10 Things We Learned From The English Premier League Football Weekend (23-25 Sept 2017)

4. This Season's Surprise Success Story

Watford 17 18 Home Kit 4
Adidas/Watford FC

How do Watford do it?

They are a humble - and easily the least fashionable - London club, and are thus incapable of attracting superstars. They go through managers like kits, breaking all rules (or conventional wisdom) of consistency. And yet, they are a cemented Premier League presence set to enjoy their most successful season yet. They also provided one of few thrilling moments, in a weekend otherwise one-sided and or drab, through Richarlison's last minute winner. In truth, they should have won far more convincingly; Swansea were a shadow of the side who defended so well against Spurs last time out. Their defending was comically bad at times. That might even be generous. The error leading to the winner was suicidal.

Watford showed enough belief and persistence to earn all three points - but perhaps it's not all doom and gloom for Swansea; on-loan starlet Tammy Abraham is a natural who gets into at least one great goalscoring position each game, and much like West Ham, he might yet earn his temporary new home another year in the world's most lucrative market.

 
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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!