1) Liverpool’s wild ride towards a title challenge
The splurge of title-winning questions after Liverpool’s breathless victory at Selhurst Park provoked a wonderfully enigmatic response from Jürgen Klopp. Can his team conquer the league playing in this wild fashion? “I’ve no idea,” he said. “It’s my first proper season in the Premier League. I have no idea what to do to win the Premier League. I’m pretty sure it was never decided at the end of October. We feel good in the moment, that’s all.” The notion that an experienced manager with 15 years on the job – who won the Bundesliga twice and has spent more than a year in England to immerse himself in its foibles – has no idea how to win the Premier League seems to be both endearing and a shrewd ploy. Playing it all down is a sensible approach, but will be difficult to sustain the longer Liverpool keep gathering results in their own inimitable fashion. It was an emotional game. Dejan Lovren felt such a maddening anger after his error led towards one of the Palace goals he admitted he wanted to leap into the crowd (where the Palace hardcore hang out, incidentally) when he scored. The home goalscorer, James McArthur, said he felt gutted at the end of it all. Dealing with emotional games is part of the ride under Klopp. Entertaining? Absolutely. But the manager also says the way they play is rational. “We don’t do it because we want to show something, we do it because it helps us, because the best kind of defending is keeping the ball,” he explains. “It’s quite logical.” Amy Lawrence
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Match report: Crystal Palace 2-4 Liverpool
- Klopp teaches Liverpool the art of filling space dynamically
2) Barkley delivering under Koeman’s tough love
The evidence of Ross Barkley’s entire Everton career should caution against hyping the midfielder or inflating expectations until he produces performances like that against West Ham United on a regular basis, though Sunday was a welcome reminder of how valuable he can be to Ronald Koeman’s designs at Goodison Park. Koeman has not been slow to criticise the England international in public this season but his contribution to Everton’s first win in six matches, helping to create Romelu Lukaku’s latest goal against West Ham and scoring the second himself in a more composed yet decisive display, underlined why the coach is so demanding of a player in a key role. Everton’s front three behind Lukaku has lacked “productivity”, according to Koeman, who may well seek to strengthen in that department in future transfer windows. Whether Wayne Rooney fits that criterion remains to be seen, although it seems fanciful that the boyhood Evertonian’s advisers would consider the substantial pay decrease needed to facilitate a return. Koeman has done nothing to dismiss the prospect – “Rooney is very welcome at Everton,” he reiterated on Sunday – but if the tactic is to inspire a response from Barkley then so far so good. Andy Hunter
3) Rashford must take centre stage for United
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was again conspicuous by his absence from the matchday squad, as was any semblance of the wing play that used to be a Manchester United tradition. What is keeping the Armenian out remains a mystery, but José Mourinho expressed satisfaction at the start of the season that he had strengthened in four departments with a defender (Eric Bailly), a midfielder (Paul Pogba), a striker (Zlatan Ibrahimovic) and a quick winger in Mkhitaryan. For whatever reason the last has yet to properly start his United career, yet with other quick wingers at his disposal Mourinho has been playing Marcus Rashford out wide. It is not his best position, and with Ibrahimovic and Rooney unable to buy a goal and United held scoreless by Burnley, the time has surely come to restore Rashford to centre stage, which was where he made his breakthrough last season. Paul Wilson
- Match report: Manchester United 0-0 Burnley
- Mourinho behaving at United exactly as critics said he would
4) Ramírez and Traoré give Boro home lift-off
If Middlesbrough are to retain their Premier League status then making the Riverside Stadium home again was a good start. Aitor Karanka’s side had to merely turn up in the Championship last season – taking 16 wins from 23 home games – but, until beating Bournemouth on Saturday, Boro had found home comforts anything but advantageous in the top flight. It was two unlikely lads, in many ways, Gastón Ramírez and Adama Traoré, who helped Boro to a first home win of the season. Ramírez arrived at Southampton from Bologna in 2012, yet only now is the Uruguayan beginning to feel at home in England. Traoré, meanwhile, is slowly reaping the rewards of a fresh start in the north-east after enduring relegation with Aston Villa last term. If the flair of Ramírez and Traoré, the 20-year-old former Barcelona B winger, can blossom in the north-east behind the often isolated Álvaro Negredo, then Karanka’s prospects of coaching Boro in the Premier League again next season will prove significantly enhanced. Ben Fisher
5) Moses finally finding his feet at Chelsea
