On Monday night, James Maddison (25) was on top form for Leicester City as he scored twice and assisted another to see the Foxes beat East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest 4-0.
The No.10 has been overlooked for past England squads, but his performance at the King Power Stadium once again showed why so many are touting him for a call-up to the World Cup squad.
His first goal was a deflection, the second a lovely pinpoint free-kick that gave Dean Henderson no chance even though the strike went to his side.
More striking though was Maddison’s positioning. Playing off the right wing, for much of the game, he gave Renan Lodi a torrid time, culminating in the assist for Patson Daka (23) late on.
His creativity and influence on the game, especially in tight spaces, is so valuable to Leicester City. In 2022, he has 19 goal contributions, seven of them coming this season, the same as Jack Grealish, Mason Mount and Jadon Sancho combined. For a struggling team like the Foxes, this can only be applauded.
In Qatar, England are likely to come up against defensively set teams in the group stages, meaning players like Maddison are more crucial to success than pacier players that manager Gareth Southgate favours. Whether the pragmatism of Southgate’s philosophy will allow this remains to be seen.
But given the former Norwich City man’s versatility and dynamism in the final third, surely he can’t do much more than this to earn his spot on the plane to the Middle East.
The win for Leicester alleviates some of the pressure on manager Brendan Rodgers. The Northern Irishman will hope the thrashing of Forest - their first league win of the campaign - can springboard his side up the table. For Steve Cooper, he cut a forlorn figure on the touchline.
On Tuesday morning, there was already talk of the Forest manager being relieved of his duties with the name of Rafa Benitez being touted as his successor. It would feel a strange decision to sack Cooper given the incredible spending spree they made over the summer, but if a manager can pull a cohesive and defensively sound unit together from that, then Benitez would be one of the first names to mind.
The sack race is heating up around the league too. Bruno Lage was let go from Wolves before the weekend, and it feels a few Premier League clubs are soon to make the same decision. Ralph Hasenhuttl at Southampton is another who is reportedly losing confidence with his board, something Flashscore looked into on Monday.
One man who is secure in his job is Pep Guardiola. The Manchester City boss oversaw a 6-3 victory against heated rivals Manchester United on Sunday, Haaland again running rampant, netting his third hat-trick in a row at the Etihad Stadium. He is on pace for 70 goals if he keeps up his scoring record, a sight that could be great for City fans, but not so fun for the rest of the league.
Given City’s dominance so far, these robotic performances from Haaland could see some Premier League fans switching off. Once dubbed the most competitive league in the world could soon be a cakewalk for the financial and footballing might of the blue half of Manchester.
They play Southampton on the weekend and who would bet against City scoring more than six on the south coast to compile misery further onto Hasenhuttl.
GOAL OF THE WEEK
City may have scored six against United, but the best goal of the game - and the week - came from United’s Antony (22). A sweet left-footed effort from 25 yards gave the diving Ederson no chance as the ball nestled into the bottom corner.
The celebrations from the Brazilian were obviously muted given the circumstances, but with two goals in two games for the Old Trafford side, he is quietly having a good start to his career in the Premier League.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Another hat-trick hero takes this honour this week, as Leandro Trossard (27) showed new Brighton & Hove Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi what he is all about as his side drew 3-3 against Liverpool in an entertaining encounter at Anfield.
All three goals with his left foot, Trossard capped off a thrilling attacking performance from the Seagulls, who showed great movement, precision and clinical finishing to show there is a lot of life to this team after Graham Potter left for Chelsea.
