Manchester United suffered a humiliating 1-6 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, while Liverpool were thrashed 2-7 away by Aston Villa.
The two crushing defeats by Liverpool and Manchester United in the same round served as a wake-up call for the entire Premier League.
However, this round also saw Chelsea thrashing Crystal Palace 4-0, Newcastle defeating Burnley 3-1 at home, and Arsenal beating Sheffield United 2-1 at home.
According to many well-known Premier League football commentators, the "Big Eight" in the Premier League do indeed have an advantage in terms of strength.
This is obvious.
However, the advantage is not strong enough for them to ignore the existence of competitors.
The landscape of the Premier League's "Big Eight" is clearly different from that of the two giants in La Liga back in the day.
It is not just because the competition is fierce, but more importantly, if any of the Big Eight teams relax even slightly, they will immediately face collapse, just like Liverpool's crushing defeat to Aston Villa in this round.
Klopp's team is clearly superior to Aston Villa in terms of strength, but he was experimenting with different tactics.
He wanted to implement an offside trap strategy.
The key issue is that Liverpool's players were spending too much energy on constant running.
Those familiar with Klopp know that when he coached Borussia Dortmund, the team suddenly collapsed during its peak. The players' physical condition and their tactical execution were key problems.
Now, he wanted to try using offside traps to reduce the pressure and burden on the defense.
A typical example was the third-round match against Arsenal. When Liverpool's defenders faced Arsenal's final passes, their first instinct was not to block the passing or attacking lanes, but to create an offside trap.
However, this inevitably led to player misalignment.
Liverpool's 3-1 win over Arsenal gave Klopp a sense of potential.
But the issues were fully exposed in the away game against Aston Villa.
Specifically, the four defenders were not on the same page. Some were pushing up to set the trap, while others were still dropping back, which caused the offside trap to fail.
As a result, Aston Villa repeatedly breached Liverpool's goal.
After the match, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher wrote in his column that he strongly disagreed with Liverpool's offside trap tactic, believing it exposed the weaknesses of the backline and the right flank in particular.
Liverpool's crushing defeat gave Aston Villa, a club that had invested heavily in recent years, a rare moment of pride.
This match also revealed a brutal reality in the Premier League.
The competition is incredibly fierce.
Fans loved it, because there is a strange sense of excitement when strong teams suffer shocking defeats.
The match that truly showcased the level of the Premier League this round was Leeds United's 1-1 home draw against Manchester City.
The quality of the match was outstanding, with both sides responding with targeted tactics. Each team dominated one half.
City opened the scoring in the 17th minute through Sterling, then applied consistent pressure, forcing Leeds to defend and react.
But in the second half, the situation shifted dramatically. Leeds took advantage of City's weaknesses and launched a counterattack. In the 59th minute, Haaland scored, and Leeds continued to create chaos in front of City's goal.
In the end, it was a 1-1 draw. Neither side could claim victory.
Although there were not many goals, the match was widely considered the most exciting, intense, and technically and tactically sophisticated duel of the round.
...
In the fifth round of the Premier League, Liverpool continued to disappoint after their heavy defeat, drawing 2-2 away to Everton.
Chelsea drew 3-3 at home with Southampton.
Manchester City defeated Arsenal 1-0 at home, thanks to a goal from Sterling.
Newcastle drew 1-1 with Manchester United at home.
Tottenham drew 3-3 with West Ham at home.
While many top teams were struggling to win or drawing, Leeds United thrashed Wolves 4-0 at home.
Wolves have a long-standing tradition of beating strong opponents but slipping against weaker sides.
Sancho recorded a goal and an assist, while Valverde, Militao, and Hakimi also scored to help Leeds secure a comfortable home win.
Haaland didn't score or assist in this game, leading Gao Shen to jokingly post on social media that he had hit a 90-minute "goal drought."
...
Premier League Round 6.
Haaland, who failed to score in the last round, got his revenge away against Aston Villa.
Both sides played evenly in the first half, and Leeds found it difficult to break down the defense.
But in the second half, as Aston Villa's players began to tire, Haaland scored in the 55th, 67th, and 74th minutes, receiving passes and finishing coolly to complete a hat-trick.
After a brief drought, Majin Buu revealed his bloodthirsty side again.
