1) The fug of facing Chelsea
This week Luis Suárez, in one of the less self-serving extracts from his autobiography, described the mentality of a team facing José Mourinho’s Chelsea, who are Liverpool’s visitors on Sunday. Discussing Steven Gerrard’s slip that handed Chelsea an early lead at Anfield in the pivotal 2-0 defeat in April, Suárez wrote: “I’m convinced that if Chelsea had not scored like that, they would not have scored at all. And once you are a goal down against them, it’s virtually impossible.” Talk of Mourinho’s mind games is usually pretty tedious but this is where his psychology comes into play and not necessarily through outrageous wind-ups in the press. He has built a team of such mental and physical strength that even one of the best footballers in the world, at the peak of his powers, a man of enormous and largely justified self-confidence, feels defeated after just one goal. Mourinho will presumably not set his side up as he did that day, this time facing a Liverpool side not challenging for the title but simply trying to reach the stage of waving rather than drowning. Still, that solidity remains, despite a couple of iffy performances against QPR and Maribor in the last week, and if last season’s Liverpool could so easily descend into a mental fug of hopelessness when faced with Chelsea, then what will the side that have not been able to break down Newcastle, Hull and Aston Villa think? Nick Miller
• Mourinho aims dig at Liverpool team selection
• Matic reopens Liverpool tensions
• Marcus Christenson: Rodgers was right in Madrid
2) Swans glide up the table
- Appearances
- 10
- Goals
- 4
- Shots
- 29
- Shots on target
- 34%
- Offsides
- 2
After a decade of moaning that Arsène Wenger would not spend any money, Arsenal fans are now having to readjust to a world in which the parsimonious Frenchman has splashed some cash. However, he has still failed to strengthen the areas of obvious need – and they are eight points back on where they were at this stage last season. There seems little point in recycling the calls for a centre-back and a defensive midfielder – areas that should have been priorities in the summer but whose neglect came home to roost in the collapse against Anderlecht – but it is a stark indictment that the signing of a genuinely world-class forward (I’m not talking about Danny Welbeck), and the confidence boost of an FA Cup win, has failed to spark Arsenal into life. So instead why not look to Sunday’s opponents Swansea City, a team who have moved up to sixth in the table seemingly unnoticed? In profit after a summer in which the previously first-choice defenders Chico and Ben Davies moved on, and the star of 2012-13 Michu joined Napoli on loan, Garry Monk has galvanised a team that looked bereft of ideas towards the end of last season. A win over Wenger’s side at the Liberty Stadium – not an unreasonable expectation given the Gunners porous midfield and the joy that Wilfried Bony is capable of wringing from the depleted back line – would put Swansea a point ahead of Arsenal and potentially in the top four heading into the international break. Not bad for a young manager on a tight budget who many believed would be facing the chop by November. Toby Moses
• Barney Ronay: Ramsey display sums up Arsenal confusion
• Arsenal failed to defend properly, says Per Mertesacker
3) Will Burnley break their duck?
Sometimes, rank incompetence in football is pretty funny. The sight of highly paid and ostensibly highly talented sportsmen performing like they are the last pick on a school five-a-side team can be pretty amusing but the way Burnley are looking at the moment, it is just a little bit sad. There is little to dislike about the Clarets. Sean Dyche is a good, amiable man; they have a pleasingly ramshackle stadium; and play some fairly decent football. However, their promotion last season defied most conventional logic, so it is perhaps hardly a surprise that they are the only team left in English senior football (going down to the Isthmian Premier) still waiting for their first win of the season. They aren’t quite the only winless team in Britain: Preston Athletic, sitting bottom of the Lowland League in Scotland, are also yet to pop their cherry but after losing their previous eight games they have drawn the last two, so things are looking up. Threave Rovers, Athletic’s opponents on Saturday, must be quaking in their boots. As Paul Wilson wrote on Thursday there is still hope for Burnley, with Crystal Palace as a model to follow but Tony Pulis probably will not fancy reprising his miracle act and even if he did, the players at Turf Moor simply aren’t good enough to survive. Hull City are the visitors on Saturday, which may present a chance for Burnley to secure their first victory but Steve Bruce’s side have ploughed through bigger challenges than the Clarets this season. Given they were pegged by some for relegation from the Championship last season, this term could be regarded as a bonus but that will not necessarily make the next few months any more pleasant. NM
4) Aston Villa are exactly where they should be
