Every week, we’ll be giving our take on the top 10 Premier League manager rankings.
On matchweek eight, it was Ruben Amorim who led the way after he masterminded an impressive victory over Liverpool to end Manchester United’s near decade-long wait for a win at Anfield.
Read on to find out who else caught the eye…
1) Ruben Amorim (Liverpool 1-2 Manchester United)
Premier League manager ranking points: 10
It was eight weeks ago, when he was spotted fiddling with a tactics board during Manchester United’s humbling League Cup defeat to Grimsby Town, that Ruben Amorim finally became a caricature of himself.
For months, the narrative around United had been dominated by the Portuguese manager’s slavish adherence to a tactical vision his players were ill-equipped to carry out, and the dismal results that inevitably followed. Now Amorim had unwittingly provided the world with an accompanying illustration. United had never before lost a League Cup tie to fourth-tier opposition; as Amorim played out the contest on a three-dimensional diagram, seemingly oblivious to the contest unfolding on the pitch, both club and manager became a laughing stock.
There was history of a different kind at stake last weekend at Liverpool. Having failed to win at Anfield since 2016, United arrived on Merseyside looking to reverse that trend by winning two straight matches for the first time since Amorim’s appointment last November. The outcome, a 2-1 victory courtesy of a late header from Harry Maguire after Cody Gakpo had cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo’s second-minute opener, could not have been sweeter for the beleaguered United boss, who succeeded where the likes of José Mourinho and Erik ten Hag had failed by getting his team selection, tactics and substitutions spot on.
Gary Neville was among those who questioned Amorim’s starting lineup, not unreasonably raising doubts about the ability of midfield duo Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro – not to mention defenders Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt – to cope with Liverpool’s pace and physicality. The wisdom of deploying Matheus Cunha as a false nine also occasioned debate, but in each case Amorim’s decisions were thoroughly vindicated.
Maguire delivered a man-of-the-match performance. De Ligt was outstanding. Fernandes crossed for the winning goal. Casemiro put in an industrious shift despite completing 90 minutes twice in five days for Brazil during the international break, while Cunha led Liverpool’s defenders a merry dance, creating space for fellow attackers Mbeumo and Mason Mount. Substitutes Manuel Ugarte and Patrick Dorgu respectively proved able understudies for Casemiro and the excellent Amad Diallo, while Benjamin Sesko brought a different attacking threat to Mount.
Amorim’s shrewd choice of personnel was allied with intelligent tactics. The long balls Liverpool manager Arne Slot had feared did indeed materialise, but the nature of United’s threat was less predictable than that tactic might have implied, with the emphasis on winning second balls and picking the right pass rather than trying to get behind Liverpool’s defence first time. As for United’s low block, the wisdom of Amorim’s strategy was underlined by the space that opened up for Liverpool on the rare occasions the visitors’ deviated from their tactics.
Amorim didn’t just make all the right decisions, he was also impressively level-headed afterwards, insisting United were the same team they had been 90 minutes earlier and remain a work in progress. He acknowledged that luck played a part in the outcome after Liverpool hit the woodwork three times, and hailed the composure of his players. It remains to be seen whether the result marks a corner turned or another false dawn, but either way the much-maligned Portuguese was undeniably the standout manager of matchday eight.
2) Mikel Arteta (Fulham 0-1 Arsenal)
Points: 9
Of the many ways to beat a bad habit, none is more effective than not allowing it to develop in the first place. With a draw and a defeat from their two most recent Premier League visits to Fulham, where they last won in March 2023, Arsenal travelled south seeking to avoid their worst run at Craven Cottage since the early 60s. Last season’s Thameside stalemate was one of 14 over the course of the campaign, so this was an important staging post for Mikel Arteta, a chance to see whether the attacking additions made over the summer could help to change some of those draws into wins.
In the event, though, it was not Eberechi Eze, Victor Gyökeres or the absent Noni Madueke who made the difference. The winning goal was instead crafted by a more familiar trio, Leandro Trossard turning in at the far post after Gabriel had flicked on Bukayo Saka’s corner. Combined with a characteristically solid defensive performance, it was enough to seal a victory that offered further evidence of the winning machine Arsenal have become under Arteta. The north London club finished the weekend three points clear of Manchester City, highlighting the importance of a result that extended their unbeaten run to eight matches across all competitions.
3) Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace 3-3 Bournemouth)
Points: 8
If proof were needed of the formidable attacking force Crystal Palace have become under Oliver Glasner, this was surely it. Two goals down at the break, Palace fought back to draw level, fell behind again a minute from time, then won a penalty at the death that Jean-Philippe Mateta converted to complete a second-half hat-trick. The defensive pragmatism that marked Roy Hodgson’s Selhurst Park tenure is no more.
