1. Are Liverpool and United serious title contenders?
WITH JUST FIVE points separating the top seven teams, the Premier League remains wide open and the identity of the champions-in-waiting is anyone’s guess.
After a convincing victory over Man United, many had felt City were odds-on for the title. Yet Pep Guardiola’s side’s subsequent deserved loss to Spurs earlier this month raised renewed doubt about the Etihad outfit’s title credentials and exposed the team’s flaws.
On Monday, two other potential title challengers, Liverpool and Man United, face off.
Jose Mourinho’s side’s problems have been well documented of late, while Jurgen Klopp’s men have also shown signs of inconsistency — most notably in a 2-0 loss to Burnley where they looked conspicuously short of ideas in attack.
However, the two teams still sit in fourth and sixth place respectively, and a win for either would represent a serious statement of intent.
Liverpool have never won the Premier League, while the Red Devils last triumphed in the 2012-13 campaign — legendary manager Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge.
Both will therefore be looking to rediscover past glories, and one ex-United player believes the current Red Devils team are capable of rediscovering the heady heights of the Ferguson era this season.
“When you play that kind of game it gives you great motivation,” Portugal winger Nani added, in an interview with Omnisport.
“It pushes you in the league, it makes you stronger.
“Ferguson used to say that this is not just a game, it’s a challenge.
“Everyone must win their battle against their opponent. We’re not just playing, we’re going out there to win.
“Win every ball, tackle, race, everything. Football comes last. We didn’t always play beautiful but plays hard.”
2. Tottenham seek revenge
It was against West Brom last season that Tottenham’s largely excellent season began to unravel.
Their 1-1 draw at home to the Baggies all but ended their title challenge, as they found themselves seven points behind with three matches left, while a key player, Dele Alli, missed the remainder of the campaign following an off-the-ball punch aimed at an opponent.
A total of just two points from their final four matches meant a mostly encouraging campaign for Spurs ended with a whimper, as bitter rivals Arsenal beat them to second place on the final day to add insult to injury.
It was the second consecutive season in which a promising year under Mauricio Pochettino had ultimately gone off the rails, leading some critics to question whether the manager’s intense pressing style was prematurely exhausting his players.
So as Spurs prepare to meet West Brom for the first time since last season’s memorable encounter at White Hart Lane, the Tottenham boss is understandably wary amid talk of another title challenge.
“I think it is too early to talk about whether we are contenders for the title at the end of the season,” Pochettino told reporters.
“For us it is important to go step by step. The most important thing is to work hard and to try and win games.”
Moreover, with important players in Harry Kane and Mousa Dembele still unavailable though injury, a victory against a dogged West Brom outfit is unlikely come easily at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
3. Can Everton heap more misery on Bravo?
Pep Guardiola has made a few controversial decisions since his arrival at Man City. Yet perhaps the most talked-about ruling in recent weeks is his insistence that his goalkeeper continually passes the ball out from the back, urging him not to launch it long.
It is a risky policy particularly in the Premier League, where games are played at 100 miles an hour and players’ time on the ball is generally far more limited than in any of the other major European leagues.
The better sides have been able to exploit this perceived City weakness, with Bravo looking particularly uncomfortable in Premier League games against Tottenham and Man United, as well as in the Champions League clash with Celtic.
Moreover, the success of this strategy is as much to do with other City players as it is with Bravo, as former England women’s goalkeeper Rachel Brown-Finnis pointed out in an insightful recent column for BBC Sport.
She noted: “Your keeper could be awesome on the ball but if your back five, including that midfield anchor, do not read the cues and move into the right places when he is under pressure then playing short will end in disaster — your keeper will still play the same pass as planned, but will look a right mug when he gives the ball away.”
Everton have started the season off in impressive fashion, and currently find themselves in fifth place, and so the Toffees should have the confidence required to press City high up as Tottenham and others have done.
How Bravo and City cope with this pressure will therefore likely be a significant factor in determining the outcome of Saturday’s game.
4. Leicester in danger of early collapse
Leicester winning the Premier League title last May already seems like a distant memory.
After seven games, the Foxes sit on just eight points in 12th place — much closer to the relegation zone than the league leaders. In Saturday’s early kick-off, they face Antonio Conte’s Chelsea — another team who have shown some indifferent form so far.
Claudio Ranieri’s side have struggled away from home in particular this season, losing all three of their league matches on the road so far in the campaign.
In addition, not many will fancy them on Saturday at Stamford Bridge — their last win at the ground came 16 years ago, while Chelsea are set to be bolstered by the return from injury of captain John Terry.
Speaking ahead of the game, Ranieri was unable to explain in detail why his side have been so inept on their travels.
“It is difficult to say why,” the 64-year-old Italian told reporters.
“In the first match we were unlucky as we created chances, the other two matches we deserved to lose, Liverpool and Manchester were better than us.”
5. Could Wenger contract saga prove a distraction for Arsenal?
In the build up to their game at home to Bob Bradley’s Swansea on Saturday, much of the pre-match talk at Arsenal has related to Arsene Wenger’s contract, and whether he will ultimately pen a new deal to extend his stay at the club.
In an interview with BeIN Sports during the week, the veteran manager was in reflective mood: ”I am moving the club forward and the way it is managed forward, I am quite confident on that.
“What will decide for me whether I want to continue or not is whether I feel people still want me to be there, my club still wants me to be there and my conscience that I’ve done well, or not well.
“That will be a decisive factor — have I done well? Have we achieved what I want to achieve with the team?
“About me purely as a manger… I like to do what I do. Will I do something else one day? I don’t know.
“I am not at the end of my knowledge or my desire to do more and become better. The only thing that drives me is I want tomorrow to be a better manager than today. As long as I have that, I don’t want to stop my career.
“Even if I feel I don’t do well I will manage somewhere else maybe.
“The disadvantage of when you get old is people always ask you, ‘When do you stop?’ I don’t know, I just try to do well and enjoy what I do.”
With Wenger’s contract set to expire at the end of the season, the ‘will-he-won’t-he’ talk could potentially prove unsettling to the players.
That said, were Arsenal to announce Wenger’s impending departure, it could merely exacerbate the situation — Man City’s underwhelming end to last season, after Guardiola’s summer arrival was confirmed midway through the campaign, suggests clubs might be better off remaining silent in such circumstances.
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