The top Premier League moments of the month – October 2022
90min is the home of the PFA Vertu Motors Fans’ Player of the Month Award for the 2022/23 season.
Each month, you can vote for your favourite players across five divisions of English football, for the chance to win incredible prizes, including the opportunity to present the award to the winning player.
October was an exceptionally busy month in the Premier League, with six rounds of fixtures and goals aplenty keeping fans around the country thoroughly entertained.
There were a number of standout performances, both from teams and individual players, as the stars of the Premier League sought to push themselves onto centre stage ahead of the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
Here are the best moments from October.
The post-Graham Potter era began in style for Brighton’s Leandro Trossard as he became just the third visiting player to score a hat-trick at Anfield in the Premier League era.
The Belgian’s heroics earned Roberto De Zerbi’s side a share of the spoils with Liverpool, following in the footsteps of Peter Ndlovu in 1995 and Andrey Arshavin in 2009 in the process.
Conor Gallagher’s career rocketed with a tremendous loan spell at Crystal Palace during 2021/22 – one that earned him a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad and recognition as one of the country’s brightest young midfielders.
Inevitably, his first goal for Chelsea was not only a ripsnorter of a strike from outside the box, it was one that came against Palace at Selhurst Park – sealing a dramatic 2-1 win against Patrick Vieira’s plucky Eagles.
Newcastle’s incredible improvement under Eddie Howe continued in October with 16 points picked up from a possible 18.
Comprehensive wins over Fulham and Aston Villa were impressive, but the five-star performance against Brentford – inspired by Brazilian midfield gem Bruno Guimaraes – was truly breathtaking.
The atmosphere at Villa Park had turned pretty sour during the final days of Steven Gerrard’s 11-month reign as manager, so it was incredible to see the transformation just days later when Brentford rocked up in the Midlands.
Villa flew out of the blocks and raced into a 3-0 lead, before adding to their tally through Ollie Watkins‘ second half strike. A decent few days was then topped off by the arrival of Unai Emery as the club’s new head coach.
We all love a screamer of a goal, so even the most ardent Wolves fan likely appreciated Youri Tielemans‘ glorious strike for Leicester at Molineux.
And boy did the Foxes need it, with a wretched start to the campaign piling on the pressure on manager Brendan Rodgers. The good news for the Northern Irishman is that his side eventually ran out 4-0 winners, clearly inspired by what they had seen from their brilliant Belgian.
The midweek round of Premier League fixtures delivered an absolute masterclass in goalkeeping.
Hugo Lloris was brilliant for Spurs against Tottenham, ensuring the game finished 2-0 rather than 8-0, Alisson saved Jarrod Bowen’s penalty to ensure Liverpool picked up three points against West Ham, and Kepa (remember him?) actually played like the world’s most expensive stopper during Chelsea’s stalemate with Brentford.
Bravo, lads.
Erik ten Hag is slowly assembling the building blocks needed to take Manchester United forward, and the Dutchman’s footballing philosophy was on full display during a breathtaking performance against Spurs.
The Red Devils won 2-0, thanks to goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes, registered 28 shots on goal and completely dominated against a side who had only lost to north London rivals Arsenal (in the Premier League) before their Old Trafford clash.
Take that, Antonio Conte.
When the full-time whistle sounded at the Etihad Stadium, the 6-3 scoreline suggested Manchester United had given rivals City a relatively good run for their money.
In truth, City were at their absolutely blistering best, spearheaded by the unstoppable Erling Haaland (who scored a hat-trick, obviously) and Phil Foden (who also helped himself to a hat-trick). The gulf in class was immeasurable.
Arsenal’s scintillating start to the season continued with an impressive 3-2 win over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.
Young guys Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka were the heroes of the hour, with both demonstrating their immense talent and composure against a Reds side uncharacteristically struggling under Jurgen Klopp.
Graham Potter’s first trip back to the south coast didn’t pan out the way he might have imagined.
Not only did the Brighton fans mercilessly boo and jeer him, they also saw their side pummel Potter’s Chelsea into submission with a commanding 4-1 win at the Amex.
Own goals were Chelsea’s nemisis on the day – courtesy of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah – while some muddled formational thinking also didn’t help the former Seagulls boss one iota.
VOTING FOR THE PFA VERTU MOTORS FANS‘ PLAYER OF THE MONTH AWARD OPENS ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 4.