1) Man Utd have soft centre
For all the improvements Erik ten Hag brings to Manchester United, there remains a soft centre. Their record away from home against top 10 opposition could prove costly in the race for the Champions League. Though Newcastle United did not blow Ten Hag’s team away like Liverpool did last month, they were deserved, easy victors. Ten Hag might look to the steel in midfield that was the core of Newcastle’s win, with Bruno Guimarães outstanding and Sean Longstaff supplying artisanship and exertion alongside him. It was not a gala Sunday afternoon for the Bruno Fernandes fan club, and Casemiro was again glaringly missed, even if he was among the guilty at Anfield. Ten Hag’s late readjustment of his team, removing centre-backs to go for broke, backfired as Callum Wilson scored soon after. It is difficult to imagine Howe taking such high-risk gambles. His reward was revenge for Wembley and a tighter command of that top-four objective. John Brewin
Match report: Newcastle 2-0 Manchester United
2) Trossard has exceeded expectations
Leandro Trossard was not Arsenal’s first choice for attacking cover in January but, for a team looking to haul itself towards glory, his acquisition made more sense than their ill-fated pursuit of Mykhaylo Mudryk. What an impact he has made. Trossard has already been deployed in every attacking position and started on the right against Leeds because Bukayo Saka felt unwell; a trademark wriggle and cutback for Gabriel Jesus to settle matters was the Belgian’s seventh assist since arriving, and his versatility almost makes him feel like several signings at once. Even if Mudryk has the better longer-term prospects, Trossard’s knowhow is edging Arsenal towards something priceless. “He can play right, left, he can play as a midfielder. He can be a false nine,” Mikel Arteta said. “He’s really contributing to the team. He’s taking responsibility to make that happen and we love him.” Could Arteta, in his wildest dreams, have imagined Trossard being this good? “I have very wild dreams,” he replied to general guffawing. His multifaceted schemer may well help them come true. Nick Ames
Match report: Arsenal 4-1 Leeds
3) Potter needed to offer more
For a final act, Graham Potter’s invoking of “expected goals” after a deflating defeat was typically downbeat. In defending Chelsea’s poor record from corners this, he described John McGinn’s decisive strike: “If you look at the xG, it’s probably not that big a chance.” True enough, McGinn’s was a well-taken, high-tariff chance from a player without an Aston Villa goal in 16 months. But despite xG as a metric having gone overground on Match of the Day, it still met with fury, mostly because came as part of a series of glib, unconvincing explanations. That such xG talk recalled Nathan Jones’ doomed Southampton reign was doubly unfortunate. “Clearly we need to improve, you only have to look at the league table to see that,” Potter offered in characteristically flat tones in what proved his epitaph. Elite managers, specifically Chelsea managers, need to offer more. Being a convincing, charismatic frontman is part of the job. And so is winning matches. John Brewin
Match report: Chelsea 0-2 Aston Villa
4) Eight days to shape Liverpool’s season
Virgil van Dijk revealed that with Liverpool down in eighth and playing Chelsea, Arsenal and Leeds in the next eight days, Jürgen Klopp had called a team meeting. “The turnaround is quite quick, with Chelsea on Tuesday. [This was a] tough afternoon, definitely. Very frustrated. That’s the feeling.” Even more so as it was a third straight loss since eviscerating Manchester United 7-0. “We’re trying to kick on,” Dijk said. “The first-half was quite even, obviously a fantastic goal by Mo [Salah], they scored a good goal as well.” Despite the seven points to Tottenham the defender believes a Champions League berth remains possible. “Let’s regroup and focus on Chelsea,” he said. Jamie Jackson
Match report: Manchester City 4-1 Liverpool
5) De Zerbi outdoes Potter
It is no surprise Roberto De Zerbi is being linked with several elite clubs across Europe having implemented his attacking blueprint at Brighton so impressively since his arrival in September. Graham Potter’s struggles at Chelsea have even sparked talk of De Zerbi succeeding him at Stamford Bridge and it has also invited comparisons between their respective achievements at Brighton. Ninth place last season under Potter was Brighton’s highest top-flight finish but the club are currently sixth following their exhilarating draw with Brentford – a game in which they battered their opponents with 33 shots and an xG (expected goals) of 4.55. Brighton are the division’s fourth highest scorers with 49 goals – the most significant difference from Potter’s Brighton. For all their possession, Brighton only scored 42 league goals across the entirety of last season and De Zerbi’s relentless attacking mindset suggests a first European campaign could be their reward by the end of next month. Simon Mail
• Match report: Brighton 3-3 Brentford
6) Gibbs-White proves worth to Forest
