Something for the Weekend: Is Jorginho the Premier League's new bad boy?

Jamie Pacheco
28 August 2019

Jorginho has been finding new and interesting ways of getting his name in the book.

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Raheem Sterling's improvement, Jorginho's poor discipline and Manchester United's continued faith in youth are among Jamie Pacheco's things to look out for this weekend in the Premier League.

"Results haven’t been great for Manchester United so far but kudos to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for at least fielding young players in his first few games in charge this season. After Jose Mourinho’s usual refusal to give youngsters a chance during his time at Old Trafford, the Norwegian has gone back to one of United’s core values of showing faith in players who have in talent what they may lack in experience."

Can Jorginho make it four in four?

Mason Mount has been receiving plenty of attention after scoring two goals in his surprise three starts in the heart of Chelsea's midfield.

But if it's been all praise for Mount, fellow midfielder Jorginho has been making headlines for very different reasons. The former Napoli man is the only player in the Premier League to have been booked in each of the opening three games after a series of tactical and persistent fouls caught the attentions of three different refs.

He's certainly well on his way to 'improving' on his record of eight bookings in the league last season. Check out the odds on him making it four out of four when the 'player to be shown a card' market goes up nearer the start of Chelsea's next match against Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon.

Mind you, he could be worthy of interest in another market as well. Since Eden Hazard left the club, the Italian international has been on penalty duty, including scoring one in normal time and one in the penalty shootout against Liverpool in the European Super Cup. He's 7/2 to score anytime against the Blades.

Portuguese managers go head-to-head

The Premier League's two Portuguese managers go head-to-head on Sunday afternoon when Everton host Wolves.

Marco Silva (pictured) and Nuno Espirito Santo will no doubt be all smiles and handshakes at the start of the match but it will be a different story once the action gets under way.

Of the two it's probably the Wolves boss who will be more pleased with his side's work so far this season.

Marco Silva pre-season friendly 2018.jpg

Admittedly, Everton are one point better off after a win and a draw trumps Wolves' three consecutive draws but the Midlanders have already hosted Manchester United in that time while also juggling their domestic efforts with progress in the Europa League qualifying stages.

Everton, after another summer of big investment, were extremely fortunate to beat Watford 1-0 at home and pretty flat last time out at Villa Park, losing 2-0.

The smart money ahead of this match is definitely on the visitors, who are 27/10 to the Toffees' 23/20.

Can Solskjaer win something with kids?

Results haven't been great for Manchester United so far but kudos to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for at least fielding young players in his first few games in charge this season. After Jose Mourinho's usual refusal to give youngsters a chance during his time at Old Trafford, the Norwegian has gone back to one of United's core values of showing faith in players who have in talent what they may lack in experience.

Solskjaer pointing 1280.jpg

The 21-year old Daniel James started the last two games and has already scored twice, Aaron Wan Bissaka (also 21) has been a beast on that right-hand side while Scott McTominay has shown plenty of muscle and hard running in the heart of United's midfield, starting all three games to date and winning a penalty against Crystal Palace, which Marcus Rashford missed. James is 10/3 to score his third of the season when the Reds host Southampton in the Saturday early kick-off.

The presence of this trio alongside three substitute appearances for 17-year old Mason Greenwood are at least giving the fans something to get excited about.

Another Sterling effort coming up?

Liverpool fans will never stop being disappointed about the fact Raheem Sterling left the club just as he was starting to get going but with all due respect to the managers that have been at the club since he left, it's debatable as to whether they could have improved him the way Pep Guardiola has.

He always had the pace and the trickery but his finishing, crossing, positioning and all-round involvement in the game is on a totally different level these days.

His five goals in three games only tell half the story in terms of how good his contributions have been so far this season. No wonder he's the early 11/2 second favourite to be PFA Player of the Year, behind only team-mate Kevin de Bruyne (9/2). He's also a serious runner to be top goalscorer at 5/1. At the moment, only Norwich's Teemu Pukki can match his five goals.

If you don't want to wait that long, you can back him at 16/5 to score two or more goals when City host Brighton on Saturday afternoon.

Is this the game where Watford turn things around?

It's been a dismal start to the season for Watford. As stated already, they were unlucky to not get anything from their trip to Goodison Park but far less excusable were their home defeats to Brighton (3-0) and West Ham (3-1).

To make matters worse, they're now without skipper and target man Troy Deeney, who is out for several weeks after surgery.

Having been around the 9.08/1 mark at the start of the season for the drop, they're now just 3.613/5 to go down.

Javi Gracia meanwhile is the even money favourite in the 'Next Manager to leave' market.

How they could do with a win at Newcastle on Saturday. It's 2/1 that they get it.