Best player, surprise team, and biggest howler in the EPL so far

Who's cooking, who's having a howler, and who's shocking the league thus far in the Prem season?

Through seven match weeks in the English Premier League season, we now have a decent enough sample size of footy to make some judgements on what we have seen thus far. So, who is the best player in the league right now? Which team has come out of nowhere and taken the league by storm? And who has been having an absolute shocker and performed well below their standards? Let’s dig in.

Best player: Cole Palmer (Chelsea)

This was pretty easy, to be honest. Cole Palmer has embodied his iconic celebration perfectly this season — coldest lad on the pitch every time he steps on it.

I’m running out of words to describe just how good the young Englishmen has been for the Blues. With 6 goals and 5 assists already, Palmer has continued his incredible run of good form that began last season, when he put his stamp on the Premier League after scoring 22 goals and adding 11 assists on an otherwise dreadful 2023 Chelsea squad. And with his performances early on this season, he has announced that he’s here to stay.

It’s hard to pick just one performance that has stood out this season for Palmer, but the obvious selection has to be his four-goal first half against Brighton. The flurry of goals was the first time in Premier League history that a player scored that many goals in the opening half of a match. And it’s not just the sheer quantity of goals and assists that he has produced, but also the quality and variety that makes Palmer such a singular talent. In the Brighton match alone, he scored a penalty, a delectable free kick into the top bins, an open netter, and a tight near post finish that looked more like a pure striker’s finish than an attacking midfielder.

The lad just has it all in his locker, and that’s why he’s my player of the season so far.

Surprise team: Fulham

I could have gone with Brighton here, but I just think what manager Andre Silva and his Cottagers are doing this season is a bit more surprising than what the Gulls have done on the south coast. We have seen Brighton challenge for European football in recent years and even finish in the Europa League places in 2022 under Roberto De Zerbi. But what we’re seeing from Fulham early on is something that not many people would have expected. Fulham are currently in 8th place in the Prem, with a trademark win over Newcastle and a quality performance against Manchester City that probably should have resulted in a point.

But beyond just the results, what has been most surprising and impressive from Fulham has been their ability to replace one of the best midfielders in the league, in Joao Palhinha, who left for Bayern Munich in the summer transfer window. Director of football operations, Tony Khan, truly deserves his flowers for the way he replaced the hole Palhinha’s departure left, with the addition of Sander Berge from Burnley this summer and the signing of Sasa Lukic from Torino last year. Both of which have been instrumental in solidifying the center of the park. But that’s not where Khan’s work stopped. He also added attacking midfielder Emile Smith Rowe from Arsenal and center defender Joachim Anderson from Crystal Palace to add both goals and stout defending to the side.

The result? One of the most fun sides to watch in the EPL, and the biggest overachiever thus far.

Stinker: Manchester United

This should come as a surprise to almost no one. Arguably the biggest club in the world, Manchester United have just eight points in seven matches and currently sit in 14th place in the Premier League. It’s just not good enough. Manager Erik ten Hag has seen his fair share of vitriol in the media and from United supporters, and to be fair, it’s more than warranted. And perhaps the biggest indictment on the Red Devils is the fact that they have looked utterly lifeless in their two biggest matches of the season thus far: a pair of 3-0 defeats to Liverpool and Tottenham. The worst part? The matches were at home. On two separate occasions, their rivals came into Old Trafford and took over their trap without as much as a pillow fight in resistance from United. And while they have had some solid performances from individual players, like young Argentinian winger Alejandro Garnacho, the team as a whole has been nothing short of shocking.

If ten Hag wants to keep his job, the results are going to have to start turning — and fast. A loss to Brentford at home today could very well be the breaking point. And if I were a betting man, there’s no way I would take United in that fixture.