In two weeks, Antonio Conte has gone from laughing off rumours of the sack to clearing a space on his shelf for a Manager of the Month award. October has brought four league wins, 11 goals and none conceded. If things have moved fast for the Chelsea boss, it’s a different story for Victor Moses, who has waited four years to become an overnight success at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s upturn in form has coincided neatly with Conte’s switch to a back three of Gary Cahill, David Luiz and César Azpilicueta. On paper, it doesn’t scream solidity, but the results speak for themselves. Amid the mayhem at West Ham, a back three shorn of the protection offered by Moses and Marcos Alonso at wing-back (and with John Terry shoehorned into it) looked far less secure. Moses didn’t feature on Wednesday, but has started each of the four league wins, and has earned repeated praise from Conte for his attitude and adaptability. Wingers on defensive duty are rarely as disciplined and assured as Moses was at St. Mary’s – dropping into a back five to repel Southampton in the first half, hugging the touchline to bypass the hosts’ narrow midfield, and getting upfield to set up Eden Hazard’s opener. It has been a long time coming, but Moses may have found his place in what looks a formidable Chelsea team. Niall McVeigh
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Match report: Southampton 0-2 Chelsea
- Conte’s adaptability is helping his Chelsea side to prosper
- Conte cautious on title chances after Chelsea extend winning run
6) Moyes unable to boost Wearside weariness
Arsène Wenger did not mean to be patronising but he sounded it. “I feel pity for him,” Arsenal’s manager said when asked to reflect on Sunderland’s collection of two points from the first 10 Premier League games of David Moyes’s tenure. Ellis Short, Sunderland’s owner, has no appetite to sack the club’s seventh manager in five years but, should Moyes’s team stumble in their next two fixtures – at Bournemouth and home against Hull City – the Wearside crowd may ensure his position simply becomes untenable. That would be a shame as, in many respects, he seems Sunderland’s most impressive coach in years. Certainly no one should question Moyes’s integrity or industry. Short’s best policy would be to swallow the pain of relegation and allow him to rebuild in the Championship a lá Rafael Benítez and Newcastle but reality dictates a manager can take only so many defeats before being mortally wounded. Louise Taylor
- Match report: Sunderland 1-4 Arsenal
- Barry Glendenning: Sunderland escape act will be little short of a miracle
- Moyes refuses to panic despite record-equalling nadir
7) Musa puts body on the line to make mark
On the ropes after conceding to Vincent Janssen’s penalty on the stroke of half-time, Leicester City’s renewed togetherness was encapsulated by the commitment Ahmed Musa displayed when he scored the equaliser that earned them their first away point of the season. Musa put his body on the line when he met Jamie Vardy’s cross and although he avoided a serious injury, the winger was eventually substituted. “He goes without fear of the tackle to score the goal,” Claudio Ranieri said. Leicester’s manager is hopeful Musa will be fit for the trip to FC Copenhagen on Wednesday. They could certainly do with him being available. The Nigerian is beginning to enjoy playing for the champions after moving from CSKA Moscow. “I want Musa to understand the spirit of the Premier League and now he’s getting better,” Ranieri said. Musa, with two goals in two games, looks like a smart signing. Jacob Steinberg
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Match report: Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Leicester City
- Pochettino needs Spurs’ creative players to join hunt for goals
8) Phelan must draw on experience amid hard times
Despite all that success as Sir Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man at Old Trafford, Mike Phelan has not always had it easy. No longer required as Stockport assistant when Gary Megson was sacked in 1999, the former midfielder ended up joining United’s academy and had to wait two years for his chance with the first team. Almost two decades later, Phelan is back in the real world of the Premier League’s basement boys having seen his side pick up one point since the end of August. “You get used to winning after being involved in it for 19 years, of course you do,” he said after the latest defeat, against Watford. “But you understand that while I have been at other end and winning, there are others who have lost along the way. I have to accept that is part of the game.” Hull could count themselves unfortunate after Michael Dawson’s late own goal handed Watford the points following some dogged defending by the visitors. But Phelan knows he will need his fair share of luck to ensure they do not return from whence they came in May. “I have stepped up to this role now in difficult circumstances,” he acknowledged. “I have to stress that. Those circumstances are always around but we have to deal with it – we are in the big league where things have to develop fast. But we are newly promoted. We are on a losing spell but we have to stick together and keep working at it.” Ed Aarons
9) What can make Agüero even better?
