Manchester United have only two representatives in the Premier League Worst XI of the weekend, but Spurs – who were smashed by Wolves – have three.
As you already know, match ratings are taken from WhoScored.
GK: Altay Bayindir (Manchester United) – 4.94
Manchester United have a goalkeeper problem. Both signed by previous manager Erik ten Hag, Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir appear to have a bet on how long it takes Ruben Amorim to play Tom Heaton, or maybe even that old goalkeeper coach he would start over Marcus Rashford.
Given a chance between the sticks for the Red Devils’ trip to Newcastle United on Sunday, Bayindir fluffed his opportunity to show Amorim he is better than error-prone Onana. His distribution was poor and a misplaced chipped pass led to the Magpies’ fourth of the game. There were several other shaky moments and in terms of good old-fashioned goalkeeping, the Turkish international only made two saves.
Anyway, the focus is on Thursday, isn’t that right, Ruben?
CB: Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United) – 4.80
United right-centre-back Mazraoui somehow played even worse than Bayindir, though his error leading to a goal was more on the unlucky side, slipping to assist Harvey Barnes’ second of the afternoon.
Mazraoui was pretty decent under Ten Hag at the start of 2024/25 but is not thriving in Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system. Against Newcastle, he was dribbled past once, lost four of his five aerial duels and did not record any interceptions or dribbles of his own.
Bayindir and Mazraoui are somehow the only Man United players in the worst XI of the weekend; Rasmus Hojlund did have a worse rating than one of the included strikers but came off the bench, so we will cut him some rare slack.
READ MORE: ‘Donkey’ Ruben Amorim blamed after Man Utd ‘pitiful, brainless spectacle’
CB: Conor Coady (Leicester City) – 5.57
Conceded a penalty for handball, which Joao Pedro capitalised on to open the scoring for Brighton. Leicester did come Back Stronger to actually score not one, but two goals in a 2-2 draw.
Coady was booked for said handball, which pretty much made his inclusion a formality.
CB: Lewis Dunk (Brighton) – 5.43
The 3pm blackout makes it almost impossible to watch Premier League football but here at Football365 HQ, we always find a way. Trust us when we tell you that Lewis Dunk was a shambles against Leicester.
The Brighton captain committed an error leading to goal and was also yellow carded for his troubles.
RWB: Archie Gray (Tottenham Hotspur) – 5.62
Young Gray played right-back in Spurs’ shocking 4-2 defeat at Wolves on Sunday, which came three days after an unlucky draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League.
Gray had a tough time against Rayan Ait-Nouri, who scored Wolves’ opener and assisted their third of the game. The teenager was dispossessed twice, made zero tackles, clearances or dribbles and was dribbled past once.
LWB: Tyrick Mitchell (Crystal Palace) – 5.98
As is the case with Man United, we are pretty surprised only two Crystal Palace players are here. They were running riot at the Etihad, racing into an early 2-0 lead and having a third disallowed for a narrow offside against Eberechi Eze, which appeared to be the turning point. Had that goal stood, there is no chance Manchester City would have come from behind to win convincingly.
Kevin De Bruyne was the player of the match as he inspired an eventual 5-2 victory for the champions but the capitulating Palace players certainly played their part.
Mitchell had a tough day at left-wing-back and the algorithm was not a fan. He probably had a better game than right-wing-back Daniel Munoz but had a significantly worse match rating.
CM: Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace) – 5.57
Hooked at half-time on a yellow card, Kamada’s rotten maiden Premier League campaign is showing no signs of improving.
CM: Mateus Fernandes (Southampton) – 5.74
At what point do we make Southampton player ineligible for this? Let’s swiftly move on.
READ MORE: Liverpool have four (and Arsenal none) in Premier League XI of the season
CM: Lucas Bergvall (Tottenham Hotspur) – 5.33
It takes something pretty disastrous for a substitute to get the nod. An error leading to goal should suffice.
Spurs were bloody shocking and unlike Aston Villa’s substitutes against Southampton, theirs could not make a positive difference.
ST: Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur) – 5.65
Ah, Spurs. What are we going to do with you?
Wolves – yes, the Wolves team we have been relying on for an actual relegation battle – are now TWO points behind Postecoglou’s side. Seriously, what the f**k? Since Vitor Pereira’s arrival at Molineux, Wolves are eighth in the Premier League, while Spurs are one place above the bottom three. Thursday is make or break for Big Ange – lose that and he will surely get sacked within the next 12 hours, but win and Spurs are Europa League semi-finalists and still in with a shout of Champions League football next season.
Anyway, this is about individual performances, not shambolic clubs. Solanke was a bit pants in the 4-2 defeat at Wolves, hitting his only shot off target, recording 15 touches, completing zero dribbles, being dribbled past once, losing two out of two aerial duels, being dispossessed once and committing a silly four fouls.
ST: Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest) – 6.01
He probably wasn’t fully fit, was he?
Forest goal machine Wood recorded zero shots and only 13 touches in his side’s disappointing – but deserved – home defeat to David Moyes’ Everton. He was also dispossessed once, committed one foul and was called offside once, all while making zero dribbles and losing all three of his aerial duels.
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