What do you get for £42m these days? On a day when Wolves scored their lowest xG (0.49) and highest possession (72%), Morgan Gibbs-White, Nottingham Forest’s record signing, again out-performed Matheus Nunes, the man Wolves bought with the proceeds. While Gibbs-White has not scored highly (two, from an xG of 4.3) or assists (five) this season, he has been Forest’s driving force, playing in or off the front, often supplying the pass before the assist, such as when he combined with Danilo on Saturday for Brennan Johnson to open the scoring. Also, the new England Under-21 captain plays with a passion and commitment Wolves are yet to see in Nunes, who often seems to stroll through games, as if in the waiting lounge for a move to Liverpool. He has yet to score a PL goal (xG 2), has one assist and even if his heatmaps show his greater successful dribbles (61%) come from deeper, his signing is summing up Wolves this season: flattering to deceive. Peter Lansley
Match report: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Wolves
7) Crisis clubs at Goodison
Monday night sees a battle of the Premier League’s crisis clubs. Though such things are relative. Antonio Conte departed Tottenham via Ryanair without a backwards glance, Fabio Paratici joining him in Fifa-imposed exile but matters are far more existential at Everton. Sean Dyche’s team ended the weekend in the relegation zone following a week where it was reported the club’s new stadium project is dropping behind schedule. That followed the publication of accounts made up to June 2022 revealing losses of £44.7m, and mentioning a reliance on owner Farhad Moshiri’s funding for “the group’s ability to continue as a going concern”. Dark times might be darker yet without last summer’s £60m sale of Richarlison to Tottenham. How Everton have missed Brazil’s first-choice No 9 striker, still to score a Premier League goal for Spurs. That former partner Dominic Calvert-Lewin has scored just once tells something else of an Everton season lurching towards disaster. John Brewin
8) Cancelo departure a smart move
Pep Guardiola’s decision to dispense with João Cancelo in January, after a reported clash with the full-back, was seen by many as somewhat baffling and by many more as a symptom of the coach’s blinkered self-regard. Twelve games, nine wins and five clean sheets later, the move suddenly seems a lot less silly. Cancelo is sensational creative player but his last 10 starts for City threw up four defeats and a red card, plus another three bookings. Factor in a dodgy character reference, and Guardiola judged that the trade-off wasn’t worth it. For a team with hardly short of extravagant riches going forward, it seems a fair verdict, and two goals conceded in a recent seven-game winning streak is vindication, at least for now. Guardiola’s new-look back three kept Liverpool at bay with ease on Saturday and the newly reupholstered defence has taken little away from the team’s sharp end, where 16 goals have now been dispatched in three games. Cancelo, now of Bayern Munich, could at least console himself by watching his new team go top of the Bundesliga that evening … from the comfort of the subs’ bench. Alex Hess
9) Aguerd finally makes Hammers mark
Many of West Ham’s problems can be traced back to Nayef Aguerd getting injured during pre-season. David Moyes had big plans for the Morocco defender after signing him last summer. Moyes wanted a left-footed centre-back and his plan was to pair Aguerd with Kurt Zouma. But it has had to wait. Aguerd barely played before the World Cup and Zouma has also had problems with injuries. But they are both fit now and they are giving West Ham more security. They look like a good match. Aguerd is quick across the ground and a fine reader of the game. Zouma is strong and assertive. Together they combined to thwart Southampton in a crucial win for West Ham. Aguerd even scored the winner as West Ham climbed out of the bottom three, though it must be pointed out that Southampton were tepid. It will be tougher against Newcastle on Wednesday. Jacob Steinberg
Match report: West Ham 1-0 Southampton
10) Solomon has long-term potential
Manor Solomon made a slow start to his Fulham career, injuring his knee in August and spending the rest of 2022 recuperating. But after since coming back in the new year, he’s been a strong influence on his team, scoring in five consecutive games – a run that included some lovely finishes – and generally adding improvisational imagination and chutzpah to a team that has scored fewer times than any other top-10 side save Aston Villa. And though his team lost disappointingly at the weekend, he again caught the eye, putting in a proper shift supporting Antonee Robinson, as well as showcasing his usual deft touch and soft feet. It may be that, at the end of the season, Solomon returns to Shakhtar Donetsk, but given the general way of things, it seems more likely he remains at Craven Cottage – and the good news for Fulham is that, at 23, he has plenty of scope for improvement. Daniel Harris
Match report: Bournemouth 2-1 Fulham
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 29 | 43 | 72 |
| 2 | Man City | 28 | 45 | 64 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 27 | 22 | 50 |
| 4 | Man Utd | 27 | 4 | 50 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 28 | 12 | 49 |
| 6 | Brighton | 26 | 15 | 43 |
| 7 | Brentford | 28 | 9 | 43 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 27 | 15 | 42 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 28 | -2 | 41 |
| 10 | Fulham | 28 | 0 | 39 |
| 11 | Chelsea | 28 | -1 | 38 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 29 | -15 | 30 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 29 | -19 | 28 |
| 14 | West Ham | 27 | -9 | 27 |
| 15 | Nottm Forest | 28 | -27 | 27 |
| 16 | AFC Bournemouth | 28 | -28 | 27 |
| 17 | Leeds | 28 | -12 | 26 |
| 18 | Everton | 28 | -18 | 26 |
| 19 | Leicester | 28 | -10 | 25 |
| 20 | Southampton | 29 | -24 | 23 |