Glasner’s side lead the way in the Premier League this season for shots on target, expected goals and big chances. An xG of 4.4 against high-flying Bournemouth was the highest Palace have produced in seven years, and had Mateta not fired over in the 99th minute, they would very nearly have made good on that projection. Either way, for a team that lost talismanic attacker Eberechi Eze to Arsenal this summer – barely a year after Michael Olise’s departure to Bayern Munich – Palace’s continued potency is a tribute to Glasner’s methods.
4) Scott Parker (Burnley 2-0 Leeds)
Points: 7
Without a Premier League victory in five games, Burnley could ill-afford to slip up when fellow promoted side Leeds came calling at Turf Moor. That they did not owed much to Scott Parker’s decision to abandon a strategy of playing five at the back and instead go with a 4-3-3 that ensured Burnley were not outnumbered in midfield. The prospect of a Leeds win plummeted from the moment Burnley took an early lead through Lesley Ugochokwu: in almost 18 months, only Liverpool have won at Turf Moor, and Parker’s pragmatic approach, which saw Leeds allowed to dominate possession, reaped further dividends when substitute Loum Tchaouna banged in a top-corner screamer from outside the box. Pretty, it was not; effective, it most certainly was, pulling the Clarets out of the drop zone ahead of a visit to basement club Wolves.
5) Régis Le Bris (Sunderland 2-0 Wolves)
Points: 6
With four wins and just two defeats from eight Premier League games following last season’s improbable playoff triumph, Régis Le Bris continues to work wonders at the Stadium of Light. Such has been the excellence of Sunderland under the Frenchman, It is hard to believe the club has been absent from the top-flight for eight seasons – much less that they were a League One side only three years ago. Le Bris has made a mockery of the notion that promoted clubs are doomed to return whence they came, with his success in fashioning a coherent outfit from the cast of thousands acquired this summer – well, 14 actually, but you get the idea – is testimony to his team-building skills.
Victory over Wolves, achieved courtesy of former Paris Saint-Germain defender Nordi Mukiele’s neat 16th-minute finish and a stoppage-time own goal from Czech international Ladislav Krejčí, lifted the Black Cats to the dizzy heights of seventh and put them a dozen points clear of the visitors. Le Bris hailed his side’s “mindset and togetherness” afterwards, a judgment he is well-placed to make after doing so much to instil those qualities,
6) Unai Emery (Spurs 1-2 Aston Villa)
Points: 5
After a miserable start to the Premier League campaign that brought just two points from five games, Unai Emery has steadied the ship nicely. A 2-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which appeared unlikely when the home side scored after just five minutes, gave Villa a third straight league win, lifting Emery’s side into the top half of the table for the first time this season. A timely result, with Manchester City set to visit Villa Park on Sunday ahead of a trip to Liverpool.
7) Fabian Hürzeler (Brighton 2-1 Newcastle)
Points: 4
Having finished in the top half of the table in three of the past four seasons, Brighton will rightly feel they can give anyone a game at the Amex Stadium. Even so, a 2-1 win over a Champions League side, achieved by dint of two goals from a 34-year-old striker, Danny Welbeck, is not to be sniffed at. Hürzeler admitted afterwards that he was minded to take Welbeck off after Nick Woltemade cancelled out the former Manchester United and Arsenal man’s opener. He didn’t, and his continued faith in Welbeck was rewarded with an 84th-minute winner.
8) Pep Guardiola (Manchester City 2-0 Everton)
Points: 3
Should Manchester City be beating Everton at home? Yes. Are they able to call upon one of the most deadly strikers on the planet in Erling Haaland? Absolutely. Does the pedigree of City’s expensively assembled side dwarf the majority of their rivals? Without a doubt. None of which alters the fact that, after a difficult start to the season which brought two losses from three league games, Pep Guardiola has since masterminded a haul of 13 points from a possible 15, quietly manoeuvring his side into title contention. Again.
9) Keith Andrews (West Ham 0-2 Brentford)
Points: 2
The odds were stacked in Brentford’s favour at the London Stadium. Nuno Espírito Santo’s first home game as West Ham manager was overshadowed by fan unrest, and the home side were an utter shambles. But a derby is still a derby, and even points that are there for the taking still have to be taken. Keith Andrews kept his players focused and professional, and was rewarded with a fine performance and a first away win of the season.
10) Enzo Maresca (Nottingham Forest 0-3 Chelsea)
Points: 1
With Enzo Maresca serving a touchline ban, Chelsea’s disciplinary problems were further magnified when Malo Gusto became the recipient of the club’s third red card of the Premier League season. Despite the ultimately comfortable scoreline, the Italian’s side were abysmal in the first half. Maresca nonetheless deserves some credit for making a trio of half-time changes – including the belated introduction of key midfielder Moisés Caicedo – that turned the game in Chelsea’s favour and rang the death knell on Ange Postecoglou’s brief tenure as Forest manager.
