Every Premier League Team's Biggest Flaw So Far for the 2024-25 Season

At the six-game stage of the 2024-25 Premier League season, there's already plenty to observe about the teams in England's top flight—both good and bad.

Only Manchester City and Arsenal remain undefeated, but no team has a perfect record. Meanwhile, five others have yet to pick up a win.

While things are undoubtedly looking better for some teams than others, there is still something to fix at every club. It's just how quickly those issues are remedied that will shape the remainder of the campaign.

Ahead, we've listed one flaw for every Premier League team.

Whether you think the red cards for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard were deserved or not, Arsenal have still gone down to 10 men twice this season, leaving the team shorthanded for nearly 45 minutes or more on both occasions.

Incredibly, both reds were issued after the players picked up their second yellow for kicking the ball away. Lessons obviously weren't learned.

Both games, one against Brighton & Hove Albion and one against Manchester City, resulted in draws, which will be damaging in the title race even this early in the season.

The Gunners have also picked up 17 yellow cards, the joint-eighth worst total in the league.

The north Londoners have already been criticized for using football's "dark arts" this season, notably in the City game, but they'll need to rein in those instincts a bit if they want to keep 11 men on the pitch for 90 minutes.

Aston Villa may have won four out of six games this season—good for fifth place in the early going—but they've also conceded first in four out of six matches.

The latter quartet ended in two wins, a draw and a loss, demonstrating that the Villans have only dropped points in games in which they've gone behind.

Credit where it's due for earning a win from a losing position on two of those occasions, but digging yourself a hole is never helpful. Villa need to put down the shovel.

Manager Andoni Iraola won himself plenty of admirers in his first year in England. In the typically difficult second season, the jury remains out.

An even split of two wins, two draws and two defeats is perhaps the definition of a mid-table club, and given Bournemouth's history in the top flight, that's likely a more-than-acceptable trajectory.

After the loss of top scorer Dominic Solanke, that the Cherries are even in the win column at all is a welcome development.

While how they've performed so far can be deemed acceptable, especially given the circumstances, stringing together a few wins on the bounce will help to shake the feelings of mediocrity.

Brentford have scored within the first minute in three consecutive Premier League games. They went on to lose two and draw one.

While defeats to Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur don't look so bad on paper, it must be disappointing to see leads frittered away so quickly. By the 32nd minute in both games, they were 2-1 down.

In the draw against West Ham United, they held on until the 54th minute before being pegged back, so some progress might be being made.

It looks like some training-ground routines have helped the Bees to those fast starts, overloading one flank at kick-off and hoping a long ball from the back pays off. But it's obvious a bit of resilience needs to be instilled to keep those surprising advantages in tact.

Brighton & Hove Albion have had two games in which they had a man advantage, including for nearly half the game against Arsenal. But they were unable to convert that into a victory on either occasion.

In fairness, they only had around 10 minutes to capitalize on their greater numbers against Nottingham Forest, but they will still be kicking themselves for not grabbing the initiative.

The Seagulls' promising start to the campaign has ground to a bit of a halt, drawing three times and losing once after back-to-back wins to get the season going.

However, it could have been 13 points and at least a fifth-place spot if they had just a little more ruthlessness about them.

For a club that has been shambolic for the last few seasons, Chelsea's four wins from six is a welcome return to relevance for the west London side.

However, they've only kept two clean sheets so far, conceding the joint-third most goals (7) among teams in the top 10.

Despite seemingly hoarding goalkeepers, the Blues haven't quite got things right in that position yet. Robert Sanchez has been between the sticks in every game so far, but he's looked far from convincing.

Conceding twice against both Brighton and Wolverhampton Wanderers took the sheen off games in which they scored four and six, respectively.

If the Blues really want to be taken seriously as challengers for the top four or even the title, tightening things up at the back must be a priority.

The good will Crystal Palace and manager Oliver Glasner picked up from their remarkable run of form at the end of last season has all but dissipated, with the club winless after six games and picking up just three points. Their goal total of five is also the joint-second worst in the league.

While their eagle mascot might be known for its aerial prowess, it might be better for the team to spend a little more time on the ground.

The Eagles' 18.3 aerial duels lost per game this season is 2.5 worse than any other Premier League team, and 9.5 worse than the best in the league (Liverpool, 8.8).

Surprisingly, though, the Selhurst Park side also average the fourth-most aerial duels won per game this season at 14.5.

