The 2022/2023 Premier League season is now into its eighth game week, and the entertainment continues to be relentless and thoroughly enjoyable.

As a result, we will be breaking down each round of fixtures by picking out 3 of the biggest talking points, covering the biggest results, goals and general talking points from the week. We then will round off by picking our player of the week and game of the week based on what we saw in that round of games.

Let us know over on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog) if you have seen anything in a game that you think we should be talking about, or have anything to share from what you’ve seen at a game that week. Any funny stories, tactical analysis or general comments will be featured.

Postponed (Again)

Although this matchday signalled the return of football in England following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the plans for funeral processions and also mourners paying their respects in the capital, led to policing concerns which caused the postponement of Manchester United vs Leeds United, Brighton vs Crystal Palace and Chelsea vs Liverpool. 3 intriguing encounters postponed which we will be looking forward to once rescheduled.

Don’t Forget About Son

Tottenham may well be up there this season under Conte, as the serial trophy winner has gotten his side up and running this season with 17 points from 7 games, matching the impressive Manchester City, however they arguably have gone under the radar despite this. This result of 6-2 over struggling Leicester may just signal their intent to challenge and put up a serious fight for Spurs silverware.

Although they fell behind in the first few minutes to a Leicester penalty, they quickly levelled through Harry Kane, and then proceeded to run riot on the struggling Foxes. Son Heung-Min netted a 13 minute hattrick between the 73rd and 86th minute as he ends his goal drought and surely makes him a starter once again after Conte had dropped the out of form attacker.

We aren’t yet looking at Spurs for the title, as they have still shown they are prone to a slip-up, and although Conte is a hard taskmaster who has a knack of winning trophies, I think their squad will definitely begin to feel the stretch of European football and domestic cups as the season opens up.

League Leaders

Both Manchester City and Arsenal have started this season off incredibly well, and although both have had occasional slip-ups, already we are beginning to see the forming of a potential title race. Almost matching each other week by week, they are remaining in touching distance, and with the unlikely leaders Arsenal getting the advantage, we have a dominant City side with a goal machine in Haaland playing the role of chasers.

This week saw both sides match each others’ result, with City cruising past 10-man Wolves 3-0 and Arsenal impressed against Brentford 3-0 also. This leaves us with the 2 leading sides extending their lead with other possible challengers postponed again this gameweek.

While most expect Arsenal to eventually fall aside as City claim another title in their Guardiola reign, they won’t be going down without a fight, as, aside from the loss to Manchester United, they have a perfect record. Even with another 30 games left to go, they seem determined and as we saw from Klopp’s success with Liverpool in previous years, the mentality of a side can get them a long way towards the top. In addition, this month sees the starting of the Champions League, which City will expect to go far in, meaning their squad will be stretched with additional games, and we may see Guardiola turn his attention to the missing piece of his City legacy.

Matchday 8 Player of the Week: Son Heung-Min A 13 minute hattrick would pretty much give anyone a player of the week recognition, but considering the poor start Son had suffered at the start of this season, even being dropped on occasion as Conte looked to other attacking options, this treble shows his intent to reach the previous form of last season and although failing to score in the previous matches this season, he may well be hitting a decent patch of form.

Matchday 8 Game of the Week: Tottenham Hotspur 6-2 Leicester City As entertaining matches go, an 8-goal encounter really does fit the bill. This one saw Spurs play some of their best football, strugglers Leicester drop their early lead just minutes after scoring, and could signify a challenge at the top of the table which signs of a tough season ahead for Leicester fans.

Let us know over on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog) what you made of the eighth round of fixtures, and what you’re looking forward to in the next game week.