC Bournemouth versus Burnley was precisely the match we had expected to see, full of high turnovers, sloppy giveaways in dangerous areas, and attack-minded pressing undermined by the other team.

Ultimately Burnley face the brunt of the criticism after conceding twice from unforced mistakes that characterised the risks of Vincent Kompany’s tactical set-up.

First Charlie Taylor was tackled by Antoine Semenyo, who drove forward to equalise, and then Vitinho passed the ball straight to Philip – who chipped the goalkeeper from 30 yards.

James Trafford perhaps should have done better with the shot, but the fact that the goalkeeper was so far off his line was indicative of the Burnley methodology - Kompany wants his 'keeper involved in their possession football no matter the dangers it poses.

Philip's goal v Burnley

And that danger seems to be growing each week. The more matches that are played, the more data opponents will have to go on when they devise plans to defeat Burnley, which in turn will make Kompany’s style all the more difficult to maintain.

Every team will press Burnley hard in the hope of creating similar turnovers in dangerous areas. Most, on this evidence, will be successful.

It leaves the Clarets in trouble. They have only beaten Luton Town this season and have dropped to 19th after losing eight of their opening 10 matches for the first time since 1904/05.

However, fortunately their next three home fixtures in the Premier League are against Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Sheffield United – who have one win between them from their last 18 matches combined.

If Burnley cannot get significant points from these matches, their stay in the Premier League is in serious danger of not being extended.

Emery finds the solution in McGinn switch

For a long time at Villa Park, the hosts were struggling to find their usual fluency and despite leading 1-0 at the break, Unai Emery is likely to have been frustrated by what he saw.

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The fault, unusually, was with the manager. Emery’s formation for the match – Boubacar Kamara dropping into a back three; John McGinn and Moussa Diaby forming the box in midfield - had restricted Aston Villa.

Luton’s compact central midfield shut down their opposite numbers, as the image below shows.

The most likely explanation is that Emery thought Villa could rotate the ball around the outside of Luton’s defensive shell and then dominate the wide areas through Matty Cash and Lucas Digne.

Instead, Villa were slowed down and left a little frustrated, until Emery’s half-time switch unlocked the match.

Nicolo Zaniolo was substituted for Leon Bailey; McGinn was moved wide left; and Kamara was slotted back into his favoured central midfield position.

Suddenly Villa were in a pattern that allowed for easy ball progression through the thirds, and within moments of the restart Villa scored a goal built through a McGinn-Digne combination that was entirely absent in the first half.

McGinn and Digne combine for Diaby's goal

From then on, the result was inevitable, and indeed Villa went on to earn a 20th Premier League victory of the calendar year, their most since winning 21 in 1998, a record they will surely surpass in the next two months.

Better still for Villa fans, they moved five points clear of sixth-placed Newcastle United, putting daylight between themselves and their rivals in the hunt for the UEFA Champions League places.

Next up is Nottingham Forest away and then Fulham at home. By the time Villa face Tottenham Hotspur at the end of November, they could realistically be looking to beat Spurs and go top of the league.

Sheff Utd make record-breaking Premier League start

Nobody expects promoted sides to pick up points at Emirates Stadium, but the manner of Sheff Utd's second-half collapse – conceding four goals – is a cause for concern.

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They cannot let that journey become a microcosm of their season at large, because, with only one point from their first 10 matches, what happens to Sheff Utd from hereon in is about mentality.

If heads drop, if they fall away mentally as they did on Saturday, then Derby County’s record low of 11 points in 2007/08 is under threat.

The Blades’ record of nine defeats and one draw, with a -22 goal difference, is officially the worst start to a Premier League season.

Derby already had six points after 10 matches in 2007, evidence that record-breaking poor campaigns tend to get worse as the season wears on and players lose the capacity to fight.

Even worse for Sheff Utd, their form is entirely reflective of their performances. There is no bad luck here. Paul Heckingbottom’s side have the lowest xG (7.5) and the highest xG against (23.5).

Their next two home matches are against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bournemouth, which is almost as straightforward as they come at this level. Lose both and it is difficult to see a way out before even winter has arrived.

Brighton’s surprise winless run continues

Just a few weeks ago pundits were anticipating another brilliant season for Brighton & Hove Albion and Roberto De Zerbi, but seemingly out of nowhere – and under the radar – their form has dropped off through October.

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Brighton are on a four-match winless run in the Premier League, which inevitably flips the story and reshapes analysis.

Where once De Zerbi’s squad rotation policy was lauded as the secret to their freshness, now we begin to question whether a more settled XI would be beneficial.

It is too early to jump to conclusions, of course, and indeed it has been a tough set of matches.

Brighton were stunned 6-1 by Villa but in fact were quite competitive in that encounter, while a 2-2 draw with Liverpool and narrow 2-1 defeat to Manchester City are by no means bad results.

The 1-1 draw with Fulham on Sunday, however, cannot be so easily batted away.

Not for the first time this season, De Zerbi’s football was tamed by an opponent who sat deep and refused to be baited into pressing. Fulham, whose 30 per cent possession was the same as Luton managed at Brighton on the opening weekend, were very conservative.

The image below is a typical example of their hunched defensive shape.

Brighton will be facing this kind of formation more and more as the element of surprise, and their underdog status, diminishes. There is a healthy respect for just how good Brighton have become, which leads to deeper defences and a fresh problem for De Zerbi.

Their next three matches are Everton (A), Sheff Utd (H), and Forest (A). There is no doubt these clubs' managers, Sean Dyche, Heckingbottom, and Steve Cooper, will mimic Fulham’s approach, gifting Brighton possession and inviting them on.

It is a crucial run for Brighton, who must not allow their winless run to get under their skin – and who must find a way to unlock those stubborn defensive blockades.