This past weekend saw the best soccer league in the world play Matchday 7 of 38 in their long season. The English Premier League is a soccer league in England consisting of the best 20 soccer teams in the country for that year. Each team plays every other team twice, both home and away, and the main goal of the season is to survive relegation. At the end of every season in May, the bottom three teams in the league table get relegated to the second division of England, while the best three teams in the second division get promoted to the PL, creating a hierarchy. Along with surviving relegation, every team pushes for the top seven spots in the league, with first place securing the prestigious trophy and a Champions League spot in the following season, second, third, and fourth place joining the winners in the Champions League, fifth and sixth place getting in the Europa League, and seventh place getting European soccer in the form of the new Europa Conference League. With all of this at stake, each matchday is intense and filled with excitement, just like we saw this past weekend in Matchday 7.
The first match of this weekend was Crystal Palace v Liverpool in the 7:30 am EST window, with the two teams off to very different starts to this new season. Crystal Palace are known for being mediocre, and they have started very slowly this season with 0 wins from their first 6 matches. Liverpool, on the other hand, have absorbed their new coach’s style impressively and have 5 wins from 6 games going into this match. Despite being a home game for Crystal Palace, Liverpool walked away with the 3 points, winning 1-0 thanks to a 9th minute goal from Portuguese international Diogo Jota.
After this opening match came the 10 am EST window, with half of the league kicking off at this time. This time slot saw goals left and right and made it hard to look away from the scoreboard. First, title contenders Arsenal hosted newly promoted Southampton. A surprising goal put Southampton up 1-0 early in the second half, but it was followed by three goals from Arsenal, propelling them to a 3-1 victory and helping their title push. Brentford and Wolves clashed in a mid-table battle that turned out to be very high-scoring. Eight goals were scored by eight different players in this game from the 2nd minute to the 93rd, with Brentford emerging victorious 5-3 and continuing their solid start to this campaign. 4-time defending champions Manchester City entered their fixture undefeated going up against a decent Fulham side. Fulham put up a good fight, but the champions came away with the win, 3-2, thanks to two goals from Croatian Mateo Kovacic.
Another newly promoted team, Ipswich Town, visited the famous London Stadium to take on West Ham. Both teams scored early, but West Ham settled in nicely, winning 4-1 in nice bounce back fashion. The fifth and final match of the busy 10 am EST window involved the third promoted team, Leicester City, taking on Bournemouth. Both teams have been subpar to start the year, and one goal from Facundo Buonanotte was all it took as Leicester secured the 3 points. The last match on Saturday kicked off at 12:30 pm EST and saw a struggling Everton side play host to a strong Newcastle team. The game was back and forth and even had a missed penalty by Newcastle, but in the end the score remained 0-0 once the final whistle blew.
Sunday had just three games: two at 9 am EST and one at 11:30 am EST. First was one of the league’s most exciting and promising teams, Aston Villa, taking on the famous Manchester United. Manchester United have been a laughing stock lately as they have not been winning as much as they should, but they held firm and picked up an impressive point on the road, tying 0-0. Also kicking off at this time was Chelsea v Nottingham Forest. Chelsea are on the rise and are one of the most exciting teams to watch right now, winning five in a row in all competitions under their new coach. Nottingham Forest are a good, young team, however, and were up for the challenge on Sunday as they stood strong, even when they got a red card in the second half, to tie this game 1-1. The last match of Matchday 7 was Brighton v Tottenham: a battle of two, top 10 teams. Tottenham jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half, but Brighton stormed back in emphatic fashion in the second half and won the game 3-2 after Danny Welbeck scored the game-winner in the 66th minute.
Matchday 7 brought a little bit of everything for us viewers. From 8 goals in one game to a 2-0 comeback, the 10 matches played were exciting, intense, and must watch TV. It gives a glimpse into European soccer and the passion that each match is played with, and it only creates excitement for the long season ahead.
