Premier League talking points: Chelsea strikers, Everton fans and Arsenal's number 1

The Premier League continued this weekend with the final set of fixtures before the end of the transfer window - Manchester City continued a strong start to their title defence while Arne Slot made his Anfield bow. From VAR scandals on the south coast to fan fury in the northwest, here are five of the biggest talking points from matchweek two.

Madueke becomes most hated man in Wolverhampton

Chelsea’s Pedro Neto might have expected to be the target of most of the crowd’s attention at his former home Molineux this week, but teammate Noni Madueke neatly captured attention with an embarrassing social media gaffe.

The midfielder didn’t mince his words when sharing his opinion on the city of Wolverhampton in a now-deleted social media post on Saturday which read “Everything about this place is s***.” He quickly took it down, saying it was a mistake, but the damage was done and he was vigorously booed by the crowd at the Molineux with every touch on the ball. It was he who had the last word, though - after a thrilling first half ended 2-2, he pounced on three Cole Palmer assists in less than twenty minutes to put the game to bed with a brilliant hat-trick. New signing João Félix added a sixth to end the match 6-2 to Chelsea.

With the Blues famously needing to clear out players by the time the transfer window shuts, Madueke has made an excellent case to keep his place at Stamford Bridge. He apologised after the match for what he called a “human mistake”, saying: “I'm sure Wolverhampton is a nice town and I'm sorry.” It was certainly a fun visit for him, but Wolves fans won’t want to see him back any time soon.

Bournemouth manager Iraola “most frustrated I've been” after late VAR controversy denies Cherries win

Newcastle fans might have felt VAR owed them one after last week’s controversial red card for Fabian Schär, and this week the powers that be at Stockley Park seemed to be firmly on their side as they emerged with a 1-1 draw from their clash with Bournemouth.

Eddie Howe’s former side made life extremely difficult for the Magpies with Marcus Tavernier putting them ahead in the first half before Anthony Gordon equalised deep into the second. A point probably would have sounded like a good outcome for Bournemouth before the game - but fans felt they deserved all three points after Dango Ouattara put the ball in the back of the net in stoppage time.

A lengthy VAR check, however, adjudged the effort to be a “factual handball” and ruled his winner out, even though many felt the goal had come off Ouattara’s shoulder and should have stood.

Newcastle had a stroke of luck minutes later as well when Joelinton wiped out Bournemouth keeper Neto with an arm round the neck, drawing comparisons online to WWE. If Magpies fans felt Schär’s red card last week was harsh, the karmic scales have certainly been evened out now. Eddie Howe said after the match: “You could see what he is trying to do - he's trying to stop the keeper - but you can't go near the head area. That's something we will talk to him about."

Andoni Iraola, meanwhile, said he was “the most frustrated I’ve been on a touchline” after Ouattara’s effort was ruled out. “(The referee) heard me complain but it’s not against him. He cannot do much more. He’s not the one who made a mistake today.”

He was booked for his protests and, somewhat ironically, another member of Bournemouth’s staff was dismissed for his reaction to Joelinton’s challenge.

Raya remarkable as other keepers flounder

Arsenal’s David Raya will run away with the title for best goalkeeping performance of the weekend after his stellar saves against Aston Villa. After a few high-profile errors last year that called his number one spot over Aaron Ramsdale into question, the Spaniard has thoroughly impressed at the start of this campaign.

He made an unbelievable save to deny Ollie Watkins from point-blank range with impossibly fast reactions after being left on the floor from a leap for Amadou Onana’s effort. He and Liverpool’s Alisson are the only two keepers to boast clean sheets for the season so far.

Raya’s starring moment stood somewhat in contrast with Emi Martínez in the Villa goal; just a few days after claiming he had become the “best in the world” at Villa, the Argentinian got both hands to but failed to keep out Thomas Partey’s strike which gave Arsenal their final score of 2-0. Fans of his former club mercilessly taunted him from the stands.

Elsewhere in the league, it was a weekend to forget for goalies. Jordan Pickford made some strong early stops to keep out Cristian Romero, Son Heung-Min, and James Maddison in Everton’s visit to London - but all that was forgotten after his heavy touch allowed Son to score Tottenham’s second of the game. Things went from bad to worse as the encounter ended 4-0 to Spurs, with the fourth slipping through Pickford’s legs.

New Ipswich Town keeper Arijanet Muric gave fans cause for despair in their encounter with Manchester City, gifting the champions their second goal when he was too slow to get rid of the ball on the edge of his own box. He made a super save to temporarily deny Erling Haaland his third goal in the second half, finishing the game 4-1, but that won’t be what his performance is remembered for.

Haaland continues to climb record tables at frightening pace

We’re all so used to seeing Erling Haaland score goals by now that it’s sometimes necessary to take a step back and remind ourselves what a machine he is. The Norwegian international has taken the Premier League by the scruff of the neck since moving to Manchester City in 2022 and continues to dismantle sides one at a time.

Ipswich Town were his latest victims; they poked the bear by taking an early lead through Sammie Szmodics and provoked a thunderous response from City. Szmodics’ opener was in the 7th minute; in the 12th, Haaland rifled home a penalty to level the scores. Two minutes later, Kevin De Bruyne capitalised on keeper Muric’s error to put them ahead, and another two minutes after that, Haaland latched onto De Bruyne’s ball over the top and made a finish on the half-volley from a tight angle look routine.

He continued to hammer on the door for the rest of the game and was eventually rewarded with his third just before full time, earning him a seventh Premier League hattrick. It means he climbs to eighth in the all-time hat-trick rankings for the division after only 68 appearances - Sergio Aguero is top with 23, but that took him 275 matches. If Haaland continues at his current rate of a hattrick every ten league games, he could break that record in less than half the games it took Aguero to achieve it.

Mixed emotions on Merseyside as Everton fans’ anger spills over

It was a tale of two clubs once again in Liverpool this weekend. On his Anfield league debut, Arne Slot guided his team to a convincing 2-0 victory over Brentford - and his no-nonsense approach was noted. Trent Alexander-Arnold attracted some attention when he didn’t look impressed at being substituted off, but the Dutch manager was calm in the face of what could have been controversy, simply explaining: “We have to take care of him, because we need him for the whole season, not just the first few games.”

He also appeared to speak to Alexander-Arnold directly on the bench. The end of the match saw no celebratory fist-pumping in front of the Kop, but a quick round of applause and wave to supporters. It was a no-fuss, no-problem start to Slot’s Anfield reign.

Meanwhile on the blue side of Liverpool, the mood couldn’t have been more different. Sean Dyche’s Everton continued their terrible start to the season by slumping to a 4-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, meaning they’ve lost their first two games by three or more goals for the first time in their history. Fans were furious at the performance and some made their feelings known in no uncertain terms as the team returned home on Sunday night.

It was an ugly scene and one that prompted condemnation from striker Neal Maupay, who wrote on X: "Imagine another job where it’s normalised to get abuse like this. Hanging around at a train station to scream at men who are trying their best."

Plenty of supporters were quick to make it clear that those in the video represented a minority of the fan base.

As the season continues, Toffees fans will hope things can only get better from here.