Cody Gakpo outshines new Liverpool signing Bradley Barcola as Elliot Anderson gives his best Rodri impression - PL hits and misses

Elliot Anderson (143) made more successful passes against Coventry than the entire Coventry team combined (139) on just his fourth Manchester City start. Rodri-like numbers.

He touched the ball 178 times. Won 100 per cent of his six ground duels. Drew three fouls. Covered more distance than any other Man City player. The list goes on.

In a game where Enzo Fernandez, on his debut, and free-scoring Erling Haaland drew the headlines, Anderson was equally eye-catching. He mopped up nearly every mess Man City got themselves into.

26 line-breaking passes and 21 passes into the final third gives an idea of just how punchy he was on the ball, too. His role is not simply to recycle possession but progress possession and he's doing it brilliantly. With Fernandez alongside, City's midfield looks refreshed and revived - and ready to rival anything the Premier League has to throw at them. Laura Hunter

Many attended Liverpool's game at Ipswich gearing up to see Bradley Barcola for the first time. But it was a player at the other end of Liverpool's transfer window debate who stole the show.

Perhaps the decision to keep hold of Cody Gakpo may be the crossroads moment that defines Andoni Iraola's first season. Liverpool held talks to sell the Dutchman to Man City, with Spurs also interested. But now Gakpo looks like Liverpool's best player.

His performance off the right wing against Nottingham Forest last week was impressive, but his outing at Ipswich was even better. This time from the opposite flank, he set up Alexander Isak twice with some very classy assists. That makes it three Isak goals set up by Gakpo in the last two games.

"Barcola is going to struggle to get a game with this version of Gakpo," said Jamie Carragher on social media at half-time of Liverpool's win at Portman Road. Liverpool's best piece of business may not be the £123m winger they signed, rather the winger they actually kept instead. Sam Blitz

There must be something in the water at Ipswich. Because their goalkeeper position appears to have become cursed.

The last time the Tractor Boys were promoted, Arijanet Muric arrived from Burnley as the man trusted to be their No.1. What followed was a season littered with costly mistakes at precisely the wrong moments.

Fast-forward to this season and Ipswich have changed the man between the sticks again, but seemingly not the script.

Kjell Scherpen was brought in from Belgian Pro League side Union Saint-Gilloise with the hope that a fresh face would provide some much-needed stability at the top level. Instead, his first-half performance against Liverpool suggested the curse may be real.

Scherpen was at fault for both of Liverpool's first-half goals, with Alexander Isak the grateful beneficiary on each occasion.

Goalkeeping errors are magnified at this level because margins are so thin. A team can spend 45 minutes competing well, executing its game plan and frustrating a superior opponent - only for one moment of indecision to undo all that work. That happened here.

Ipswich need Scherpen to settle quickly because they cannot afford to be fighting two battles: one against the opposition and another against their own goalkeeper.

But after Muric's struggles and now Scherpen's nightmare start, you could forgive Ipswich supporters for wondering whether the No.1 shirt comes with a curse attached. Lewis Jones

A first point but still no Premier League goal this season for Spurs.

They actually finished the game with the same number of shots as Nottingham Forest, three times as many touches in the opposition box and double the Expected Goals total.

But Omar Marmoush, in particular, failed to bring the cutting-edge quality in the final third, while Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke wasted good crosses with poor headers.

A small step forward for Roberto De Zerbi's project? Perhaps. But not the performance or result to ignite their supporters' hopes and convince them yet that, after the big summer spend, this season is going to be substantially better than the last. Peter Smith

Jacob Ramsey's 88th-minute goal ensured Newcastle remain unbeaten under Eddie Howe's successor Matthias Jaissle, but they might count themselves a little fortunate on this occasion. Bournemouth, by contrast, will wonder how they didn't win.

Jaissle has issues to address but Ramsey's impact showed his value and there was also a positive cameo from new £51m signing Matias Fernandez-Pardo, who emerged to warm applause when he came on as a second-half substitute alongside Ramsey.

The Belgian international is of course new to the Premier League. He was on the receiving end of a couple of meaty challenges to welcome him. But there were glimpses of his talent, too, including a clever drop of the shoulder to escape pressure in the box. He injected some much-needed energy and directness. Nick Wright

James McAtee is the man tasked with replacing Elliot Anderson for Nottingham Forest.

The 23-year-old is a different type of midfielder. He is more technical, more comfortable receiving the ball under pressure and has a natural ability to unlock defences. What he doesn't yet offer is Anderson's intensity without the ball.

But there are signs that McAtee is starting to look the part in the middle of the pitch.

Against Tottenham, he showed the creative quality that makes Glasner so keen to trust him in there, creating five chances for his team-mates while completing 91 per cent of his passes in the final third. He was also involved in the move which produced Forest's disallowed goal.

And the concern about his slight frame shouldn't be overstated. McAtee won six of his 11 duels and, importantly for a Glasner midfielder, showed an understanding of when to disrupt play with clever tactical fouls.

Glasner doesn't need McAtee to become Anderson. He needs him to bring something different while proving he can survive the ugly parts of central midfield.

If Glasner can unlock that side of his game, Forest may have found a very different - but potentially very effective - solution to Anderson's departure. Lewis Jones

It was 90+1 vs Man City. Then 90+1 vs Everton. And now 88 at Newcastle. Bournemouth's failure to see out the final minutes of matches has cost them five points in their first three Premier League games of the season.

The late goals conceded must be infuriating for boss Marco Rose, whose side would have been sitting top of the Premier League table going into Saturday's 3pm games had they held out in the final minutes of their matches so far this term.

They are the first team in Premier League history to score the opening goal in their first three games of a season and fail to win any of them.

