Love & Hate: Winners and Losers of Premier League Round 6

Another matchweek of the world’s most prestigious football competition is behind us. Dailysports journalist Luis Torres shares his emotions following yet new thrilling weekend in English football with the Love & Hate format – we bring you the key heroes and failures from the past weekend.

Love: Cole Palmer (Chelsea)

It seems the "Chelsea project" is no longer a laughingstock and is turning into a truly solid team, ready to compete for European spots – not due to the weakness of their rivals, but thanks to their own strength. Even within this growing team, one player stood out: Cole Palmer. The 22-year-old English forward achieved something incredible over the weekend: between the 21st and 41st minutes, Palmer scored four goals!

Thanks to this first-half poker, the striker became Erling Haaland's main challenger in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot. Given Palmer's progress, I wouldn’t be surprised if by the end of the season, he is at least on the same level as the Norwegian titan, especially in terms of performance quality.

Hate: Pep Guardiola (Man City)

Rodri’s injury didn’t happen last weekend, nor in the middle of the week. The Spanish midfielder, who plays a key role in Pep Guardiola’s team, got injured a week ago in the match against Arsenal, with official news about his recovery timeline—expected to return next season—being announced midweek.

However, it was in the match against Newcastle that we first saw the "Citizens" without Rodri, and it became clear just how important this one player is. Here’s one statistic that reveals it all: with Rodri in the squad, Man City lost just one match out of 52; without him, they've suffered four defeats in 13 games. City didn’t lose against Newcastle, but those dropped points could prove costly at the end of the season. Does Guardiola have any ideas on how to replace an irreplaceable player?

Love: Arne Slot (Liverpool)

Thanks to Manchester City dropping points, there’s a new leader in the Premier League. Now it’s Liverpool looking down on their competitors. Only this summer, the Merseyside club underwent a massive change, replacing their long-serving manager. Jürgen Klopp, who worked wonders with the team over nine glorious years and essentially built the project as we know it, handed the reins to Arne Slot.

Slot took charge just this summer, and so far, hasn’t broken anything. Sometimes, not breaking what's already there is more important than creating something new yourself. It's too early to judge just how good of a coach he is or how well he fits Liverpool. Such assessments will only be relevant after at least 100 days in charge. But for now, securing top spot deserves some praise.

• Also read: Kompany wants to sign Alisson to Bayern, but there is one nuance to it

Hate: Erik ten Hag (Manchester United)

It’s clear that this article would be incomplete without mentioning Manchester United’s head coach. The "Red Devils" are struggling in almost every aspect: the gameplay is poor, there seem to be issues with team chemistry (British pundits claim some players aren’t listening to the coach), and overall, ten Hag doesn’t look like a winning manager. In a manner reminiscent of late-stage José Mourinho, the Dutchman keeps bringing up his victories in the FA Cup and League Cup, conveniently forgetting that many teams in these competitions played with their reserves.

Amid the talk of triumphs and his public spat with Jadon Sancho (who, by the way, is doing just fine at Chelsea), he seems to overlook humiliating defeats, like the 3-0 losses to Tottenham and Liverpool at Old Trafford—just this season. And if we dig deeper, we can remember the 0-4 loss to Crystal Palace and the 0-3 to Bournemouth. You’ve lost everything, Mr. ten Hag. If Manchester United were a casino, Erik would be walking out of it broke and bare. The only question is, why do the owners of the establishment keep him around?

• Also read: Round sum. It is known how much Man United will have to pay for ten Hag's sacking

Love: Liam Delap (Ipswich Town)

Ipswich hasn’t won a single match in their first six rounds since returning to the Premier League. So far, the only comfort for fans is that their beloved the Tractor Boys aren’t in the relegation zone, as there are teams performing even worse. Over the weekend, Ipswich faced Aston Villa—a Champions League participant and one of the most exciting projects in the Premier League right now. Despite these factors, the underdog managed to avoid defeat, and one of the heroes of the match was Liam Delap.

The 21-year-old forward couldn’t establish his career at Man City and left the club as a free agent in the summer of 2024 after several loan spells, starting his journey almost from scratch. Ipswich became his new starting point, where he has already scored three goals, effectively earning two points for his team (1-1 draw against Fulham and now 2-2 with Aston Villa). However, the main issue is his tendency to pick up yellow cards in almost every game. For instance, in his last seven matches for the club and the England U21 team, Delap has received five yellow cards. That’s far too many, considering his main job is to score goals, not break the rules.

Hate: Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace)

Back in February, I was quite excited about the news of Oliver Glasner joining the Premier League. At that point, Roy Hodgson was clearly struggling, and it seemed like he was leading the team toward relegation in a year or two. Glasner’s arrival was supposed to bring a breath of fresh air. The end of last season was fantastic: six wins and a draw in their last seven matches!

However, the new season has been disastrous so far: not a single win, just three points, and a spot in the relegation zone. To make matters worse, Palace lost to Everton over the weekend, despite going into halftime with a 1-0 lead. It's generally accepted that when a team squanders a victory, the coach bears the blame—he failed to make the right adjustments and lost the tactical battle to his counterpart.

Palace lost three key players over the summer: Michael Olise, Jordan Ayew, and Joachim Andersen. On the bright side, the club earned nearly €90 million from those transfers, but they haven’t managed to adequately replace these stars. While this isn’t always the manager’s fault, when a team enters a losing streak, all eyes inevitably turn to the coach. So, Mr. Glasner, we’re watching you very closely. Another misstep could cost you your Premier League job.

EPL team of the week according to Dailysports