ALEX CROOK: Tales of the Unexpected

Our football ambassador ALEX CROOK is back with his latest Tales Of The Unexpected, highlighting five takeaways that might not have been expected from the Premier League weekend…

Anything that caught you by surprise over the weekend? Email content@starsportsbet.co.uk and we’ll include the best submissions in next week’s TOTU!

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1⃣ GYOKERES A FLAT-TRACK BULLY?

It is fair to say it’s been a mixed start to Victor Gyokeres’s Arsenal career.

The-ex Sporting Lisbon goal machine announced his arrival in the Premier League with a brace in last weekend’s 5-0 demolition of Leeds.

However, on either side of that performance, the big Swede has looked well below-par in Arsenal’s opening day win at Manchester United and Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Liverpool.

Gyokeres was stifled at Old Trafford by Matthijs de Ligt, and it was a similar story at Anfield where he came out second best in his physical battle with Ibrahima Konate.

It is obviously very early to make definitive judgments, but there’s evidence to suggest Gyokeres might be a flat-track bully this season, putting the lesser lights to the sword and struggling against better opposition.

I personally thought Arsenal’s performance in general at Liverpool was disappointing, as Arteta once again showed a lack of attacking ambition against a title rival.

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 2⃣ BROOKS REVIVAL A HEART-WARMING TONIC

I was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday to see Bournemouth. condemn Thomas Frank to his first Premier League defeat as Tottenham manager.

There was certainly nothing lucky about the Cherries’ 1-0 triumph; in fact, they had enough chances to blow the hosts away and rack up a more emphatic victory.

Evanilson may have come up with the match-winning goal, but for me, Bournemouth’s standout performer on the day was David Brooks.

The Welsh winger’s return to form after successfully battling Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a refreshingly feel good story in the often cynical football world.

There’s no wonder that Bournemouth are desperate to keep Brooks and get him to sign a new contract.

The former Sheffield United youngster had to go out on loan to Southampton as he struggled to match Cherries boss Andoni Iraola’s intense physical demands.

It is a credit to Brooks that he is now seen as one of the first names on Iraola’s teamsheet.

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3⃣ CITY TITLE HOPES OVER BY SEPTEMBER 1?

It’s not been the start to the season that Manchester City fans were anticipating.

Despite a two-window reboot, we have seen little evidence that Pep Guardiola’s side are anywhere near back to their brilliant best.

Despite dominating the first half of their match at Brighton, City managed to lose 2-1.

It would be foolhardy to write off the great Guardiola, but having also slumped at home to Spurs the previous weekend, history tells us City have a mountain to climb if they are to wrestle the title back from Liverpool.

You have to go all the way back to the first ever Premier League season in 1992-93 for the last time a team, City’s rivals Manchester United, lost two of their opening three games and went on to win the title.

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4⃣ UNITED SHOT STATS GIVE UNDER-PRESSURE AMORIM GROUNDS FOR OPTIMISM

Few managers in the Premier League needed a weekend win as much as Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim.

After the humiliation of being dumped out of the EFL Cup in mid-week, Amorim was under massive pressure to put three points on the board at home to Burnley.

While it may have taken Bruno Fernandes’s stoppage time penalty to put the Clarets to the sword, the slender nature of United’s 3-2 win does not really tell the whole story of the game, or indeed their season so far.

United had a staggering 26 shots on goal, meaning in their four league and cup games, they have now amassed an incredible 86 efforts on goal.

Amorim would be more worried if United were not creating chances, and it might only be a matter of time before their forwards finally start firing and someone is on the wrong end of a thrashing.

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