Welcome back to the second season of the Premier League Ones to Watch column, a weekly piece that highlights the most notable performance of the previous matchday, as well as predicting a top performer for the weekend ahead. This column is made for West Coast fans in particular, as I help you decide which games you should wake up for by identifying the players who are worth the price of admission, so to speak.
The Premier League produced big results and performances this week as always. Unsurprisingly, one of the most impactful performances of the week came from Erling Haaland, who scored twice and earned an assist in Manchester City’s 5-1 thrashing of Burnley.
His season tallies now move to eight goals and an assist in just six games. City hopes Haaland can continue his monstrous performances as they look to win another Premier League title.
Igor Thiago of Brentford also had a notable showing this week. Thiago helped his side to a 3-1 home victory against Manchester United with a pair of goals in the 8th and 20th minutes. The early finishes were enough for the victory, and Thiago now has four goals in the Premier League this season. He’s already eclipsed his zero-goal tally from last season, signaling he may have a breakthrough season for the Bees.
The last performance worth mentioning came from Brighton’s Danny Welbeck. Welbeck helped Brighton secure a victory against Chelsea with two goals off the bench. His brace led to a massive super-sub performance for the 34-year-old Premier League journeyman.
Looking ahead to next week, several players are due for a big game.
The one to watch for this week is Newcastle’s Nick Woltemade. Woltemade is off to a hot start with two goals in his first three appearances after signing from VFB Stuttgart over the summer. Woltemade’s been in form, and Newcastle’s set to play a Nottingham Forest squad that has struggled since sacking former manager Nuno Espírito Santo. New manager Ange Postecoglou has yet to win a game this season, and a matchup against a hot Woltemade sets them up for another winless day.
Newly-added Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres has three goals in six appearances so far this season, making him another player to watch out for. Arsenal will face West Ham United, who are fresh off the sacking of Graham Potter, and with newly-appointed Espírito Santo in charge, Gyokeres has another opportunity to shine against a team trying to fix a big mess.
Mohamed Salah has proven time and time again why he remains a Premier League superstar, and he’s lined up for another strong outing this week. With the league’s biggest matchup between Salah’s Liverpool and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, he could be due for a high-output game. Liverpool is also fresh off a loss to Crystal Palace, meaning they could be extra hungry for a convincing win to make up for it.
Reflecting on last week’s predictions, Ollie Watkins performed as expected with a goal in a 3-1 win against Fulham. The other players did not meet expectations, though. Richarlison and Kudus both put in mediocre performances following a 1-1 draw against Wolves, while Cole Palmer did not even see the field due to injury.