The Dugout Gazette, 19 October

Weekend briefing

A proper weekend of football across all four English leagues, and one big one still to come tonight.

The Premier League's Matchweek 7 gave us a five-goal derby demolition at the Amex, a record-breaking win at the Etihad and an unlucky defeat for Sunderland that had everything to do with an early red card. In the Championship, West Ham went to Swansea and knocked the leaders off the top, Wrexham finally let off steam with four at home, and Sheffield Wednesday announced themselves in League One with a 5-0 rout that lifts them into the play-off places.

All results below are final. The only match still to be played at the time of writing is Tottenham Hotspur v Coventry City tonight, Monday 19 October, at 20:00.

Results board

Premier League: Matchweek 7

Saturday 17 October

• Everton 0-2 Chelsea
• Brentford 1-2 Liverpool
• Fulham 1-0 Hull City
• Manchester City 3-2 Ipswich Town
• Newcastle United 0-1 Aston Villa

Sunday 18 October

• AFC Bournemouth 2-0 Sunderland
• Brighton and Hove Albion 5-0 Crystal Palace
• Leeds United 1-1 Manchester United
• Nottingham Forest 0-1 Arsenal

Monday 19 October

• Tottenham Hotspur v Coventry City, 20:00

Championship

Saturday 17 October

• Birmingham City 3-0 Queens Park Rangers
• Bristol City 0-1 Sheffield United
• Derby County 0-1 Stoke City
• Middlesbrough 2-2 Cardiff City
• Millwall 2-2 Lincoln City
• Norwich City 0-1 Portsmouth
• Southampton 0-0 Bolton Wanderers
• Swansea City 0-1 West Ham United
• Watford 2-0 Charlton Athletic
• West Bromwich Albion 3-2 Blackburn Rovers
• Wrexham 4-1 Preston North End

League One

Saturday 17 October

• Barnsley 1-2 Cambridge United
• Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 Notts County
• Plymouth Argyle 0-2 Huddersfield Town
• Bradford City 2-0 Stevenage
• Leicester City 2-1 Doncaster Rovers
• Sheffield Wednesday 5-0 AFC Wimbledon
• Wigan Athletic 1-0 Reading
• Stockport County 1-0 Bromley
• Leyton Orient 2-0 Blackpool
• Peterborough United 2-2 Burton Albion
• Milton Keynes Dons 2-1 Luton Town

League Two

Saturday 17 October

• Accrington Stanley 3-1 Gillingham
• Colchester United 0-0 Exeter City
• Crewe Alexandra 3-2 Rochdale
• Fleetwood Town 2-0 Rotherham United
• Grimsby Town 0-2 Northampton Town
• Newport County 1-1 York City
• Oldham Athletic 4-1 Cheltenham Town
• Port Vale 1-0 Chesterfield
• Salford City 2-1 Crawley Town
• Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Bristol Rovers
• Swindon Town 1-1 Walsall
• Tranmere Rovers 1-2 Barnet

Key decisions

• Brighton 5-0 Crystal Palace: The scoreline of the weekend, and it came with the longest-range Premier League goal since 2017. Diego Gomez scored from the halfway line in a derby rout that also featured goals from Yasin Ayari, Charalampos Kostoulas and Jack Hinshelwood, plus an own goal. Brighton are third and nobody is talking about them as a fluke any more.
• Manchester City 3-2 Ipswich Town: Haaland scored twice and Phil Foden opened the scoring, but Ipswich made City sweat, with Daizen Maeda and a stoppage-time Zian Flemming penalty keeping it interesting. The bigger number is in the history books: Enzo Maresca has now won his first seven Premier League matches at a new club, a record for a manager starting somewhere new.
• AFC Bournemouth 2-0 Sunderland: Kevin Danso's straight red card on 17 minutes changed everything. Tavernier scored six minutes in, Evanilson added the second after the break, and Bournemouth finally have their first league win of the season. Sunderland played over an hour with ten men and never looked like recovering.
• Nottingham Forest 0-1 Arsenal: Level until the 80th minute, and it took a substitute to settle it. Noni Madueke came on at half-time and his deflected shot broke Forest's resistance. Unremarkable on the eye, exactly the kind of win title challenges are built on.
• Swansea City 0-1 West Ham United: Divine Mukasa's goal sank the Championship leaders and lifted West Ham to second. Swansea stay top on points, but this was a statement from the chasing pack.
• Sheffield Wednesday 5-0 AFC Wimbledon: Three goals in eight first-half minutes from Bannan, Keillor-Dunn and Gray, two more after the break, and Wimbledon did not manage a single shot on target. Seven league games unbeaten now, and the Owls are in the play-off places.
• Wrexham 4-1 Preston North End: Wrexham needed this after a rough run. Worrall, Smith and Moore got on the scoresheet at the Racecourse, and Preston conceded four for the second game running, which is the kind of trend that ends up costing a manager his job.

