Football's Weekly Roundup #3

Premier League

In the Premier League this weekend it was a record breaking night for Newcastle United who's eight goal blitz (all scored by eight different players) inflicted a record home defeat on a sorry Sheffield United side; a result which lifted Burnley up a place to 19th courtesy of goal difference.

Elsewhere, it was a weekend of red cards with three different individuals exiting early for moments of madness. Most notably was Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who's aggressive handling of Morgan Gibbs-White landed him a three match ban, rendering him unavailable for selection at Arsenal in two weeks time.

Speaking of Arsenal, it was the north London derby on Sunday where braces from Son Heung-Min and Bukayo Saka cancelled each other out in a pulsating affair at the Emirates. Once again, arguably the Premier League's best fixture continued to prove its worth.

With another defeat for Chelsea leaving them languishing in 14th, the Blues' nightmare run continues. Can they turn it around next week at rivals Fulham?

Player of the Week - Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United)

This weeks Premier League player of the week is Anthony Gordon who came on early at Bramall Lane and turned a hotly contested opening into a truly dominant display from Newcastle United. Setting up the first and scoring the fifth, Gordon ran the Sheffield United defence ragged all afternoon and deserves this award.

Championship

The Championship had its fair share of goals this weekend with six matches seeing the ball hit the back of the net three or more times. Most dramatic of all though has to be Ipswich's incredible four-three victory at home to Blackburn Rovers to maintain their impressive run thus far.

One place above them, atop the table, Leicester City continued their own impressive form with a one-nil win over Bristol City courtesy of a Jamie Vardy penalty.

And whilst Leeds United also muscled their way to a win, the other recently relegated side Southampton fell to a disappointing defeat in the north east as Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough opened their winning account for the season to take the Saints' losing run to four on the spin. 

Now from the north east to the south west where Plymouth Argyle secured an impressive victory at home to Norwich City by six goals to two with a hat trick from Morgan Whittaker stealing the spoils for the home side.

With Coventry and Huddersfield still to face off tomorrow what more drama could we see in match week eight?

Player of the Week - Morgan Whittaker (Plymouth Argyle)

This weeks player of the week in the Championship of course has to be the aforementioned Morgan Whittaker who netted three as Steven Schumacher's side put a lacklustre Norwich City to the sword on the south coast. A constant thorn in the side of the Canaries, the 22 year old's hat trick took his tally to four for the season. A truly impressive performance.

League One

In League One this weekend we saw the status quo maintained at the top with Portsmouth, Oxford United and Stevenage all securing victory to maintain their places in the top three.

Similarly, at the bottom of the league Cheltenham Town's disappointing start continued with the aforementioned Stevenage romping to a three-nil away win to leave the home side rooted to the bottom of the table.

Elsewhere, in Lancashire, it was a battle of the newcomers with relegated Reading and Blackpool facing off at Bloomfield Road. And it was the home side who ran out four-one victors courtesy of a Jordan Rhodes hat trick. 

With Wigan Athletic also suffering a heavy defeat, all three recently relegated sides sit in the bottom half of the table. Do serious questions need to be asked about last season's Championship bottom feeders?

Player of the Week - Jordan Rhodes (Blackpool FC)

Player of the week in League One this time out is Blackpool forward Jordan Rhodes who's hat trick downed a disappointing Reading side at Bloomfield Road. The former Huddersfield Town man now has four goals this season as he looks to fire Blackpool up the table and back to the Championship. A goalscoring machine in years gone by, Rhodes may still have it in him. He deserves this accolade.

League Two

This week in League Two was one heavily influenced by red cards with four separate incidents across the league all contributing to dropped points.

In the midlands Notts County stomped their authority as early title chargers with a fourth win in five as they edged a thrilling encounter at home to Forest Green Rovers. All this in spite of a brilliant hat trick from Rovers' Troy Deeney.

Slightly further north, it was disappointment for the other of last seasons National League protagonists as Wrexham suffered a heavy defeat at Stockport County with Isaac Olaofe netting three of the home side's five goals. It's a result that ends an impressive run for the Welsh outfit and leaves them outside the top six.

And it was further disappointment in Wales as Newport County were well beaten on home turf by Bradford City to take their winless run to four, whilst Sutton United slipped to the bottom being winless since the opening weekend despite an impressive home draw against MK Dons.

Player of the Week - Josh Hawkes (Tranmere Rovers)

The player of the week for League Two this time out is Josh Hawkes of Tranmere Rovers who netted a brace for the home side to singlehandedly lift them off the bottom of the league table. Netting early from the spot before putting daylight between the two sides just minutes into the second half, his goals proved as impactful as any. For this reason, he is our League Two Player of the week.