In Pep Guardiola’s ideal world, Sergio Agüero would be a little more aggressive. The Argentina striker is too nice, according to his manager, and because of that needs to do more to convince people he is among the world’s best. “In the box he’s in that level with the best,” Guardiola said when asked where he ranks after he scored twice and provided an assist to end City’s six‑match winless run. Scarily for opposing defenders, the Manchester City manager also reckons “a club legend” could have a bit more self‑belief. “He has to convince because he is one of the nicest players I’ve trained in my career. He is a pleasure to work with but he has to believe how good he is. Without him we cannot achieve our targets, it’s impossible.” That is one way of extinguishing speculation that Agüero does not fit in his plans and is in line for a move away from City. He has 13 goals this season in all competitions and, away from the pitch, has been helpful to Guardiola as he settled in to life in the north-west. Alan Smith
- Match report: West Brom 0-4 Manchester City
- Agüero to start against Barcelona in Champions League, says Guardiola
10) Sánchez gives Arsenal the edge they had craved
After Arsène Wenger declared that Alexis Sánchez’s best position was as a centre-forward last week, the Chilean seemed to take his words to heart. His two goals against Sunderland on Saturday were very ‘centre-forward’ goals: one a towering header (and Lamine Koné might want to reflect on how a man seven inches shorter than him managed to tower so) and the other a snaffled finish of an expert poacher. It was as if he decided: “Well, if I’m a centre-forward, I had better start acting like one.” Those two strikes were his seventh and eighth of the season (his 49th and 50th for the club), and his move to this new position has been one of the triumphs of the campaign so far, after a summer in which most people believed Arsenal needed another centre-forward. As it turned out that was true, it’s just that, as Wenger often says, buying another one wasn’t necessarily the answer. What’s also encouraging for Arsenal’s prospects this season is that now Sánchez represents Plan A, Olivier Giroud becomes the Plan B that he should probably always have represented. Options, depth and ruthless attacking: Arsenal look like a serious force this season. Nick Miller
- Match report: Sunderland 1-4 Arsenal
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Sánchez gives Arsenal belief they can avoid November slump
- Moyes refuses to panic despite Sunderland’s 4-1 loss to Arsenal
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 10 | 15 | 23 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 10 | 13 | 23 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 10 | 11 | 23 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 10 | 12 | 22 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 10 | 9 | 20 |
| 6 | Everton | 10 | 7 | 18 |
| 7 | Watford | 10 | 1 | 15 |
| 8 | Man Utd | 10 | 1 | 15 |
| 9 | Southampton | 10 | 1 | 13 |
| 10 | AFC Bournemouth | 10 | -2 | 12 |
| 11 | Leicester | 10 | -4 | 12 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 10 | -2 | 11 |
| 13 | Burnley | 10 | -5 | 11 |
| 14 | Middlesbrough | 10 | -2 | 10 |
| 15 | West Brom | 10 | -4 | 10 |
| 16 | West Ham | 10 | -9 | 10 |
| 17 | Stoke | 9 | -7 | 9 |
| 18 | Hull | 10 | -15 | 7 |
| 19 | Swansea | 9 | -7 | 5 |
| 20 | Sunderland | 10 | -13 | 2 |