Table and form notes

• Premier League: Manchester City lead on 21 points after a seventh straight win. Arsenal are second on 18 after winning at Forest, and Brighton and Hove Albion are third on 16 following that 5-0. Chelsea round out the top four on 13. At the bottom, Sunderland sit 19th and the race to escape the relegation places is already tight.
• Championship: Swansea City still top on 23 points, but only on goal difference. West Ham United and Middlesbrough are both on 22, with the Hammers second after their win at Swansea. Sheffield United keep winning quietly, 1-0 at Bristol City this time.
• League One: Bradford City are the new leaders on 20 points from ten matches after beating Stevenage. Plymouth Argyle lost 0-2 at home to Huddersfield Town and slipped off the top. Sheffield Wednesday's five-goal afternoon moves them into the play-off places.
• League Two: Salford City lead on 22 points from eleven matches after a 2-1 win over Crawley Town. Barnet won 2-1 at Tranmere Rovers to stay in the hunt, while Crewe Alexandra edged a seven-goal thriller at home to Rochdale.

Fantasy desk

The Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 8 deadline is 18:30 UK time on Friday 23 October.

The fixtures

• Friday 23 October: Ipswich Town v Nottingham Forest (20:00).
• Saturday 24 October: Aston Villa v Manchester City (12:30), Arsenal v Everton (15:00), Coventry City v Fulham (15:00), Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur (17:30).
• Sunday 25 October: Crystal Palace v Newcastle United, Hull City v Brentford, Liverpool v Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester United v AFC Bournemouth (all 14:00), Sunderland v Leeds United (16:30).

Captaincy

• Pedro Neto is the form pick. Two goals at Everton in Gameweek 7 and a home fixture against a Tottenham side missing Rodrigo Bentancur to suspension. He is the captaincy option with the highest ceiling this week.
• Erling Haaland remains the safe pick on ownership and output, despite the tougher away trip to Aston Villa. He scored twice against Ipswich and reported no injury issue after limping late in that game, but he is one to monitor before the deadline.
• Joao Pedro is the popular middle ground. Chelsea at home to Spurs, high ownership and consistent returns all season.

Transfer radar

• Brighton attackers are suddenly everywhere in the conversation after five different scorers against Palace. Diego Gomez is the headline name and still cheap in most squads.
• Evanilson has back-to-back favourable fixtures after breaking his duck, with Bournemouth hosting Manchester United next.
• Noni Madueke is worth a look for managers chasing Arsenal coverage without paying premium prices, now that he is starting games from the bench and converting chances.

Fitness checks

• Kai Havertz, Arsenal: hamstring, roughly four weeks out.
• Johan Manzambi, Aston Villa: flagged as a doubt after scoring the winner at Newcastle, check press conferences before the deadline.
• Kevin Danso, Sunderland: suspended after his straight red card at Bournemouth.
• Rodrigo Bentancur, Tottenham Hotspur: suspended, three matches.
• Erling Haaland, Manchester City: fit, but limped late against Ipswich, worth a final check.

With a Friday evening deadline this week, do not leave it to Saturday morning. The Ipswich v Forest game kicks off at 20:00 on the Friday, so any late team news from that fixture arrives after the deadline.

The FPL Second Chance League continues, with Premier League match tickets for the winner.

Manager's view

The theme of the weekend was squad depth, and it showed up everywhere once you started looking.

Arsenal won at Forest with a substitute scoring the only goal. Brighton spread five goals across four different scorers and an own goal, which is what a well-built squad looks like when the first choice is not the only threat. Manchester City lost concentration twice against Ipswich and still had Haaland to lean on. Meanwhile Sunderland, reduced to ten men after seventeen minutes, had no answers, and Preston's squad is conceding in bunches.

There is a lesson in the Championship table too. Swansea, West Ham and Middlesbrough are separated by a single point and two places are decided by goal difference. In The Dugout that is exactly the situation where a manager earns their money: rotation, set-piece routines and knowing which fixture to prioritise when the calendar bunches up.

And credit where it is due, Wrexham and Sheffield Wednesday both showed what a response looks like after noise around the club. Block it out, win convincingly, move on.

Final whistle

Tottenham Hotspur host Coventry City tonight at 20:00, the last piece of Matchweek 7. Spurs are without the suspended Bentancur, and Coventry have already shown this season they can upset the bigger names. If you are captaining Pedro Neto or Joao Pedro, tonight tells you a lot about how the Chelsea fixture next weekend might open up.

The Dugout is a deep, text-based football management game coming soon on Android and Apple. It is a one-off £5.99 purchase with a free demo, no subscriptions and no in-app purchases. Join the community on Discord, take a look at the game features, or visit the official website to learn more.