1) Stoke must be wary and Manchester United need ruthlessness
As Manchester United prepare to visit the Britannia Stadium, examining Stoke City’s record against the league’s best sides this season offers an indication of where Mark Hughes and José Mourinho should both be looking for improvement. Stoke’s record against the elite is awful: five of their six matches against the league’s top six sides have ended in heavy defeats. They have lost 3-1 at Arsenal, 4-2 at Chelsea and 4-1 at Liverpool, while they were thumped 4-1 and 4-0 at home by Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur respectively. Good enough to take the lead against Arsenal and Liverpool, and also to equalise twice against Chelsea, Stoke ended up paying a high price for their leaky defending. Notable absentees from that list, however, are United, whose profligate finishing allowed Stoke to escape Old Trafford with a 1-1 draw in October. The lesson for Stoke is that they need to be wary of the dangers of going blow for blow with quality opponents, while United must become more ruthless if they are to qualify for the Champions League. JS
2) Will Jesus save Manchester City’s league campaign?
If Pep Guardiola was left seeking divine intervention after his side’s capitulation at Everton, he may be in luck. With Spurs visiting on Saturday, the teenage Brazilian star Gabriel Jesus is finally available for selection and will wear No33 – reportedly for religious reasons you can probably guess. Guardiola has so far failed to iron out the wrinkles that developed under Manuel Pellegrini, with last summer’s signings yielding mixed results. John Stones and Claudio Bravo have had well-publicised problems in defence, Ilkay Gündogan sustained a serious injury, Nolito’s initial impact has diminished and Leroy Sané has impressed, albeit in small doses. Should he risk throwing him in against an ominously in-form Tottenham, Guardiola will hope Jesus can unsettle a defence missing Jan Vertonghen with a direct, relentless style that has earned comparisons with the 19-year-old’s compatriot Ronaldo. That is a heavy cross to bear and City fans may settle for an improvement on their last Brazilian attacking superstar, Robinho. In turn, Guardiola may hope for a new centre-back to go alongside his latest jet-heeled trickster. NM
- Football Weekly Extra: the podders on Jesus, plus the weekend’s games
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Jesus talks of ambitions after completing move to Manchester City
- Paul Wilson: time has come for Man City to make Premier League statement
3) Klopp faces choice between Origi and Sturridge
Liverpool are still the league’s highest scorers but the goals have begun to dry up in recent weeks, with only five in their last six matches. Admittedly, two of those matches were against Plymouth in the FA Cup, where Jürgen Klopp fielded weakened teams, even if he has tried to claim otherwise. Those games are not entirely irrelevant here, as Divock Origi started both, while Daniel Sturridge played 76 frustrating minutes at Home Park. The dry run has coincided with the absence of Sadio Mané, their top scorer in the league on nine goals, who looks set for an extended stay in Gabon. Every other side in the Champions League hunt have a player already on double figures (Spurs have two). Klopp left Origi and Sturridge out of the starting XI for the win over Manchester City but has alternated the strikers since then, only to unexpectedly start both against Plymouth, where they failed to link up effectively. Origi was picked for the draw at Manchester United but is now stuck in an eight-game drought that followed a run of five goals in as many matches. Sturridge found the net against Sunderland and Stoke, but speculation persists over his Anfield future. It may be the right time for Klopp to back one of the two as his first-choice centre-forward, with Swansea and their open-door defence in town. NM
- Liverpool’s Klopp defends fielding youngsters in replay against Plymouth
- Gerrard tells Sturridge to fight for his Liverpool future
4) Wenger must not allow sentiment to cloud vision over Sánchez
Arsenal had made sure of victory long before Alexis Sánchez’s number went up at Swansea City last weekend but that did not stop the Chilean from reacting angrily to being substituted. Not that Arsène Wenger paid too much attention to Sánchez’s little outburst, acknowledging that it stemmed from the forward’s relentless determination to play every single minute of every single game rather than a desire to undermine his manager with a public show of dissent. Nothing to see here, then, although Wenger cannot allow sentiment to cloud his vision if Arsenal are in the clear late on against Burnley on Sunday. Those are the moments when Wenger has to remember all the times in the past when he has spoken about Sánchez being in the “red zone” physically, only to play him anyway, and to act with conviction if he decides that his most important player would benefit from putting his feet up. Even someone with Sánchez’s remarkable stamina levels has a limit and Wenger only has to think back to how he ran out of steam during last season’s title run-in to appreciate the wisdom of giving him the occasional rest, especially before the crucial trip to Chelsea on 4 February. JS
- Crystal Palace move for Arsenal’s Jenkinson collapses over personal terms
- Burnley close in on £3.5m move for Barnsley defender Roberts
5) Costa may have to bide time before returning to Chelsea XI
Congratulations to the staff in Chelsea’s medical department, who have worked wonders to cure the pesky back injury that kept Diego Costa out of last weekend’s trip to Leicester City. Antonio Conte will be delighted to have the striker available again, although it remains to be seen whether the Italian will decide to start Costa against Hull City at Stamford Bridge or to persist with Eden Hazard in a central attacking role, with Pedro Rodríguez and Willian floating menacingly either side of the Belgian. Hazard excelled through the middle in the 3-0 win over Leicester, just as he did when Chelsea beat Bournemouth by the same scoreline on Boxing Day, while Pedro and Willian also impressed, so there is a chance that Costa will have to bide his time before returning to the starting lineup. JS
