1. Spurs have top spots in their sights
TOTTENHAM WILL KICK off at home to champions Leicester City on Saturday as the Premier League’s only remaining unbeaten team and just a single point behind leaders Manchester City.
Yet they will do so outside the Champions League qualification slots in fifth place and without a victory in their last four fixtures.
Those statistics support claims that this season’s race for the title could end up being one of the tightest in living memory after surprise package Leicester ended up winning it so comprehensively last term.
Tottenham were the club that chased the Foxes the hardest but Mauricio Pochettino’s men fell away sharply in the last four games and had to settle for third place.
Leicester always seemed to have their noses in front and that was the case when the two sides met at White Hart Lane when Robert Huth’s header was enough for a 1-0 win.
Claudio Ranieri’s players have found life much tougher now they are champions but enjoyed the luxury of no midweek match as a much-changed Spurs were eliminated from the EFL Cup at Liverpool on Tuesday.
2. Guardiola going through a difficult patch
Manchester City’s form under Pep Guardiola is beginning to show similarities to their final season under his predecessor Manuel Pellegrini, with a fast start followed by an autumn stumble.
Last season, City won their opening five matches under Pellegrini, then fell away so badly that they only just secured England’s fourth and final Champions League qualification place.
Guardiola, whose team visit West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Saturday, would not be satisfied with a repeat performance.
Yet having won his first 10 competitive games with the club, he has gone six without victory since.
It is the longest winless run of his managerial career, an unwanted record secured on Wednesday as his team were beaten 1-0 at Manchester United in the fourth round of the EFL Cup.
City have had some hard luck stories to tell during that run, as they should certainly have beaten Everton two weeks ago, missing two penalties in a 1-1 draw, and only took a point against Southampton last weekend despite controlling the second half.
It is also worth remembering that, for all their difficulties in recent weeks, City remain top of the Premier League and well placed to progress from the Champions League group stages.
Guardiola certainly did not field his strongest side at Old Trafford in midweek, making nine changes and fielding 19-year-olds Pablo Maffeo and Aleix Garcia in his starting line-up.
Those changes were made in the knowledge that more significant tests lie in wait, with Barcelona in Manchester for a pivotal Champions League Group C game next Tuesday.
There will be serious reasons for concern, though, if Guardiola’s lengthening wait for a victory is not ended at The Hawthorns.
3. Benteke faces his former employers
Liverpool will look to underline the strength of their squad when they continue their Premier League title challenge away to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Having survived a nervous finish as his team beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 in the Premier League last Saturday, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp fielded a completely different starting 11 against Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, and secured another 2-1 victory.
Such squad rotation should ensure Klopp has plenty of players fresh enough for the visit to Crystal Palace, when his team will seek to extend an unbeaten run in all competitions of 10 matches.
The arrival of Belgium international Christian Benteke from Anfield at the start of this season has helped strengthen belief at Selhurst Park, the forward kick-starting his Palace career with three goals in his opening seven league games and offering glimpses of the form that persuaded Liverpool to pay Aston Villa £32 million (€36 million) for the striker.
Benteke will lead the Palace attack for the visit of his former club.
4. Can Man United kick on after derby EFL Cup win?
Jose Mourinho’s mood was a little brighter on Wednesday after an EFL Cup victory over Manchester City, but there is still much work to be done in order to get his season back on track.
The Manchester United manager issued a public apology to the club’s supporters after an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Chelsea last Sunday, which left his team seventh in the Premier League.
Despite only winning one of their last six league matches, United are just six points behind leaders City as they go into Saturday’s home match against Burnley.
The concern for Mourinho is that injury problems are mounting.
Striker Marcus Rashford limped out of Wednesday’s match with nine minutes left clutching his thigh, and is being assessed by United’s medical team.
That setback came after defender Eric Bailly was ruled out for two months with lateral knee ligament damage sustained during the defeat at Chelsea, while forwards Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial are battling injuries too, along with centre-back Chris Smalling.
5. Increased pressure on Moyes and winless Black Cats
David Moyes believes Sunderland have improved in recent weeks, as they wait on a first Premier League win of the season.
The Black Cats sit bottom of the table with just two points but, having been beaten by moments of individual brilliance at West Ham and Southampton in their last two matches, Moyes insisted the confidence of his players is growing.
Sunderland now host Arsenal on Saturday, and the former Manchester United boss claimed that, with the Stadium of Light behind them, his men can get a positive result.
“Our confidence is good and the players know they are doing better,” he told a pre-match news conference on Friday.
“The results haven’t shown that, but the last two results could have been different. “We want the fans in full voice, but what we do on the pitch will determine that, so we need to get them off their seats.”
Sunderland’s preparation for this fixture has not been ideal, though, with Moyes charged by the FA for comments made about the referee’s decision not to award a penalty at Southampton, and the travelling squad then being unable to fly home due to fog.
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