It will be a particularly galling journey back to the south coast from Newcastle, given how Bournemouth dominated the first half and missed two good chances to add to their tally before the break, with James Tavernier and Evanilson off target before Harvey Barnes' stunner gave Newcastle hope.

Rose will also reflect on how his side seemingly allowed the game to fizzle out in that second half before Newcastle's smash and grab. Fine margins. Had they held on it would have looked like a perfect away performance. But Bournemouth's intensity and focus in the final minutes has seen them give up precious points again.

It's a major issue they must address if they are to make the most of excellent play in other aspects of their game. Peter Smith

Fantasy Premier League managers will have been pulling their hair out at Dominic Calvert-Lewin's first half display at Leeds. He had three golden chances to score.

The first saw him miss a one-on-one after five minutes and while the offside flag went up, replays showed it could have counted as the call was tight.

The second was a missed header in the build-up to Leeds' opener - so his blushes were spared there too. But the third was perhaps the biggest of the lot.

Having done all the hard work in rounding the goalkeeper, his tame effort allowed Lewis Dunk to clear from off the line.

He ended up with no goals from a tally of 0.83 xG. He lacked the ruthlessness to kill the game. "Dominic should have put the game to bed in the first half," said Daniel Farke.

Calvert-Lewin has endured a decent start to the season - rescuing a point against Brentford last week as well as being a consistent nuisance in the duels and bringing others into play.

But this was a reminder that the Leeds striker needs to show consistency on the scoresheet if he wants to get an England spot back, but also take his team to another level. Sam Blitz

Pascal Struijk may have been disappointed not to feature against former club Leeds but in fairness, there is absolutely no spot in the Brighton defence for him to get into.

Despite being signed to replace the outgoing Jan Paul Van Hecke, Struijk had to sit and watch the centre-back pairing of Luka Vuskovic and Lewis Dunk put in a mammoth shift against his former team.

Vuskovic scored the crucial leveller for Brighton - showing the attacking prowess he demonstrated in the Bundesliga at Hamburg last season. But Dunk was arguably player of the match, and helped keep the scoreline down.

The Brighton captain was everywhere throughout - making 12 clearances, twice as many as the next-best Seagulls player. The best of the dozen came to deny Dominic Calvert-Lewin from off the line in a goal-saving challenge.

And there's no spot for Struijk at left-back, given Olivier Boscagli's display in that role. Brighton's best chances came from his wand of a left boot - as he created five chances against Leeds - which was just as many as the entire Whites starters combined.

What do they feed defenders in Brighton? Sam Blitz

A miss for both teams with VAR at the forefront of the post-match discussions once again.

Brentford boss Keith Andrews was right to criticise the flow of the game and the control Thomas Bramall had at times but zero questions can be raised about the penalty.

A greater emphasis is being placed on players who do not look at the ball, have both hands on their opponent, make no attempt to play the ball or commit sustained holding of their opponent.

Keane Lewis-Potter did all four in plain sight of match officials and VAR.

Sunderland, meanwhile, were also left with a bitter taste in their mouths regarding officiating after it took longer than four minutes to disallow Dan Ballard's goal in the ninth minute.

"It's a shame because if you need four and a half minutes to make your decision, it means that you are hesitating," Regis Le Bris said after the game.

"So it wasn't a decision for us. It is what it is."

An enthralling game where momentum swung both ways should leave us talking about in-game management, the finish of Vitaly Janelt and Enzo Le Fee's late equaliser. Instead, it's VAR again. Patrick Rowe

One point from three games. Zero goals and just one shot on target. Key names like Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins gone. Some might say this is a new mountain for Unai Emery to climb as Aston Villa boss. And what a mountain.

Let's not forget last season though. It took Villa five games to get off the mark in terms of goals in the league. They didn't win a game until the end of September. By Christmas, there were suggestions they were even in a title fight.

That's how quickly fortunes and perceptions can change in the Premier League, and Emery has shown he knows just how to overcome this very obstacle. If he couldn't he wouldn't have been celebrating his 200th game in charge of Aston Villa tonight.

Is that to say that a similar turnaround is coming. No. He did still have Premier League proven talent to help him turn things around in attack. The signing of Ibrahim Mbaye is exciting. George Hemmings has potential. Nicolas Jackson brings energy. But you'd probably back none of them to be more clinical than Watkins inside the 18-yard-box.

But Emery has time and again found a way. He even said post-match that this is the position he found himself in last season. He's reminded his players of that. So, while the table looks bleak and the lack of goals is a talking point, refrain from jumping to conclusions. Villa's boss is playing the cards he's been dealt and as Jamie Carragher and Thierry Henry have already argued, there's few better at doing so. Callum Bishop

Understandably, there were contrasting full-time emotions between the two newly appointed head coaches following Crystal Palace's come-from-behind victory at Fulham.

Both Alvaro Arbeola and Pierre Sage went into Saturday's London derby already under pressure having lost their opening two Premier League games, although the Spaniard had managed a win in the Carabao Cup.

And for large parts of the contest at Craven Cottage, it appeared as though the Fulham boss would be the one with the pressure-relieving three points to his name, until the visitors' second-half turnaround.

And so it was Sage speaking about the much-needed "petrol" the 3-2 win had given his players in his post-match press conference, as the Eagles avoided a third straight league defeat to kick off the campaign for the first time since 2017/18.

In contrast, the Cottagers boss was left to rue a series of first-half missed openings that cost his team the chance to also avoid starting the season with a trio of top-flight reverses for the only the third time in the club's history.

Ominously, though, on the previous two occasions it happened in 1951/52 and 2020/21, they were relegated. Rich Morgan