- Costa returns to Chelsea training but wants summer move
- Hull wait for Snodgrass offers after rejecting West Ham’s £7.5m bid
6) Karanka should not be afraid to use Traoré
Solid defending continues to keep Middlesbrough out of the bottom three but Aitor Karanka must be aware that his side’s toothlessness could be their undoing in the long run. The division’s lowest scorers drew another blank in last weekend’s 0-0 draw with Watford and while there is no reason to criticise their ability to keep clean sheets, failing to score in five of their previous eight league games hardly offers encouragement that they will be capable of pulling clear of danger any time soon. With that in mind Karanka’s refusal to introduce Adama Traoré in the second half at Vicarage Road was a curious decision. Traoré stayed on the bench for the entire 90 minutes when the game was there to be won. The young winger is raw and often frustrating but his exciting dribbling can unsettle stubborn defences and Karanka should not be afraid to use him against West Ham, whose full-backs have looked shaky at times this season, at the Riverside on Saturday. JS
- Bamford completes his £6m move to Middlesbrough
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West Ham in advanced talks to sign Southampton defender Fonte
7) Everton should stick with back three for Palace trip
Everton’s thrashing of Manchester City was one of the finest team performances seen anywhere this season but Ronald Koeman will be wary of getting carried away. His side began the season with four wins out of five but have had their momentum continually stifled by poor away results. Everton have lost at Southampton, Bournemouth, Watford and Burnley, and while defeat by Chelsea is no disgrace, their performance there in November was as bad as Sunday’s was good. The key may be in Koeman’s switch to a back three, with Mason Holgate slotting into defence, allowing Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman licence to roam upfield. It worked against City and the system also helped to give Everton three points at Leicester on Boxing Day. Koeman may feel inclined to retreat into a back four, with Crystal Palace’s obvious threat coming from wide, Jeffrey Schlupp, Jason Puncheon and Loïc Rémy all able to fill in for Wilfried Zaha. If Koeman is bold enough to stick with a back three, Everton may be well placed to win three league games in a row for the first time since that flying start. NM
- Everton lose interest in Belfodil as Koeman has reservations
- Marseille turn their attentions to Crystal Palace midfielder Cabaye
8) Cleverley could be the key for Watford
While Watford are seven points above the bottom three, they cannot be complacent about their current situation. Their miserable form continued with last week’s execrable goalless draw against Middlesbrough at Vicarage Road and they will struggle to stay away from danger if this goes on much longer. Having lost six of their past nine league games, how they could do with a rare positive result and performance when they visit Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon. Perhaps Tom Cleverley can help. On loan from Everton, the midfielder is not everyone’s cup of tea but there was a time when he was rated highly by Sir Alex Ferguson. Though he has lost his way in the past few years, Cleverley could make a difference for Watford if he rediscovers some confidence. JS
9) Pulis on a mission for more West Brom signings
One manager haunted by relegation meets another whose team are safe in mid-table but only one is sounding off about signings – and it isn’t David Moyes. Despite West Brom sitting comfortably in eighth, Tony Pulis was keen to stress the need for new blood after the heavy defeat at Spurs. “It’s not just signing players, it’s signing good players” said Pulis, although a £10m bid for Hull’s Jake Livermore does not seem especially shrewd. Pulis made similar noises in August, eventually bringing in Nacer Chadli before the deadline. Back then, Albion looked relegation candidates; time will tell if the club’s owners are still willing now that the Europa League, rather than survival, is the target. Moyes has struck a more pragmatic note so far this January, with his focus on keeping Jermain Defoe and Patrick van Aanholt at the club. As Moyes himself put it, “it’s important that Sunderland don’t spend badly now – there has probably been too much of that in the past.” NM
10) Puel can afford to rest players with cup final in sight
Southampton are in a strange place. There’s an air of disappointment at St Mary’s, with four league games lost on the spin, and the captain, José Fonte, prepared to walk away. That could be forgotten in eight days’ time, after two potentially season-defining cup ties. The first, Wednesday’s EFL Cup semi-final second leg at Anfield, begins with Southampton holding a 1-0 aggregate lead. The only major honour in the club trophy room is the 1976 FA Cup – this is an opportunity not to be sniffed at. Less than 72 hours later, Arsenal are in town for an FA Cup tie, set up by Wednesday’s gruelling win over Norwich. Before that double bill, there’s an early Sunday warm-up against Leicester. Puel has rotated his side with abandon all season and could call upon any or all of home-grown quartet Harrison Reed, Josh Sims, Sam McQueen and Jack Stephens, all of whom started against Norwich. Puel will feel under pressure to end a run of four straight league defeats but should consider the bigger picture, with Southampton still eight points clear of the bottom three and taking on a team without a league away win all season. NM
