Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Teenager Kostoulas has a dream week. In the same week that 16-year-old Max Dowman was thrust into the spotlight, another teenager showed a glimpse of the future in Brighton's impressive win over Arsenal. Charalampos Kostoulas, nicknamed 'Babis' in his home country in honor of former Argentina striker Gabriel Batistuta, has already started twice as many Premier League games as he did in his first season in English football, when he was a backup for Danny Welbeck. The 19-year-old repaid Fabian Hürzeler's faith in him against the reigning champions. Despite being so young, Kostoulas already has the physical qualities to compete with the best players. He caused problems for Gabriel Magalhães and his teammates all afternoon. He finished the game with a brilliant goal from 25 yards, his third goal in eight days. "We always knew that he's capable of scoring goals out of nowhere," said Hürzeler. "He just has this intrinsic motivation of really improving every day. He gets more and more professional, he understands the demands from the Premier League more, he understands our demands." Ed Aarons

Match report: Brighton 3-0 Arsenal

Alexander Isak scored the winning goal for Liverpool when they played away at Bournemouth, in the match marking Andoni Iraola's return to his old club. But this game was more about celebrating good defending than good attacking. Liverpool's front four players, who cost a combined £400m to sign, did not play smoothly together. The real stars of the match were in defense, with Ronald Araújo playing strongly at right-back and Jérémy Jacquet playing with control at center-back. Liverpool have now kept three clean sheets in a row in the league, something they have not done since the start of the 2024-25 season. Jacquet's partnership with Virgil van Dijk is improving well. Last week, the 21-year-old Jacquet, who joined from Rennes for £60m, was named in Zinedine Zidane's France squad for the first time. "He is adapting really well to the Premier League," Iraola said of Jacquet. "I think in the first games, physically he was feeling the change of rhythm, he was finishing with cramps, really tired and we had to sub him. Today [Sunday] has been a step forward." Ben Fisher

Match report: Bournemouth 0-1 Liverpool

Worrying signs for Carrick’s slow-starting team. Michael Carrick is too calm to say it directly, but Manchester United’s game at Fulham was a match the head coach had to win – and his team failed to win it. Going into the long international break, United needed a positive result. Instead, they had to settle for a draw, with Matheus Cunha scoring the equalizer. Despite that late goal, there were many worrying signs for Carrick. Some might have expected United to attack strongly at Craven Cottage, trying to take control and change the story after a bad week in which they lost twice. Instead, for long stretches they looked tired, lacked energy without the ball, and seemed to lack sharpness in the final third. One particular worry for Carrick will be United’s wasted chances in attack. They had 29 shots at Fulham, but only six were on target, and their goal only went in because of a big deflection past Bernd Leno. Dominic Booth

Match report: Fulham 1-1 Manchester United

Trafford making strong England case With Dean Henderson absent from the Crystal Palace net and upcoming England squad, James Trafford had a further chance to impress Thomas Tuchel. Admittedly, Trafford spent a long time being very quiet and barely had anything to do in the first half, but after the break he showed why he is so highly thought of, costing Leeds more than £40m in the summer. The former Manchester City goalkeeper made a fine save down to his right from a Yéremy Pino free-kick when the Spaniard surprised him from the edge of the box. Furthermore, Trafford’s ability with the ball at his feet makes him a true competitor for Jordan Pickford at international level. If he carries on being a calming influence at Elland Road, he could become his country’s No 1 before too long. Will Unwin

Match report: Leeds 0-0 Crystal Palace

Brobbey finds scoring touch at Etihad Sunderland paid Ajax an initial €20m (£17.2m) for Brian Brobbey last summer. His hat-trick in Sunderland's 5-3 loss at Manchester City shows he was good value as the No 9. The 24-year-old Dutchman scored his first goals of the season in the team's sixth match. All three were close-range finishes, the kind a poacher scores. Before this game, manager Régis Le Bris had not been worried about Brobbey's lack of goals. "It's really positive for a striker [to score three] – when you don't score it's still possible to tell the story differently [that he is failing] but for us it is really clear that he is a good striker and he's getting better game after game. It's just a question of time," said the manager, who believes his striker is improving. Brobbey was still disappointed even though he scored three goals. "It's hard being on the losing side when you're scoring three goals," he said. Jamie Jackson

Match report: Manchester City 5-3 Sunderland

Coventry finally up and running. All three promoted clubs have now won a match, after Coventry earned a hard-fought win at Nottingham Forest. Coventry were by far the best team in last season's Championship. Their poor start was in danger of spoiling their return to the top division. Jay Dasilva scored a superb goal, and the team played in an organised way. This was a big improvement after last Sunday's heavy defeat by Brighton. Coventry now enter the long international break feeling positive. As Frank Lampard pointed out, playing Arsenal, Manchester City and Brighton in three of their first four games has been a tough start. Their defender, 18-year-old Stephen Mfuni, gave a confident performance in his Premier League debut. Mfuni is on loan from Manchester City. He earned strong praise during a four-month spell at Watford. He is one of several young defenders making a strong impression, along with Jannik Schuster at Brentford and Luka Vuskovic at Brighton. However, it may have been Mfuni that Caleb Yirenkyi tripped over, leading to the VAR decision that denied Forest an equaliser. Footage shared by Forest fans, filmed from different angles like the famous Zapruder film, suggests this might be true. John Brewin