But heading hasn't exactly been a strong suit of Palace's for a while. The four headed goals scored by the club last season was the worst of any team in the league aside from relegated Sheffield United (three). They haven't netted by this method this season yet, either.

The Eagles might need their wings clipped.

It seems Everton are challenging themselves to find the most creative ways to drop points this season.

Against Bournemouth, the Toffees were cruising to a 2-0 home win with less than five minutes of normal time remaining. They lost 3-2.

A visit to Aston Villa the following week brought the same scenario, although the capitulation wasn't as rapid. A 2-0 lead after 27 minutes was undone by Villa goals in the 36th, 58th and 76th minutes.

After holding a 1-0 lead against Leicester City for nearly an hour, they succumbed to a 73rd-minute equaliser against likely relegation rivals.

But there's hope yet. Last time out against Crystal Palace, they conceded first but came back to win 2-1.

Maybe that's the secret. Perhaps being in a sticky situation is better for the Toffees.

Every team but one has scored from a set-piece this Premier League season, with Fulham being the lone outlier.

The Cottagers have started the season brightly, sitting in sixth after their opening six games. But they've only scored eight goals, at an average of 1.3 per game.

To maintain this relatively lofty standing, they'll need to up their hit rate, and set-pieces provide a perfect opportunity to do so.

It's hard to fault Fulham too much for the way they've started the campaign, performing above expectations and keeping things tight at the back. But adding a few more goals will be essential as they fight to return to European football next season.

Ipswich Town have been dogged and determined in their Premier League return, but that's not resulted in a win just yet.

It's now four consecutive draws for the Tractor Boys after a brutal start that featured back-to-back losses against Liverpool and Manchester City.

Every point will be vital in this campaign for the East Anglia club, but they'll be desperate to pick up three in one go.

Liam Delap has started the season in fine form, and he'll need to inspire the team to a win sooner rather than later to get the wheels rolling.

Leicester City have scored eight goals this season, despite taking a league-worst 8.7 shots per game.

The Foxes' xG difference is actually the highest in the league at 2.62 (suggesting they've scored more than they should have) and only one of four in positive digits. The teams following them on that list in order: Chelsea, Manchester City and Aston Villa.

That's fine company to be in. However, while those three teams are sitting in the top five, Leicester are in the bottom quintet.

While demonstrating remarkable efficiency when they actually do take shots, it seems Leicester should be taking more of them in the hunt for their first win of the season.

Perhaps part of the issue is the Foxes also concede the most shots of anyone in the league, with 19.2 fired at goal per game. All of that has resulted in the third-most goals conceded in the league, standing at 12.

Tightening up at the back and greater endeavor up top is needed if they want to start getting some distance from the relegation zone.

Liverpool have scored 12 Premier League goals this season, the joint-third most in the league. But a midfielder has directly contributed to just two.

Dominik Szoboszlai is the man who has been involved in both, according to TransferMarkt, but arguably he's the reason it's not more, as his decision-making has left a lot to be desired.

Ryan Gravenberch, though a revelation this season, is perhaps not positioned ideally to rack up the helpers. Alexis Mac Allister, meanwhile, took a while to get his name among the goals last season, and it looks like it will be a similar case this year.

That makes the spotlight even brighter on Szoboszlai's regular errant passes and halting of promising breaks. It will be interesting to see if he keeps his place when Harvey Elliott returns from injury.

Relying on perhaps the most lethal goalscorer on the planet might not seem like much of a problem.

Erling Haaland has 10 of the Citizens' 14 Premier League goals so far, and he's already cruising to the Golden Boot after just five games. But what if he gets injured, as he's prone to, or just doesn't have his possibly bewitched shooting boots on that day?

City let back-up striker Julian Alvarez leave for Atletico Madrid in the summer transfer window, and that's already starting to look like a mistake if not to at least provide the chance to inject some variety in the team.

In the 1-1 draw against Newcastle United, Haaland had the most shots of any player on the pitch with five and hit the target twice. If it wasn't for Josko Gvardiol—a defender, remember?—City could have succumbed to their first loss of the season.

If it's Haaland or bust for City, they need to hope he turns up every single match. Absolutely no exceptions or excuses.

In the 2023-24 season, Manchester United scored 57 goals, the joint-worst tally of any team that finished in the top 10.

