Gameweek 9: FotMob’s Top 10 — Goalkeepers, Set-Pieces and Late Winners

Gameweek 9 produced a chaotic Premier League weekend, with Arsenal the big winners, contenders slipping and Sunderland moving into the top four after a dramatic late win at Chelsea. FotMob’s list of the 10 highest-rated performers reflects how varied the influences were: match-winning late finishes, set-piece specialists and goalkeepers keeping clean sheets.

Liverpool were poor at the Gtech on Saturday, falling to Brentford. Dominik Szoboszlai was one of the few bright spots, carrying a Reds engine room that struggled against the hosts’ physicality, though his efforts went unrewarded. Szoboszlai’s 8.4 FotMob rating matched Matheus Cunha, who scored his first Manchester United goal in some style in their 4–2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion. Cunha has looked at ease in Ruben Amorim’s front three since returning from injury.

Burnley secured a last-gasp victory at the winless Wolverhampton Wanderers thanks to Lyle Foster’s late finish, but the early breakthroughs came from Quilindschy Hartman and Zian Flemming. Hartman provided a pair of assists at Molineux and looks like one of the more underrated signings of the summer. Flemming, whose loan was made permanent after 12 Championship goals last season, had been peripheral early in the campaign but scored Burnley’s first two goals in the 3–2 win. His opener was a first-time finish from a Hartman pass and he later outmuscled Santiago Bueno to poke home his second.

There was a three-way tie for fifth, with two goalkeepers and a midfielder on 8.6. Bournemouth’s Đorđe Petrović made four saves, prevented 0.81 expected goals and helped the Cherries to a 2–0 win over Nottingham Forest. Guglielmo Vicario followed an outstanding Champions League display with a first Premier League clean sheet since September 13, denying Iliman Ndiaye and Beto chances at Everton. Casemiro earned an 8.6 for Manchester United with a deflected strike that doubled the lead and 12 defensive contributions, including five recoveries.

Bruno Guimarães’s 90th-minute winner rescued Newcastle against Fulham as he rebounded William Osula’s saved effort for his third league goal of the season. Tottenham benefited from set-pieces as Micky van de Ven scored twice from corners in a 2–0 win over Everton and became the first Tottenham defender in 12 years to score a Premier League brace, with a clean sheet completing his day.