After 10 games Aston Villa are one point worse off than last season and, given the lack of funding and the public desire of the owner to flog the club, it should come as no great surprise there has been no progress. Yet the gnashing off teeth emanating from Birmingham would have you believe Paul Lambert was overseeing some sort of calamity. Perhaps it was the strong start that raised expectations unreasonably high – they have the same points as they had on 13 September when they gained a stirring away win at Liverpool – and it was probably an error to award Lambert a new contract off the back of a few good results but all he can really be accused of is not turning coal into gold. November is the month in which worried clubs traditionally get shot of underperforming managers, but the Scot should be not be put in that category. Villa were unlucky to lose to Spurs last week, and probably would have had a deserved win if not for the idiocy of Christian Benteke. A run of six defeats obviously does not look good but of those, only the feeble effort at QPR really stands out. Villa are exactly where one would expect them to be and it is unlikely a change of manager would make any difference. If fingers are to be pointed it must surely be at the board, unable to sell the club and unwilling to fund transfers that may make the team a more enticing prospect for a purchaser. A visit to high-flying West Ham is no easy task but a point this weekend would go a long way to steadying the nerves. Villa are not going to worry the top half of the table but they will stay up – and frankly that is all that should be expected of the manager given the resources available to him. TM
• Aston Villa and Spurs charged for failing to control players
• Stewart Downing recalled to England squad
5) The upside down world of Leicester City
- Appearances
- 10
- Goals
- 5
- Shots
- 12
- Shots on target
- 50%
- Offsides
- 4
Perhaps because of their implausible start to the season, with points gaily snatched from Arsenal, Everton and Manchester United, Leicester’s spiralling form has not received a huge amount of attention in recent weeks. Nigel Pearson’s side go into Saturday’s match at Southampton having gathered just one point from the last available 15, that single draw coming against Burnley. John Ashdown wrote last week that West Bromwich might provide a chance to get their season started again but instead a fairly limp 1-0 defeat transpired, thanks to an Esteban Cambiasso own goal, dropping the Foxes into the bottom three with the other two promoted teams from last season. “It’s not going our way at the moment to be perfectly honest, is it?” said Pearson after the game, and while misfortune can explain away a defeat via an own goal, it cannot be the sole reason for their current slump. When you look at the Leicester squad it is easy to conclude that this run is a reversion to the mean. With the exception of Cambiasso, none of their summer recruits played in a top division last season, so even after Leonardo Ulloa’s strapping start to the season, it is perhaps not a colossal surprise that they are heading in the wrong direction. It does not get any easier for the Foxes either as in Southampton they face opponents currently on a run of 10 wins from their last 11 in all competitions. Still, given how Leicester have played against teams in the Premier League’s upper echelon, perhaps we should expect a surprise at St Mary’s. NM
6) Martínez is right to make Europe his priority
Everton are underperforming in the league, unable to reach the heights of last season. Whether that is due to injuries or the extra exertions of a European campaign, they are failing to make the impact that Roberto Martínez managed in his first season at the club. But does it matter? Everton, who are away to Sunderland on Sunday, are in no danger of being relegated, but are unlikely to make the top four, and qualifying for the Europa League isn’t exactly a money-spinner, so why not make the cup competitions the priority? A trophy will be remembered far more than a sixth-place finish and a Europa League win has the added incentive of a Champions League place. The record of English teams in Europe’s second-string trophy is abysmal, so it makes a nice change to see a manager targeting success rather than seeking elimination as soon as possible in favour of battling for a place in the competition again next season, at which point the same farce will be repeated ad nauseam. The game at Sunderland will not be easy after their efforts against Lille and it may provide Gus Poyet’s strugglers with the opportunity for some much-needed points. But if Everton finish further down the table than some fans may have liked it can only be hoped the Goodison faithful appreciate the value of a decent cup run and a manager willing to spurn the quick buck of a couple of extra Premier League places for loftier ambitions. TM
• Leon Osman set to extend Everton contract
• Poyet hails Fletcher after Palace win
7) Irvine repaying West Bromwich’s faith
Alan Irvine took over a West Bromwich side who lost four of their final six Premier League games last season and looked in disarray under the disastrous stewardship of Pepe Mel. Yet with a minimum of fuss and little in the way of squad upheaval, he has steadied the ship and they are level on points not just with Sunday’s opponents Newcastle, but big-spending Manchester United as well. Not bad for a manager many thought would not last the season. The improvement in Saido Berahino has been marked, and the striker has been rewarded with an England call-up, but the defence marshalled by Joleon Lescott has also impressed, managing four clean sheets in 10 games. Irvine, David Moyes’ assistant at both Preston and Everton, was sacked when in charge of Sheffield Wednesday and Preston but having taken time to regroup as a youth coach at Goodison, he appears to be relishing another chance. Too often managers are thrown on the scrap heap after early failures, as if they are unable to learn or develop as a result of those set backs. It would be good for the game if Irvine could prove that just because early forays into leadership did not bring instant dividends, talented British coaches should not be overlooked in favour of foreign imports who themselves bring no guarantee of success. TM
• Berahino called up to England squad
• Gutiérrez gets all clear after cancer treatment
8) Will Kane get his chance?