In 2024-25, United have bagged just five, with only Southampton scoring fewer (3).

If United fans are sick of what they're seeing, it's entirely understandable. It doesn't look like purely bad luck, either.

Last season, Rasmus Højlund—a player who scored nine goals in 32 Serie A games for Bergamo the year before—was brought in to solve the problem. He scored 10 in his debut year for United and has only featured for 31 minutes this campaign on the road back from injury.

Joshua Zirkzee—who got 11 goals in 34 games for Bologna before his move to Old Trafford—was the potential answer ahead of this campaign. He's scored once in 356 minutes.

United need to seriously look at their recruitment strategy. While both players could come good in the future, the Red Devils need goals now, not in a few years.

Only one team has been dispossessed on average more than Newcastle United in the Premier League this season. While West Ham are way out in front in that field by losing the ball 15.2 times per game, the Magpies are not far behind at 12.7.

Ball retention is essential to not only stop attacks from forming against a team but also to make them happen at the other end. Losing the ball so often is perhaps an indication of why Newcastle have scored only slightly more than they've conceded—eight and seven, respectively.

As Sandro Tonali continues to gain match sharpness, a bit more midfield control will be asserted. That will also help to take a little pressure off the defense, with the Magpies in the top five for clearances (23.3), shots blocked (5.2) and crosses blocked (2.2) per game—which sounds great, and congratulations to the back line, but they'd rather not be put in that position so frequently.

After a relegation battle last season following a points deduction, the lofty 10th-place seat Nottingham Forest occupy right now will be welcomed by all at the City Ground.

While the 1-0 away win over Liverpool was a highlight, things could still be better for the Tricky Trees.

Notably, they need to string a few more passes together. Forest have the second-worst pass success percentage in the Premier League (77.7), with only Everton beating them in that regard (76.3).

When you have a big target man like Chris Wood leading the line, it's not so surprising that you might opt for the long ball more often than not. But when your team plays 32 inaccurate long balls a game, it might be time to reconsider the strategy.

Still, when you play the second-least accurate short passes per game (250.8), maybe a solution lies somewhere in the middle.

It looked like the season was going to be a struggle for Southampton upon promotion, and they've not done a lot to show it won't be.

Three goals in six games is the worst record in the Premier League, but that becomes even more damning when you look at their expected-goals stats.

The Saints have an xG of 8.91, good for 11th among all 20 top-flight clubs. But their xG differential (actual goals scored minus xG) of -5.91 is the worst in the league.

If they want to stay up, they're going to have to convert some of those chances—and fast.

Tottenham Hotspur have the second-best possession average in the Premier League at this stage of the season, with their 62.9 percent ball dominance second only to Manchester City (64.5 percent).

However, they still only have three wins to show for it. Keeping the ball is great, but it means relatively little unless it's followed up with victories.

In losses to Arsenal and Newcastle, Spurs had 64 and 66 percent possession, respectively. In the 1-1 draw against Leicester, they finished with a staggering 71 percent share of time on the ball.

You don't get points for possession, and Spurs need to figure out a way to convert that control into something more tangible.

West Ham United seemingly have all the pieces to be a formidable team—except, perhaps, a reliable centre-forward. However, it's just not working among the squad at the moment.

After transitioning from David Moyes to Julen Lopetegui, and with a clutch of new signings entering the fold, it just doesn't seem like the players know exactly what it is they are meant to be doing.

Moyes was in charge for the better part of seven years, so switching to a new tactician after all that time isn't easy. Still, six games into the season, you'd think a manager of Lopetegui's experience would have got the Hammers following the instruction booklet. His teams are known for keeping the ball, but they've averaged just 44.1 percent possession per game.

While the home meeting with Ipswich next up might not be a must-win for the Spaniard just yet, some evidence that things are clicking into place is essential.

Signs of progress will need to be seen soon, or else questions about his tenure will start to be raised. David Moyes is available, folks.

The 16 goals Wolverhampton Wanderers have conceded this season is a league-worst

While the Midlands side has tightened things up since a 6-2 thrashing to open their campaign against Chelsea, they also conceded three times in back-to-back games against Brighton and Aston Villa.

Their goal difference of minus-10 is another league-worst figure.

Wolves surprised plenty last season, outperforming expectations to comfortably avoid the drop. They might not be so lucky this time around.

Stats from WhoScored.com unless otherwise noted