1) Mahrez, not Vardy, may be the player sought after by other clubs
It is difficult to explain, said Leicester’s manager, Claudio Ranieri, of the significance of Jamie Vardy’s 11 consecutive game scoring record and, though the Italian clearly intended only to praise his striker’s extraordinary feat, one gets the feeling that some of Ranieri’s fellow foreign managers might agree for different reasons. For all the speculation about Vardy being sold in the transfer window, especially if Leicester are already safe, it is not easy to see him scoring as regularly in teams which play in a different way and it would be something of a surprise were he to be the subject of a bid from any of the “big” clubs. A player who might, however, is Riyad Mahrez, who as Stuart James pointed out last week, according to one respected statistic-based website is second only to Barcelona’s Neymar in terms of value to his team across the European leagues. Were it not for Leo Ulloa’s feeble finish, the Algeria international winger, who came into the match with seven goals and six assists to his name, would have won the game for his side again on Saturday, and his trickery and control could make him a sought-after commodity in a month’s time. Richard Rae
• Ranieri and Van Nistelrooy congratulate Vardy
• Vardy makes history to show the pest is the best
• Vardy breaks record as Leicester draw with Manchester United
• In pictures: Vardy’s extraordinary Premier League goalscoring record
2) Aston Villa look like a lost cause
It is now a moot point to consider that David Moyes was reportedly willing to take over from Tim Sherwood at Aston Villa but is Rémi Garde not even more of a risk than giving a manager with a proven Premier League track record control of one’s club? The new guy had to get winning straight away because history is a harsh opponent. Based on the average points gained by the team finishing 18th in the Premier League over the five years, 37 points will be required to finish one place above the relegation zone. Can Garde inspire Villa to gain 32 points from 24 games? That is ‘only’ 1.3 points a game: win, lose, draw for the rest of the season and Premier League salvation could be secure. Extrapolated over a whole campaign, that form brings 51 points; Villa have averaged below 41 since 2011. The last time they did better than that was in Martin O’Neill’s final season when 64 points left them three behind Manchester City. And the quality and effectiveness of Villa’s squad has lessened year on year. Villa now share the worst start to a season in Premier League history, with four other clubs. Lose at Southampton in their 15th league game on Saturday and Villa will have only Sunderland, from 10 years ago, for company. Mick McCarthy’s team took until Boxing Day to win their sixth point of the season. Even if Garde builds on the signs that he has a playing strategy in place, confidence is battered, too many new players have not yet gelled, the owner wants to sell and invests only a net average of £6m each season and Villa are seven points off the ‘safety’ of 17th place having already made their managerial gamble. Whichever way the numbers are cut, Villa are surely down. Peter Lansley
• Watford’s Deeney seals victory to deepen Aston Villa’s misery
3) Van Gaal should do his best to get his hands on Mané
A winter transfer window project for the title push of Manchester United should be Get Sadio Mané. The Southampton forward flies at defences fearlessly as he did against Manchester City’s on Saturday, his footwork a dazzle of trickery that includes the most vital ingredient: end product. It was his cutting cross that found Shane Long perfectly for the visitor’s sole goal in their 3-1 defeat. Last summer United made a bid for the 23-year-old. In January they should call again at the south coast club. Louis van Gaal continually bemoans his lack of a jet-heeled, world-class attacker. Mané might just be one of these if he continues to develop. If acquired, he would shake up Van Gaal’s sluggish United and terrify opposing rearguards. So to enhance United’s hopes of a 21st championship Mané is surely worth trying to buy. Jamie Jackson
• Manchester City’s De Bruyne leads clinical defeat of Southampton
4) Everton miss the bite and intensity of McCarthy
The overwhelming majority of praise bestowed on Everton is directed at Ross Barkley, Romelu Lukaku and John Stones but Saturday’s loss of two points twice, as Roberto Martínez put it, offered a timely reminder of how important James McCarthy has become to their game plan. The midfielder came off midway through the second half with Everton in control and leading 2-0 due to injury and Tom Cleverley was brought on in his stead. While the former Manchester United player is neat and tidy, he does not offer the same bite and intensity as the man he replaced. What Everton needed at a time when Bournemouth were beginning to threaten frequently was someone with McCarthy’s insatiable work ethic and ability to break up play. Cleverley is too meek to do that and it was odd to see a player better equipped to complete such a task in Darron Gibson remaining on the bench. Alan Smith
• Stanislas strikes twice to rescue battling Bournemouth against Everton
• Barkley studies the old maestros and sets himself new targets
5) Costa falls from favour but Mourinho is still reliant on him
It says much about the nosedive in Diego Costa’s form this season that José Mourinho deemed Eden Hazard, a player now without a Premier League goal in 17 games and 1,555 minutes, worthier of a central striking role than the Spain forward. Costa has been an awkward blend of the sluggish and the aggressive all season, a player apparently at war with the world and clearly frustrated at his own inability to recreate his startling personal form from the beginning of last season when he seemed so suited to this league and its fragile defences. Those days seem long gone. There have been seven club goals since January and revealing public displays of exasperation, from that outburst at half-time in Haifa to the petty flinging of his bib in the vague direction of the management at White Hart Lane, over the last week which have exposed him as a player unsettled. Mourinho again insisted there is no issue in his relationship with Costa but the striker’s body language on bench, touchline and even team bus – he sat there brooding for almost an hour post-match waiting for his team-mates to join him – suggested otherwise.