- Appearances
- 6
- Goals
- 1
- Shots
- 4
- Shots on target
- 75%
- Offsides
- 0
Mob rule is, as we all know, the way to madness. That said, the Spurs fans vociferously calling for the inclusion of Harry Kane in their Premier League starting XI have a point, the 21-year-old striker having bagged eight goals in his last eight games, even though seven have come in assorted cup competitions and the other was a massively deflected free-kick against Aston Villa last Sunday. Still, Kane cannot do much more to further his own cause, and as much as anything else it is the unattractiveness of the other forward options available to Mauricio Pochettino, whose team are at home to Stoke City on Sunday, that provide the strongest argument for Kane’s inclusion. Roberto Soldado continues to be a crashing disappointment, while the old problems with Emmanuel Adebayor loafing around the pitch have resurfaced, presumably only to be righted after Christmas when the end of his current contract looms. While Kane’s goal against Villa was laced with fortune, it is undeniable that he looked much livelier than his striking colleagues and at least provided some impetus and enthusiasm to the team. Given how desperate they had looked in the previous hour, it lends some credibility to the argument for his inclusion from the start. NM
• Pochettino questioned over Adebayor absence
• Villa and Tottenham charged over conduct of players
9) How low can AGUERRROOOOOOOOOOOOOO?
Meetings between QPR and Manchester City will always be associated with one special moment – Sergio Agüero’s title-winning injury-time goal – albeit that Saturday’s match is at Loftus Road. And City are going to have to start launching another comeback pretty soon if this season is also going to end in glory. But they are missing their main schemer, David Silva, and their mojo. In fact, they are starting to look less like the side that won the title on that unforgettable day in 2012 (and last season) and more like the QPR rabble they consigned to relegation that day. A couple of weeks ago the current QPR team were looking a lot like that rabble too but they have found a method and gumption in recent weeks and may, just may, be able to escape the drop. Harry Redknapp’s team will surely know they are unlikely to have a better chance to beat City and that should make them determined to set the champions a stern test. The result will be instructive. Paul Doyle
• Manchester City masterplan goes awry
• Manuel Pellegrini perplexed by City’s European stage fright
10) Goals in store at Old Trafford
These days you have to be very sloppy to lose at home to Sunderland, as Crystal Palace did on Monday, even after the Black Cats contributed one of their customary blunders via a Wes Brown own goal. And Palace, who play Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday, were very sloppy indeed, with even the normally reliable Mile Jedinak getting himself sent off. Palace will miss their midfield linchpin badly against United. But if Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha can make better decisions than they did against Sunderland, when they squandered several promising opportunities, then Palace could take advantage of United’s dilapidated defence. The forecast, then, is for a heavy goal storm at Old Trafford. Especially if Dwight Gale is given an overdue start. PD
• Louis van Gaal not planning January signings
• Michael Carrick ready to solve United’s centre-back crisis
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 10 | 16 | 26 |
| 2 | Southampton | 10 | 16 | 22 |
| 3 | Man City | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| 5 | West Ham | 10 | 5 | 17 |
| 6 | Swansea | 10 | 3 | 15 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 10 | 0 | 14 |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 10 | -1 | 14 |
| 9 | Everton | 10 | 2 | 13 |
| 10 | Man Utd | 10 | 2 | 13 |
| 11 | West Brom | 10 | 0 | 13 |
| 12 | Newcastle | 10 | -4 | 13 |
| 13 | Stoke | 10 | -2 | 12 |
| 14 | Hull | 10 | -1 | 11 |
| 15 | Sunderland | 10 | -7 | 11 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 10 | -11 | 10 |
| 17 | Crystal Palace | 10 | -5 | 9 |
| 18 | Leicester | 10 | -5 | 9 |
| 19 | QPR | 10 | -11 | 7 |
| 20 | Burnley | 10 | -14 | 4 |
