No Kane, no problem as Son shines: Premier League talking points

London — When Harry Kane jumped ship from Tottenham Hotspur as the season was about to start, many would have predicted something of a goal drought at the north London club.

And when Kane’s former strike partner Son Heung-min failed to score in the first three games of the season, Spurs’ fans would have been fearing the worst.

But Son answered in the best way possible with a superb hat-trick against Burnley at the weekend to send Tottenham’s fans home content and with hope of a better season than last.

These and other talking points from the fourth weekend of the Premier League season.

Son shining after Kane break-up: Son Heung-min without Harry Kane feels a little like Laurel without Hardy but the break-up of the lethal duo appears to have galvanised the South Korean.

The Tottenham forward combined with Kane for a record 47 goals in the Premier League, but rather than struggle without his partner in crime, the evidence suggests that he could take his game to new heights.

He failed to score in the opening three league games of the season but exploded back into life with a clinical hat-trick in the 5-2 win over Burnley on Saturday.

It was not just his goals though, he now wears the captain’s armband with pride and the attacking system employed by manager Ange Postecoglou means Son now has many more link-up options with James Maddison and Manor Solomon combining lethally with him at Turf Moor.

“Sonny, whether he’s playing central or wide, has got all the characteristics. He can play in any system, but the way we play, he’s ideal,” Postecoglou said.

Are Liverpool back in business? Despite the swirling Saudi rumours about talisman Mohamed Salah and a summer rebuild, Liverpool appear to be back in business after their struggles of last season.

Jurgen Klopp’s side made a decent Aston Villa team look positively average in an easy 3-0 win on Sunday to join three other teams on 10 points, two behind Manchester City.

It was the third straight win for Liverpool who are now 15 games unbeaten in the Premier League and are again looking capable of renewing their challenge to City’s domination.

“Top game. Best for a while — a long time,” Klopp said. “We looked really good. The mix in possession between control and direction was close to perfect.”

After last season’s fall from grace, salvaged somewhat with a late surge, Liverpool revamped the midfield, adding talented young trio Dominik Szoboszlai, who scored his first goal for the club on Sunday, Alexis MacAllister and Ryan Gravenberch and the experienced Japan international Wataru Endo and there is suddenly a new energy about the team.

Ferguson the latest jewel in Brighton's crown: Irish teenager Evan Ferguson’s superb hat-trick to give Brighton & Hove Albion a 3-1 win over a hapless Newcastle United is likely to make him the next big transfer target from the south-coast club.

Already on the radar of plenty of big clubs, the 18-year-old signed a contract in April until 2028, but his performance on Saturday suggests that he could be gone sooner.

His goals showed a mix of poacher’s instinct and superb skill, but it is his all-round intelligent play in the striking role that will make him even more attractive. That he is so young makes him all the more intriguing, and given Brighton’s record of improving young players before selling them on, he may well be able to add more to his game before a big-money move.

Man United’s dire away form continues: Erik ten Hag said he saw positive signs after his team’s 3-1 defeat at Arsenal on Sunday in which his side conceded twice deep into stoppage time — but the Dutchman knows that Manchester United simply must start winning matches away from home.

United managed one away win against teams in the top 10 last season and so far this season they have already returned pointless from trips to Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.

While they have plenty of attacking threats, United still seem unable to control matches away from Old Trafford and Ten Hag will doubtless spend the international break trying to work out exactly why that is.

“I think on the ball we were calm but there is room for improvement. We missed some passes forward and could have hurt them more,” Ten Hag said of defeat at The Emirates.

Relentless City already putting pressure on rivals: Declan Rice’s comments after scoring one of two late goals that helped Arsenal beat Manchester United on Sunday were telling.

Just four games into the season Rice was acutely aware that had they not won the game they would have already been four points behind champions Manchester City.

“I think if we are being honest, Man City have won four out of four. If we didn’t win today, we would have been four points behind. To win that today was a must-win,” Rice said.

City are the only team to have a maximum 12 points and all those teams jostling beneath them know that Pep Guardiola’s side will offer few gifts this season, meaning the margin for error in the title race will again be wafer thin.

Reuters