- Appearances
- 11
- Goals
- 3
- Shots
- 23
- Shots on target
- 39%
- Offsides
- 13
Bournemouth, who visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday, would normally be appealing opponents on whom to unleash Costa in the hope he can plunder much needed rewards against the division’s joint worst defence. But Mourinho will have Loïc Rémy and possibly even Radamel Falcao available by then. Does Costa deserve a swift return to the fold? Has he behaved in a manner which suggests he had, indeed, “watched the game with some attention” to ensure he now “knows what is needed from him”, as pinpointed by the manager post-match? Most of his “warm-up” near the corner flag appeared to consist of half-hearted stretches and picking grass from the sole of his boots. He was at least watching the match at the time. The problem is, even with Rémy and Falcao in the ranks, the manager is utterly reliant on Costa to lead the line. There is no viable competition. No like-for-like replacement worth his salt. Hazard is no long-term solution at centre-forward and Chelsea are unlikely to be able to lure a stellar performer to the club in January. If anything, they may find themselves competing in a market of stop-gaps and six-month deals – Emmanuel Adebayor, anyone? – which will hardly have the 27-year-old fretting over a lack of involvement. Instead Mourinho has some bridges to build at Cobham this week as he attempts to improve his player’s mood. Long-term, Chelsea may now privately accept Costa’s days are numbered. Short-term, they need him firing again – quick. Dominic Fifield
• Tottenham extend run but fail to find fluency to add to Chelsea’s troubles
• Barney Ronay: Hazard shows Mourinho what Chelsea have lacked with Costa
• Mourinho: Costa ‘privileged’ not to be dropped before
6) Pardew’s good wishes to Newcastle rub salt in detractors’ wounds
Alan Pardew has been a study in reticence whenever invited to dwell on the subject of his previous employers – to the extent that his assistant manager, Keith Millen, was dispatched to host Crystal Palace’s pre-match press conference before Newcastle United’s visit on Saturday. He is wary of his words being twisted but he opened up a little more after his side’s 5-1 win. Magnanimity was the order of the day but one got the impression that he wishes Newcastle, where he spent four years in charge despite finding himself subjected to a sustained period of supporter revolt, well in their increasingly ambitious aim to escape relegation.