In this round, City drew 1-1 away to West Ham, Manchester United drew 0-0 at home against Chelsea, Liverpool came from behind to beat Sheffield United 2-1, Newcastle beat Wolves 1-0 away, and Tottenham beat Burnley 1-0 away.
Arsenal lost 0-1 at home to Leicester.
To everyone's surprise, after six rounds, Manchester United still had not won a match. With only 3 points, they ranked 17th, while Sheffield United, Burnley, and Fulham, all in the relegation zone, had 1 point.
Leeds United led the table with five wins and one draw.
Haaland was far ahead in the top scorer rankings, showing Leeds United's dominant form.
...
Just when everyone thought Manchester United had already hit rock bottom, the Red Devils went even further in Round 7 by losing 0-1 at home to Arsenal.
Because Fulham defeated West Brom 2-0, Manchester United dropped into the relegation zone, ranking 18th after the round.
Leeds United, Manchester City, Tottenham, Newcastle, and Chelsea all won their matches.
This put Manchester United in an extremely awkward position.
No one expected the once-mighty Manchester United to fall into the relegation zone. It was a shocking turn of events.
As the team's results continued to decline, criticism of Solskjaer grew louder.
Take Van de Beek for example.
The player, who cost 100 million euros, had recently lost his place in the starting lineup.
Then there's Ndombele. Solskjaer preferred to use veteran Matic over him, leading to mounting frustration from Ndombele.
Rodrygo failed to score and has not performed at the level expected of a 70 million euro striker.
Meanwhile, Osimhen, who also cost around 70 million euros, has been outstanding for Newcastle. Though he doesn't score frequently, his tactical importance is huge.
Newcastle's entire attack is built around Osimhen. After just seven rounds, both his tactical value and individual skill have been widely recognized.
By contrast, Rodrygo has failed to lead Manchester United's attack. He struggles in physical duels with opposing center-backs, and combined with the issues in the midfield and forward line, United's offensive play is severely hindered.
After seven rounds, Leeds United top the table. Tottenham, who have been excellent this season, are second. Manchester City and Newcastle are tied on points, sitting third and fourth respectively.
This scene shocked both the Premier League and European football.
Everyone knows that Tottenham and Newcastle's first teams are now managed by Gao Shen. The entire training system is also run by Gao Shen's team, while Mourinho and Ancelotti are responsible for implementation.
Now, both clubs have significantly improved.
Many believed Tottenham had the potential to break into the top four, but no one expected it to happen so quickly.
Who would have thought Tottenham would be this strong?
Son Heung-min in particular has been in sensational form.
Abraham has completely shaken off the frustration of his Chelsea days and is now playing like a top striker, a true elite center forward, all for just 40 million euros.
This has embarrassed many of the big clubs still struggling to sign a reliable center forward.
Then there's Newcastle.
Whether it's Ancelotti's coaching or their summer signings, Newcastle have reached a high level.
Osimhen is clearly worth every cent. Bruno Guimarães has stood out in defensive midfield. McAllister, Willock, winger Raphinha, center-backs Botman and Brehme have all exceeded expectations.
Even Ancelotti publicly praised the team's performance, saying that finishing fourth exceeded expectations and thanked the support staff behind the scenes.
Everyone knew he was thanking Gao Shen.
Whether it's Tottenham or Newcastle, their operation from signings to tactical setups is remarkable, drawing envy from across European football.
The season has just begun, but many top clubs have already approached Gao Shen for cooperation.
This includes Juventus, both Milan clubs, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, and of course, several Premier League teams. For these wealthy clubs, spending money annually to hire an elite backroom team to ensure performance is a cost-effective move.
But Gao Shen politely declined, stating that his staff is currently limited and he would rather focus on serving existing clients well. Cooperation with other teams could happen in the future if the opportunity arises.
This frustrated many visiting clubs.
They offered money and were still rejected. Who has ever heard of something like that?
Without comparison, there is no harm.
Ratcliffe was the most frustrated of all.
He never imagined Manchester United would fall into the relegation zone this season. Did all those transfer fees just sink into the English Channel?
Looking at the standings, all four top teams are working with Gao Shen, and three of them are even directly run by him. This filled him with regret.
But soon, that regret turned into anger.
Gao Shen, this isn't over!
(To be continued.)