Chelsea’s Loan Army continues to tick along rather nicely now that we’re really getting into the swing of the season, and added a pair of goals this weekend from two midfielders who know where the back of the net is.
Headliners
The first of those came courtesy of Lewis Baker, who scored for the second time in Middlesbrough colours and the first in the league, in a 3-2 win versus QPR on Saturday. He found acres of space on a swift counter-attack and produced a composed finish after collecting Marvin Johnson’s pass.
On Sunday, Mario Pašalić also grabbed his second goal since joining Spartak Moscow on loan for the season. Having made his Champions League debut in midweek in a 1-1 draw away to Maribor, the Croatian retained his place in midfield for the trip to Tosno and rewarded manager Massimo Carrera with a goal to put Spartak 2-0 up midway through the second half.
Unfortunately, a poor second-half display saw them only come away with a 2-2 draw.
England
Premier League
Ruben Loftus-Cheek caught the eye on his return from injury as he got 78 minutes for Crystal Palace under new manager Roy Hodgson in a 1-0 defeat to Southampton. He twice went close to scoring himself in a powerful first-half display, whilst he also laid on two gilt-edged chances for team-mates either side of half time with Christian Benteke once again guilty of spurning the better of them.
Tammy Abraham also produced an encouraging display for Swansea as Paul Clement’s boys earned a 0-0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. The 19 year-old was often isolated in attack and had to do a lot of hard running for the team, but did so with a maturity and a work ethic that belied his tender years, and the experience will have served him well for the long season ahead.
Kurt Zouma was somewhat less assured as Stoke lost 2-1 at Newcastle; the Frenchman could arguably have been sent off for a professional foul on former loan army star Christian Atsu, only to receive the benefit of the doubt from the referee, but he’ll have better days for sure.
Izzy Brown remains injured at Brighton whilst edging closer to a return, whilst Kasey Palmer is also on the sidelines at Huddersfield with a hamstring injury of his own. Initial reports from manager David Wagner suggested he could be out until 2018 but, after further tests, the England Under-21 midfielder could return in a matter of weeks.
Championship
Jeremie Boga has played less than half a dozen matches for Birmingham City and he’s already facing up to the prospect of working for another manager. Harry Redknapp departed St Andrew’s this week after two more defeats left him winless this season and Boga, who has played every possible minute since swapping Chelsea blue for Birmingham blue, will wait to see who his new boss will be for 2017-18.
It was an equally frustrating week for the trio of defenders stationed up at Hull City. Michael Hector, Ola Aina and Fikayo Tomori all started away to Fulham and at home to Sunderland, but the Tigers could only take one point from six available, and find themselves stuck firmly in the bottom half of the league after eight matches. Tomori, at least, has impressed in his first two outings for the club, and looks set to become a key player in trying to turn things around.
Tomas Kalas helped Fulham to a 2-1 win in the first of those matches, but Fulham’s early-season inconsistency continued with a reverse by the same scoreline away to Burton three days later. Lucas Piazon is injured for the foreseeable future.
Iké Ugbo sat out Barnsley’s League Cup exit at the hands of Derby County but returned to play 45 minutes against John Terry and Aston Villa at the weekend. Villa won 3-0 but the young forward should have scored a late consolation, dragging wide from a position that demanded a more clinical finish.
Jamal Blackman kept his third clean sheet for Sheffield United away to Bolton in a 1-0 midweek win, but was beaten by a smart goal from Yanic Wildschut in a single-goal defeat at home to Norwich City on Saturday.
League One
After an impressive start to their League One season, Charlton came back to earth with a bump this week as they suffered defeats against Wigan and Gillingham. Jay Dasilva was on the pitch for every second of both and, like the rest of his Addicks team-mates, wasn’t quite as good as he has been so far this term.
Jordan Houghton played 72 minutes for Doncaster away to Rochdale in midweek but wasn’t included in the squad for their weekend defeat against Scunthorpe, likely as part of his long-term rehab from injury and not pushing his match load quite this soon.
League Two
Forest Green Rovers were beaten 1-0 at home by Lincoln on Tuesday in a match where Brad Collins was accused of spitting at one of the Lincoln players. The goalkeeper was cleared of any wrongdoing and played his part in helping Rovers to a draw away to Port Vale on Saturday.
Charlie Wakefield is yet to link up with Stevenage and is not expected to do so until October.
Non-League
Nathan Baxter recorded his first Woking clean sheet at the 11th attempt this week; after helping the Cards to a 2-1 win over his former club Solihull Moors in midweek, he pitched an excellent performance and a shutout against Sutton United on Saturday in a 2-0 win that catapulted the club up into the top half of the league.
Jared Thompson and Chippenham suffered back-to-back defeats away from home this week; firstly to Truro in National League South action, then 1-0 at Weymouth to end their FA Cup adventure for ’17-18.
Netherlands
Vitesse, as has become tradition, used their first home fixture of September to honour the British 1st Airborne Division, and did so with a 1-1 draw against VVV Venlo three days after their Europa League opener against Lazio.
