Ten Hag joins superb Saka in winners but Newcastle, Postecoglou blasted In Premier League winners and losers

Bukayo Saka, Brighton, Michail Antonio and even Erik ten Hag had positive enough weekends. But Ange Postecoglou and Wolves particularly disappointed.

Bukayo Saka

The only player on record to have at least seven shots and create at least seven chances in more than one Premier League game. That Saka managed that feat in consecutive appearances only underlines his growth into a leader and standard-setter at Arsenal.

Saka, for whatever reason, will always have his critics and the level of opponent against whom those statistics were achieved is worth taking into consideration. But Arsenal were on course to drop points against both Leicester and Southampton before he stepped in; it can be as difficult to show up in that sort of game, the sure-fire home wins which go awry, as it is to perform in the toughest fixtures against direct title contenders. Handily enough, Saka can do both.

He is talking the talk and walking the walk as one of the world’s finest forwards: a set-piece cheat code, open-play loophole and figurehead who has only improved with the kind of increase in responsibility and role that has consumed and broken many an Arsenal player before him.

Brighton
In his time as a manager at professional level, spanning 64 games with St Pauli and Brighton, Fabian Hurzeler has lost consecutive games only twice: to Eintracht Braunschweig and Hamburg in April 2023; and Karlsruher and Elversberg in April 2024.

The Seagulls might thus dread the penultimate month of their season but against all odds they recovered from another deflating half-time deficit to record their first Premier League win since August.

It was the fourth time in nine games they have scored three goals or more. Brighton have had eight different scorers and seven players registering at least one Premier League assist so far, both of which are the joint best in the division. It does become a little more likely when you spend £200m in one summer and set the bulk of it aside for exciting young wide forwards, but it is no less impressive.

Christian Norgaard
Thomas Frank himself described Brentford as “a different team with Norgaard,” praising his captain as someone who “ties it all together and makes everyone else a bit better”.

The midfielder has mercifully not been pulled all the way into Brentford’s recent injury vortex but the Bees have still been without him for a dozen games since the start of last season, winning only three of those: against Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Colchester.

With Norgaard back from a short spell on the sidelines, this was Brentford back to their insatiable best. And while that opening goal took an age at one minute and 16 seconds, their record of scoring within a minute of kick-off was maintained with Norgaard’s rapid response to Jorgen Strand Larsen’s equaliser in the first half. Thomas Frank has mastered a neat little party trick there.

Vitezslav Jaros
It seems a bit lazy to recycle plot points which worked two decades ago down to the scoreline, the age of the debuting goalkeeper and even almost the exact minute of the substitution, but it just about worked for Liverpool to maintain their standing atop the table.

Jaros is far more likely than not to emulate Patrice Luzi, who made his first and last appearance for the Reds towards the end of a 1-0 win over Chelsea in January 2004, but if Alisson continues to play the curious role of injury-prone keeper then these opportunities will remain feasible.

The Czech has not been accidentally contracted to Liverpool for four years; he is an actual international the club have long deemed good enough to form part of their squad. The mild panic which provided the backdrop for his late introduction was as funny as the chorus of co-commentators around the world instinctively suggesting Crystal Palace should put a few crosses in or try a couple of pot-shots to test him.

Jaros did not have much to do – one save from Eberechi Eze, a solid punch and some fine sweeper-keeping filled his quarter of an hour – but he still exuded a calm much of the fanbase could not replicate. The gloves will probably be handed over to Caiomhin Kelleher for a few weeks but the Irishman should not expect his selection to be automatic.