Match report: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Coventry

Schuster shows Chelsea his skills By the end, the talk had switched to Brentford’s attacking potency, both from set plays and through the quiet probing of Mikkel Damsgaard, but this was a victory rooted in their defending. Jannik Schuster arrived from Salzburg in the summer for a fee of around £16m and is already beginning to look like a typically astute Brentford signing. The 20-year-old made his league debut as a substitute for the injured Nathan Collins against Sunderland, made his first start against Bournemouth and excelled against Chelsea, making 12 clearances, winning three aerial duels and blocking three shots. Perhaps more than anything else in football, defending is about structure but, still, it was striking to compare Schuster’s performance with that of the three Chelsea central defenders, who cost a combined £127m despite Levi Colwill being a youth product. Jonathan Wilson

Match report: Brentford 3-0 Chelsea

Maddison is key to any Spurs turnaround. Trying to explain Tottenham's latest bad performance, a 3-2 home defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday, Roberto De Zerbi said his team lacked strength in tough moments. "Leaders have to be leaders", he said. It is clear that Spurs lack leaders, and this problem shows up in more than just weak defending. Spurs controlled the first half but did not score, because no one took charge of the game. The £50m signing Mohammed Kudus came on at half-time, but he made things worse. Spurs only got their shape and focus back when James Maddison came on and Kudus moved to a wide position. De Zerbi seems to be taking a careful approach to bringing Maddison back after he missed a year of football with an ACL injury. But the Spurs No 10 has the skill and confidence to make a strong impact in Premier League matches. De Zerbi may need to speed up his return. Paul MacInnes

Match report: Tottenham 2-3 Aston Villa

Jaissle is winning over Newcastle fans. After a hard-fought 2-1 home win against Hull, Newcastle and their new manager, Matthias Jaissle, now have eight points from their first five Premier League games. That is a decent return. So what have we learned so far? Here are the main points. First, it was very important for Newcastle to keep their outstanding England left back, Lewis Hall, this summer. Second, the 18-year-old midfielder Sean Steur will sometimes need rest, and he will make mistakes at times, but he is a hugely exciting talent who can change games. Third, Newcastle currently have nine injured first-team players. This suggests Jaissle needs to change his training methods. Fourth, Newcastle do not currently have a natural centre forward or a natural No 10. This makes it hard for Jaissle to use his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. His squad may actually suit a three-at-the-back system better. Fifth, the way Newcastle refused to give in against a determined Hull side shows that Jaissle is winning over the fans. Louise Taylor

Match report: Newcastle United 2-1 Hull City

Attwell was right to send off Fatawu. Apart from the latest VAR confusion, Stuart Attwell's biggest decision at Hill Dickinson Stadium was to give Abdul Fatawu a second yellow card for simulation. Gary O'Neil said otherwise, but the referee deserves full credit for making that call. The Ipswich winger was having a good afternoon, and Everton were angry that Thierno Barry's header had been disallowed, when Fatawu expected contact from James Garner and dived. He became only the third player in the last six Premier League seasons to get a second yellow card for simulation. O'Neil admitted Fatawu had "moved his leg towards it a bit" and said he had spoken to the 22-year-old about not giving the referee a decision to make. But it was hard to accept the Ipswich manager's claim that there was "no desperate need for the referee to get involved." It was cheating, plain and simple, and the game would be better if referees punished it more often. It is also shameful that Fatawu was racially abused online afterwards. Ipswich and the relevant authorities are investigating the incident. Andy Hunter

Match report: Everton 1-0 Ipswich

Pos Team P GD Pts 1 Man City 5 8 15 2 Arsenal 5 4 12 3 Brighton 5 11 10 4 Brentford 5 6 9 5 Leeds 5 4 9 6 Liverpool 5 3 9 7 Everton 5 3 9 8 Hull 5 2 8 9 Newcastle 5 0 8 10 Chelsea 5 -2 7 11 Ipswich 5 -4 6 12 Man Utd 5 0 5 13 Nottm Forest 5 -1 5 14 Sunderland 5 -4 4 15 Crystal Palace 5 -5 4 16 Aston Villa 5 -5 4 17 AFC Bournemouth 5 -2 3 18 Coventry 5 -9 3 19 Fulham 5 -3 2 20 Tottenham Hotspur 5 -6 2