“It looks like they’re going to have to really fight for the rest of the season,” he said after his front four had inflicted a ruthless evisceration on admittedly supine opposition. “They’ve found themselves with lots of points to make up now. But with the crowd and the way it is there, they can reverse that quickly. I think it’s important that the group stays strong. I sometimes felt myself in the position where you need everybody to pull for you [in my time there] and that’s where they are now. Steve [McClaren] understands that as a manager and the staff and players now have to really stick tight, get the barriers up and get themselves a win. I hope they do that next week.” Pardew can afford to be generous: his 11 months back at Palace have surely exceeded his wildest expectations. And while his time at Newcastle can in no way be rewritten as flawless, hearing him speak from such a position of strength must jar awkwardly with those supporters who expended so much energy in seeking his exit from St James’ Park. Nick Ames
• ‘Hugely disappointed’ McClaren gives Newcastle Sunday training
• Crystal Palace hammer Newcastle to leave McClaren in deep trouble
7) Returning Henderson gives Klopp a welcome dilemma in midfield
Incident was thin on the ground at Anfield other than the contested penalty award that handed Liverpool a sixth win in seven games and left Garry Monk praying for a break in fortune for Swansea City. Jordan Henderson’s return from a three-month injury lay-off, however, will give Jürgen Klopp an internal debate over the make-up of his midfield in the weeks ahead. The Liverpool captain showed a glimpse of the creativity that was sorely lacking in the game when setting up James Milner for a rare shot on goal late on, and how Klopp will accommodate Henderson will be intriguing. Emre Can took the holding role in the absence of the suspended Lucas Leiva against Swansea and impressed. The Brazilian himself has been revitalised under the new Liverpool manager and has played a pivotal role in Klopp’s positive start. Milner’s industry and movement are also important to how Liverpool operate under the German coach. Something, or rather someone, will have to give. After the series of injuries at the start of his tenure, however, Liverpool’s manager will welcome the dilemma as momentum builds. Andy Hunter
8) Evans adapts impressively to left-back role for West Brom
West Bromwich Albion missed the suspended Chris Brunt’s deliveries at Upton Park but were strong at left-back thanks to a fine performance by Jonny Evans, who seemed bothered neither by the foot injury that jeopardised his participation in the match nor by his relative unfamiliarity with the position. He was magnificent at left-back on Sunday. “The kid is a top player,” said Tony Pulis He can play anywhere across the back four and I also think he could play as a holding midfield player. His composure, his touch on the ball and his vision at times is first-class. We wanted to play someone out there who would look after [Victor] Moses and someone who would have a bit of quality on the ball and I thought Jonny was fantastic for us.”. Paul Doyle
9) Wenger faces more questions about key players’ fitness
Arsène Wenger strode purposefully through the Carrow Road concourse towards his post-match press conference but there would be one final insult. Alex Neil, the Norwich City manager, had got there first and Wenger was told he would have to wait. It is fair to say this went down badly, with the Arsenal manager making the point that he and his players had a flight to catch. After a bit of loitering around, he stalked off, instructing his press officer to come to get him when Neil had finished. Wenger’s tetchiness was down to more than the 1-1 draw representing two points dropped. He had lost Laurent Koscielny and Alexis Sánchez to muscle injuries while Santi Cazorla finished as a virtual passenger because of knee trouble. Not one or two but three of his very best players are now likely to be casualties for the busy weeks ahead, certainly Koscielny and Sánchez – both of whom could barely walk. Wenger knew that the questions about his care of Sánchez were coming and, in that respect, he was not disappointed. It is easy to feel the sense of dread about the fitness bulletins over the coming days. David Hytner
• Arsenal held at Norwich and hit by Sánchez and Koscielny injuries
10) Fulop gets a touching tribute
Marton Fulop’s parents were Sunderland’s guests of honour for a game between two of his former clubs. The former Hungary goalkeeper, who died from cancer earlier this month at the age of 32, was the subject of a minute’s applause before kick-off. Earlier there had been a floral tribute – financed by fans – placed outside the ground and a warm, touching piece from Margaret Byrne, Sunderland’s chief executive, in the match programme. Then, in the 32nd minute, came a spontaneous display of appreciation as booming choruses of “Only one Marton Fulop” echoed from all corners of the Stadium of Light. It must have been an extremely difficult afternoon for Fulop’s mother and father but that magnificent ovation must have meant a lot to them. Louise Taylor
• Sunderland out of bottom three after Watmore sees off Stoke City
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 14 | 16 | 29 |
| 2 | Leicester | 14 | 8 | 29 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 14 | 10 | 28 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 14 | 12 | 27 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 14 | 13 | 25 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 14 | 3 | 23 |
| 7 | Crystal Palace | 14 | 5 | 22 |
| 8 | West Ham | 14 | 4 | 22 |
| 9 | Everton | 14 | 8 | 21 |
| 10 | Southampton | 14 | 3 | 20 |
| 11 | Watford | 14 | -1 | 19 |
| 12 | Stoke | 14 | -3 | 19 |
| 13 | West Brom | 14 | -5 | 18 |
| 14 | Chelsea | 14 | -6 | 15 |
| 15 | Swansea | 14 | -5 | 14 |
| 16 | Norwich | 14 | -8 | 13 |
| 17 | Sunderland | 14 | -10 | 12 |
| 18 | AFC Bournemouth | 14 | -13 | 10 |
| 19 | Newcastle | 14 | -16 | 10 |
| 20 | Aston Villa | 14 | -15 | 5 |