Their performance against the Italians was impressive, and they twice led only to lose late on, but it was a display that will give them optimism of being able to challenge for qualification in the group. Fankaty Dabo and Matt Miazga both started – Dabo was especially impressive – with Charlie Colkett coming off the bench, and the same occurred against VVV on Sunday.
Unfortunately, Colkett’s introduction came at Dabo’s expense, whilst Mason Mount only got off the bench late in the Lazio match.
Marco van Ginkel captained PSV to a 1-0 win over champions Feyenoord.
Todd Kane, who turned 24 this weekend, played 90 minutes at wing-back for Groningen in a 2-1 defeat away to NAC Breda.
Belgium
Victorien Angban played 76 minutes as Waasland-Beveren drew 2-2 away to Charleroi.
France
Nathan made his debut for Amiens as an 81st-minute substitute in a 2-0 defeat at home to Marseille.
Russia
Josimar Quintero was an unused substitute for Rostov in their 2-0 defeat at CSKA Moscow.
Turkey
Kenneth Omeruo came on as a 67th-minute substitute for Kasimpasa in their 2-0 defeat at Galatasaray.
Serbia
Danilo Pantic played a minute of Partizan’s Europa League draw with Young Boys in midweek and was back on the bench on Sunday against Radnicki.
Mexico
Joao Rodriguez was not involved as Tampico Madero were beaten 1-0 away to Leones Negros.
Statistics
Started: July 15th
Finished: May 26th
| Player | Club | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe/Cont | Other | Mins Played | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Tammy Abraham | Swansea City | 30 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1971 | 37 | 8 |
| Ola Aina | Hull City | 44 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4003 | 47 | 1 |
| Victorien Angban | Waasland-Beveren | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2349 | 31 | 1 |
| Lewis Baker | Middlesbrough | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 790 | 14 | 2 |
| Michy Batshuayi | Dortmund | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1169 | 14 | 9 |
| Jeremie Boga | Birmingham City | 30 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2190 | 33 | 2 |
| Isaiah Brown | Brighton | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 401 | 15 | 0 |
| Jake Clarke-Salter | Sunderland | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 490 | 9 | 0 |
| Charlie Colkett | Vitesse Arnhem | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 293 | 11 | 0 |
| Cristian Cuevas | FC Twente | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1968 | 24 | 0 |
| Fankaty Dabo | Vitesse Arnhem | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2625 | 33 | 0 |
| Jay Dasilva | Charlton Athletic | 39 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3483 | 43 | 0 |
| Marco van Ginkel | PSV | 28 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2874 | 33 | 16 |
| Michael Hector | Hull City | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3054 | 37 | 1 |
| Jordan Houghton | Doncaster Rovers | 37 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3170 | 39 | 1 |
| Tomas Kalas | Fulham | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2609 | 36 | 0 |
| Todd Kane | Groningen | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 571 | 10 | 0 |
| Todd Kane | Oxford United | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1530 | 17 | 3 |
| Kenedy | Newcastle United | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 869 | 11 | 2 |
| Ruben Loftus-Cheek | Crystal Palace | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1965 | 25 | 2 |
| Matt Miazga | Vitesse Arnhem | 36 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3659 | 43 | 4 |
| Mason Mount | Vitesse Arnhem | 32 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2915 | 39 | 14 |
| Charly Musonda | Celtic | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 335 | 8 | 0 |
| Nathan | Amiens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 2 | 0 |
| Nathan | Belenenses | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 496 | 13 | 2 |
| Kenneth Omeruo | Kasimpasa | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2407 | 27 | 1 |
| Kasey Palmer | Huddersfield Town | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 243 | 5 | 0 |
| Kasey Palmer | Derby County | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 473 | 16 | 2 |
| Danilo Pantic | Partizan Belgrade | 31 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3146 | 46 | 5 |
| Mario Pašalić | Spartak Moscow | 21 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1656 | 30 | 5 |
| Lucas Piazon | Fulham | 23 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1360 | 25 | 6 |
| Josimar Quintero | FC Rostov | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 0 |
| Josimar Quintero | Real Betis B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 5 | 0 |
| Baba Rahman | Schalke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 0 |
| Joao Rodriguez | Tampico Madero | 21 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1727 | 23 | 8 |
| Fikayo Tomori | Hull City | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2152 | 26 | 0 |
| Iké Ugbo | Barnsley | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 909 | 18 | 1 |
| Iké Ugbo | Milton Keynes | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1161 | 17 | 2 |
| Kurt Zouma | Stoke City | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3038 | 34 | 1 |
| Total | 64255 | 898 | 99 | |||||||||||
| Player | Club | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Mins Played | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Cln Sht | Apps | Cln Sht | Apps | Cln Sht | Apps | Cln Sht | Apps | Cln Sht | Apps | Cln Sht | |||
| Nathan Baxter | Woking | 42 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4320 | 48 | 7 |
| Mitchell Beeney | Sligo Rovers | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 990 | 11 | 2 |
| Jamal Blackman | Sheffield United | 30 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2727 | 32 | 9 |
| Brad Collins | Forest Green Rovers | 40 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3839 | 43 | 8 |
| Jared Thompson | Chippenham Town | 40 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3960 | 44 | 11 |
| Total | 15746 | 177 | 37 | |||||||||||