Premier League week 8 saw the return to club football following the October international break. While the next break is only weeks away, we have a whole host of domestic action to enjoy as the table begins to take shape, and we move from the start of the season into the mid-season point when teams have to continue, maintain or completely turn around their early efforts.

In week 8, we had Manchester United winning back to back games for the first time under Amorim, Liverpool’s wobble turn into a bigger crisis point, and Arsenal maintained their lead at the top of the table while Manchester City played chasers thanks to Erling Haaland’s finishing.

As always, in this post we will be picking out 3 of the biggest talking points of the weekend, along with giving out the game of the week and player of the week awards. If we’ve missed something in this post that you saw over the weekend please do get in touch with us on all the usual places (Bluesky @NextGoalWinner – Instagram @NextGoalWin), and if you prefer an audio round up of the action then do check out our YouTube channel (@NextGoalWinner) where we post weekly reviews on there of all the key talking points in the Premier League and around Europe.

Switching The Crisis

Liverpool’s 2–1 defeat to Manchester United at Anfield was more than just a bad result, it was a statement of how far things have slipped under Arne Slot. The home side started brightly enough, but their familiar issues soon resurfaced: a sluggish midfield, gaps between the lines, and a back line that looks increasingly unsure of itself. When United equalised midway through the second half, the atmosphere inside Anfield turned uneasy, and by the time Harry Maguire nodded home a late winner, it was outright disbelief.

Slot’s decision to roll the dice tactically didn’t help. His switch to a 4-2-4 in search of a winner only made Liverpool easier to play through, leaving the midfield completely exposed. The result was another performance that looked frantic rather than calculated, chaotic rather than confident. Even the new signings, the marquee names meant to refresh this post-Klopp era, have yet to settle. Alexander Isak still hasn’t found his scoring boots, and Florian Wirtz looks like a player caught between systems.

It’s now four defeats on the bounce in all competitions, Liverpool’s worst run in more than a decade. The optimism that greeted Slot’s appointment over the summer has been replaced by frustration and finger-pointing. For a club used to challenging at the very top, the question isn’t just whether they can salvage their season, it’s whether the current project can withstand the weight of expectation and scrutiny that comes with managing Liverpool. The next few weeks could be decisive.

Leading From The Back

While chaos reigns elsewhere, Arsenal are quietly doing something that every title-winning team must master: they’re grinding out wins. The Gunners’ 1–0 victory away at Fulham may not have been the flashiest of performances, but it was ruthlessly efficient. For the second match in a row, they didn’t concede a single shot on target, a statistic that speaks volumes about their defensive organisation and tactical maturity.

Under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s evolution continues to impress. Once accused of being too naïve or too emotional in big games, they now play with a calm control that suffocates opponents. The partnership between William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães has blossomed into one of the most formidable in Europe, while Declan Rice is quietly bossing the midfield like he’s been there for a decade. Even with rotation, Arsenal’s defensive structure doesn’t falter, and that’s the kind of stability that wins titles.

At the other end, the goals are coming from everywhere. Ten different Arsenal players have already scored this season, showing the kind of collective responsibility that Arteta has worked so hard to instil. The 19 points from eight games put them top of the table, and it’s not hard to see why confidence around the Emirates is quietly soaring. Arteta’s men look more balanced, more mature, and crucially, more ready than ever to take that final step back to Premier League glory.

39 Days

Ange Postecoglou’s time at Nottingham Forest is over, all 39 chaotic days of it. The Australian’s sacking after a 3–0 home defeat to Chelsea capped one of the shortest managerial reigns in Premier League history, and it’s fair to say very few saw this particular storyline coming when he replaced Nuno Espírito Santo in early September. Forest had hoped Postecoglou’s bold attacking principles and charisma would revitalise a struggling side. Instead, they got a winless run, defensive meltdowns, and a manager who never looked fully comfortable in his new surroundings.

From the outset, it seemed like an awkward fit. Postecoglou’s insistence on playing high-risk, possession-based football clashed with a squad built more for counter-attacking pragmatism. Forest’s summer signings, including several expensive additions to the back line, struggled to adapt to his system, and results nosedived quickly. By the time Chelsea ran riot at the City Ground, owner Evangelos Marinakis had seen enough. Reports suggest the decision to sack Postecoglou was made during the match, underlining just how fast the patience had evaporated.

It’s a sad twist for a manager who arrived in England as one of the most admired figures in modern football. Postecoglou’s work at Celtic and Tottenham had made him a symbol of fearless, attacking ambition. But at Forest, the environment was different, chaotic, reactive, and short on time for long-term ideas. The club is now searching for yet another new direction, with names like Sean Dyche and Roberto Mancini already linked. For Postecoglou, meanwhile, this short-lived chapter will likely go down as a painful reminder that even the most principled managers can be undone by the wrong job at the wrong time.

Game of the week: Crystal Palace 3-3 Bournemouth Although not one of our main talking points, the 6 goal thriller between Palace and Bournemouth gave us plenty of action. With goals from the 7th to 97th minute, Mateta bagged 3 but could have so easily claimed all 3 points after missing the late chance to give the home team all 3 points.

Player of the week: Jean Philippe Mateta Having recently enjoyed his first spell with the French national side, Mateta returned to the action with a hattrick, scoring his 3rd in the 97th minute from the spot to level things up late. While the player may be focussed a fair amount on his late miss, the 3 goals puts Palace with a strong record at the start of the campaign.