Mourinho fave for the boot; Chelsea hold Liverpool; and more

Another round-up of news from the English Premier League as Jose Mourinho moves back into the top spot for the next manager sacked slot, Chelsea holds Liverpool to a draw at Stamford Bridge and more.

The once mighty Manchester United is now a 100/1 shot to win the Premier League, meaning there’s more chance of morse code becoming the most popular language in the world.

There is a better bet in red.

Jose Mourinho is the 11/10 favourite to be the next Premier League Manager to end up staring into a cup of tea lamenting his lost Rich Teas.

He’s been here before.

After Brighton and Spurs had turned the Red Devils into an iron on ‘silk-option’, the bookies immediately installed The Special One as the next manager for the chop, but a trio of triumphs against Burnley, Watford and the Young Boys of Bern saw him fall out of favour with men and women holding the book.

All was rosy.

And then it wasn’t.

United failed to beat Wolves at Old Trafford; Paul Pogba criticised team tactics, Mourinho declared the £89m man would never captain the club again, and the pair had a highly publicised spat at Carrington Training Ground that did the rounds on social media.

Then came the loss to the Championship side Derby in the Carabao Cup.

And then this.

United turned up at the London Stadium to face a West Ham side on the ascendancy. After losing their first four matches of the season, Manuel Pellegrini’s side stuffed Everton and held Chelsea to a goalless draw giving them a kick in their step when the Reds turned up.

Fans were still blowing those forever bubbles when the first goal ended up in the back of the United net in the fifth minute. Pablo Zabaleta found space down the right, put in a measured cross and Felipe Anderson scored with a backheel at the near post.

Video replays showed that both Anderson and Zabaleta were offside.

After match fodder for the United boss.

United should have equalised after Romelu Lukaku thundered a header against the base of the post, but West Ham went into the half time break with a two-goal lead after Andriy Yarmolenko’s speculative effort looped over the head of David De Gea after a wicked deflection off Victor Lindelof.

United nearly pulled one back early in the second half when Marouane Fellaini got on the end of a cross from Ashley Young only for the West Ham keeper to pull off a brilliant save with his strong right hand.

Then, with 20-minutes to go United had a lifeline when substitute Marcus Rashford got on the end of a corner to backheel the ball into the net in delightful fashion, but West Ham was quick to flood the engine room.

Three minutes later, and the man of the match Mark Noble put Marko Arnautovic through on goal and the man who is responsible for 80% of West Ham’s league goals celebrated his return from a two-game absence with the third and final goal in a match West Ham thoroughly deserved to win.

It was West Ham’s first win at home this season, only the second time they had beaten United in 18 fixtures, and the first time since 1982 that they had beaten them by two clear goals.

The defeat means it’s the worst start for United in 29-years.

Chelsea 1 v 1 Liverpool

You realise how far United are off the pace when you see two clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool going at it.

“We are closer then I thought,” Maurizio Sarri said of his team’s closeness to Liverpool after a thrilling 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea beat Liverpool at Anfield in the Carabao Cup in midweek, but this was a different Liverpool side. Buzzing. Vibrant. The only word missing was deadly.

The game began with two early chances for Mohamed Salah, but last year’s 44-goal man – who is missing a few cylinders – squandered both. Klopp would later take him off when chasing the game, something that would never have happened last year.

Chelsea took the lead in the 25th minute. Eden Hazard began the move with a beautiful backheel on the halfway line before speeding into space along the right. A couple of one-twos later and the ball reached the Belgian, and he shot low into the corner of the net for his sixth goal of the season (from nine shots).

Antonio Rudiger cleared off the line after Salah rounded the keeper, but took the ball a tad wide, Mane produced an excellent save from the Chelsea shot-stopper before Hazard almost made it two only for Alisson to save the day.

David Luiz looked like he had preserved all three-points when he cleared off the line from a Firmino header, but as in midweek, the game changed thanks to a moment of brilliance.

In the 89th minute, Daniel Sturridge controlled the ball on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area, and from a standing start, he looked up, saw a minuscule gap between glove and top corner and sent it there like an Elon Musk rocket heading to Mars. It was the 17th time Sturridge has found the net after coming off the bench in the Premier League, and only Olivier Giroud (19) and Jermaine Defoe (24) have more.

1-1.

Both teams remain unbeaten.

The Best of the Rest

Liverpool’s failure to maintain their 100% win rate saw them slip to second in the table after Man City beat plucky Brighton at the Etihad. Sergio Aguero scored a stunner, and Raheem Sterling added the distance.

Fulham haven’t beaten Everton in 57-years, and that didn’t change after a Gylffi Sigurdsson brace, and a Cenk Tosun header gave Marco Silva’s side their third win of the season in an exceptional Goodison performance.

Arsenal moved above Watford after beating them at the Emirates thanks to a Craig Cathcart own goal, and a strike from Mesut Ozil. Spurs moved into fourth after a Harry Kane double saw them beat a solid looking Huddersfield. And Mark Hughes’ tenure on the south coast is under more pressure after his Saints side lost 2-0 to Wolves thanks to goals from Ivan Cavaleiro and Jonathan Castro Otto.

Fixtures in Full

West Ham 3 v 1 Man Utd
Huddersfield 0 v 2 Spurs
Arsenal 2 v 0 Watford
Wolves 2 v 0 Southampton
Newcastle 0 v 2 Leicester
Man City 2 v 0 Brighton
Everton 3 v 0 Fulham
Chelsea 1 v 1 Liverpool

To Be Played on Sunday

Cardiff v Burnley

To Be Played on Monday

Bournemouth v Crystal Palace

Premier League Table

1. Man City – 19
2. Liverpool – 19
3. Chelsea – 17
4. Spurs – 15
5. Arsenal – 15
6. Watford – 13
7. Leicester – 12
8. Wolves – 12
9. Bournemouth – 10
10. Man Utd – 10
11. Everton – 9
12. Crystal Palace – 7
13. West Ham – 7
14. Brighton – 5
15. Southampton – 5
16. Fulham – 5
17. Burnley – 4
18. Newcastle – 2
19. Cardiff – 2
20. Huddersfield – 2