[ad_1]
BIRMINGHAM, England – When Patrick Bamford unleashed an impressive left foot shot to seal a 19-minute hat-trick and put Leeds United 3-0 up against Aston Villa, the craziest season in Premier League history gave another notable twist.
Super clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United wanted to split the Premier League landscape with their audacious and failed Project Big Picture plan, but Leeds is another one of those old famous clubs that are biting down and showing they are ready to fight. every inch of the way to ensure that England’s top flight never becomes a closed shop for all but the biggest, richest and most powerful.
– Ogden, Johnson: Reasons for the Premier League’s wild start
– Notebook: Pogba’s Manchester United future, Madrid’s warning of danger
And they got that message across at Villa thanks to goals from a player who had been chewed up and spat on by the Premier League so many times that he deserves credit for bouncing back with Leeds.
Leed’s victory, thanks to Patrick Bamford’s hat-trick, over previously undefeated Aston Villa embodies the wild nature of this Premier League season. Laurence Griffiths / PA Images via Getty Images
Bamford, the former Chelsea player who had only scored one goal in his previous attempts to prove himself in the Premier League with five different clubs (Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Burnley, Middlesbrough and Norwich City), had taken his tally for the season to six. goals for Marcelo Bielsa’s team, on the same level as Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and one behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Son Heung-Min.
But Bamford’s sudden transformation into a Premier League hot-shot at the age of 27 is a mere subplot in this season’s history thus far.
Featured
- Ozil’s agent tells ESPN: ‘Arsenal fans deserve an honest explanation’ about the star’s exile The last sleepers of the Champions League: RB Leipzig to win, Inter Milan to reach the final, Sevilla to the semifinals Pele’s 80th birthday: Simple numbers can’t do justice to the genius of the Brazilian soccer icon
2 Related
If it continues like this, we are heading towards the most open season in the Premier League in a quarter century, and Leeds will become a central character in history.
Leeds, who ended their 16-year exile in the club’s Premier League by winning the EFL Championship promotion last season, are now third in the top flight after this victory at Villa Park.
His victory denied Villa, who had won four of four as of this game, a chance to claim first place, just three months after avoiding relegation due to a late rise in form at the end of the affected 2019-20 season. for the coronavirus. .
MARK OGDEN
Read the latest news and reactions from ESPN FC Senior Writer Mark Ogden.
So after failing to seize the opportunity to reach the top, Villa must now sit back and watch Everton attempt to open up a three-point lead with a win at Southampton on Sunday.
Yes, the top three of the Premier League at the end of October are Everton, Villa and Leeds. Leicester City is also in the restructuring of the top four, as is Wolverhampton Wanderers. Liverpool are fourth and still the favorite to end the season as champions, but since the mid-1990s we have not seen a Premier League campaign with so many unknown names at the top of the table.
When Manchester United won the first Premier League title in 1992-93, Villa finished runner-up with Norwich in third place. Blackburn was fourth, one place ahead of Queens Park Rangers.
A year later, Blackburn and Newcastle finished second and third, respectively, behind champion United, with Leeds fifth and Wimbledon sixth.
Nottingham Forest finished third in 1994-95, when Blackburn beat United for the title, but since those heady days of open competition, heavyweights have tended to dominate the top four, with only Newcastle, Everton, Leeds and Leicester. capable of upset the hierarchy in later years.
But could the 2020-21 season, even more bizarre due to the lack of fans due to the pandemic, end as a throwback to the nineties, when every club had a chance to break into the top four?
Everton have left a marker with their undefeated start to Carlo Ancelotti and the Merseyside club are strong contenders for finishing in the top four due to the proven quality of their coach and a squad enhanced by players like James Rodriguez and Allan.
But both Villa and Leeds showed in this game that they have the players to maintain at least one push into the top six.
Villa, who beat Liverpool 7-2 earlier this season, was beaten well at the end, but Jack Grealish had a shot cleared from the line and was denied a penalty in the first half before he nearly scored a contender for him. goal of the season, with a long and labyrinthine career, before Bamford’s opener in the 55th minute.
Grealish, Ross Barkley, on loan from Chelsea, forward Ollie Watkins and former Arsenal goalkeeper Emi Martinez are players capable of making a difference against any team and will ensure that Villa recovers from this defeat.
STREAM ESPN FC DAILY ON ESPN +
Dan Thomas joins Craig Burley, Shaka Hislop and others in bringing you the latest highlights and debating the biggest stories. Stream on ESPN + (US only).
As for Leeds, they are thriving under Marcelo Bielsa in their first Premier League season since 2003-04 and they won this match without injured midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
Bamford’s contribution with his goals was obvious, but former NYCFC winger Jack Harrison, on loan to Leeds from Manchester City, was outstanding, while goalkeeper Illan Meslier also played a significant role in his team’s victory.
Leeds is exciting to watch and a nightmare to play against with their energetic pressure game.
Whether they can keep up the whole season is a big question to answer, but Leeds is a team that will cause problems for all of their opponents this year.
The same applies to Everton, Villa, Leicester and Wolves.
And in a season where all the so-called Big Six have gotten unconvincing starts, resurgent clubs with a proud track record could be ready to take advantage and make it the best Premier League season yet.
Source: espn.co.uk
[ad_2]
