Winners: Villarreal
The Yellow Submarine defeated Mallorca 2-1 at La Ceramica, strengthening their hold on third place in LaLiga and keeping on the heels of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Marcelino’s side have collected 29 points from the first 13 matches, marking the best start to a season in the club’s history.
Thanks to goals from Gerard Moreno and Tani Oluwaseyi, Villarreal surpassed the 28 points they achieved in the first 13 games of the 2007/08 season, when Manuel Pellegrini was in charge. The win over the Balearic side is also their fourth consecutive victory in the league.
Losers: Liverpool
The Reds suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat at Anfield to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, making it three losses in their last four Premier League matches. It’s another blow after losing by the same scoreline to Manchester City before the international break. Liverpool has now lost eight of their last 11 games.
On top of that, the Merseyside club was knocked out of the League Cup at the end of October after a 3-0 home loss to Crystal Palace. The reigning champions are 11th in the Premier League with 18 points, and Arne Slot’s position on the bench could be under threat.
Winner: David Neres
The Brazilian was instrumental in Napoli’s impressive 3-1 win over Atalanta, scoring twice. The Partenopei had gone three matches (across Serie A and the Champions League) without scoring or winning. Neres ended that drought in just 21 minutes, between the 17th and 38th minutes.
The former Benfica player scored as many goals in that span as he did all of last season. His previous goal came back on January 4th, when he found the net in Napoli’s 3-0 win over Fiorentina.
Loser: Nathan Jones
The Charlton manager welcomed his former club, Southampton, to The Valley, having coached them during the 2022/2023 season. In the Championship fixture, things couldn’t have gone worse for him, as his former players got their revenge.
The Londoners suffered their second straight defeat, being thrashed 5-1 by The Saints. By the 22nd minute, the visitors from the south of England were already 4-0 up, with goals from Manning, Armstrong, Jander, and Azaz, who later scored again.
Winner: Paul Pogba
The former French international is a 'winner' for making his return to the pitch 811 days after serving a doping ban. Until this Saturday, his last official match was Empoli 0-2 Juventus, played on September 3rd, 2023.
However, Pogba’s comeback was bittersweet, as Monaco lost 4-1 to Rennes. The midfielder came on in the 85th minute, replacing Mamadou Coulibaly, with his team already trailing 4-0, so he bore no responsibility for the defeat.
Losers: Sheffield Wednesday
The Owls are bottom of the Championship and have -4 points after being docked 12 points at the end of October for declaring insolvency and entering administration.
This Sunday, they lost at Hillsborough in one of the most anticipated matches of the season - the city derby against Sheffield United. The result was a 3-0 defeat, with Tyrese Campbell scoring twice and Thomas Cannon adding another. Their city rivals are direct competition in the fight for survival, and with this win, they move up to 22nd with 13 points.
Winner: Eberechi Eze
The England international was the standout performer on Sunday in the Premier League. In the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, he scored a hat-trick to lead the Gunners to a 4-1 victory. Incredibly, it was the first hat-trick in this fixture since 1978.
Until now, he had only scored once in the league (against Crystal Palace) and once in the League Cup (against Port Vale). He also has two goals for the Three Lions (against Latvia and Serbia).
With this win, Arsenal consolidated their lead in England with 29 points - six ahead of second-placed Chelsea and seven clear of third-placed Manchester City.
Losers: Ajax
Ajax lost at home to newly promoted Excelsior for the first time in club history, falling 2-1 with a brace from Noah Naujoks, despite a late goal from Kasper Dolberg.
This defeat came under interim coach Fred Grim, and after two weeks of preparation with almost the entire squad available. The Amsterdam side has already dropped 19 points this season, something that didn’t happen last year until matchday 32, which was May 11th. Ajax are currently sixth with 20 points, trailing leaders PSV Eindhoven by 14.