1. Liverpool show that possession not necessarily nine-tenths of the law
There were considerable spells during tonight’s Liverpool-Southampton match where Mauricio Pochettino’s side looked the more accomplished team.
The Saints dominated the possession and were well on top both towards the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second.
Yet Liverpool’s attack is so potent on the counter-attack that they rarely even need to dominate games.
Suarez and Sturridge now have 42 goals between them — more than most Premier League sides have scored in total.
And when one has a rare quiet day — as was the case with Sturridge this evening — the other usually compensates with a spectacular display, and Suarez did just that, scoring one and creating the other two of Liverpool’s three unanswered goals.
2. Wilson outlines his credentials to onlooking Keane
It has long been a cliché to suggest that Stoke is a ‘difficult place to go’ in the Premier League, however it’s actually proving to be the case this season.
Mark Hughes’ men have the fifth best home record in the league, beating Man United and Chelsea, as well as drawing with Man City at the Britannia Stadium, while today they added Arsenal to their impressive list of victims.
One common denominator in all these performances has been how teams have found it difficult to break them down at the back — and Ireland international Marc Wilson deserves special mention for his role in their success.
Having been played at full-back and in midfield at times over the course of his career, the ex-Portsmouth man appears to have found his best position at centre-back.
His immense performance today will no doubt have impressed the watching Roy Keane, especially as Ireland are not exactly blessed with many talented defenders.
That said, Wilson has, in the past, had issues with his concentration, as his horror show in the 5-3 loss to Liverpool earlier in the season illustrated, and thus, will need to retain his recent discipline if he wants to continue to be a vital player for club and country alike.
3. Pardew’s behaviour highly unprofessional but hardly unprecedented
Over the years, Premier League managers’ reputation has dwindled significantly, owing largely to their consistently disreputable comments aimed at officials during post-match interviews.
Even the more civil ones occasionally seem prone to embarrassing themselves — with Manuel Pellegrini’s recent inference that a Swedish referee was unfit to officiate a Champions League tie being a prime example.
Alan Pardew went a step further today, when he disgracefully headbutted David Meyler amid a heated Hull-Newcastle game.
Pardew apologised immediately after the game, but his words rang hollow, as it was far from the first time he has been guilty of touchline stupidity
Nevertheless, despite suggestions to the contrary, the prospect of him being sacked appears improbable — after all, his actions were, if not de rigueur, certainly not unprecedented.
Was his relatively innocuous headbutt on Meyler much worse than Jose Mourinho’s eye gouge on Tito Vilanova back in 2011?
Is such tame physical violence really considerably more egregious than the verbal violence fans are accustomed to hearing on a near-weekly basis nowadays from managers?
The 52-year-old’s actions were not a divergence from the norm — instead, they epitomised the increasingly toxic behaviour that Pardew and his colleagues have long been committing without being unduly reprimanded as a result.
4. Lukaku shows Everton what they’ve been missing
In recent matches especially, Everton have lacked a cutting edge that has cost them dearly.
Against Chelsea and Tottenham, the Toffees matched and even outplayed their opponents for long spells of the contest, yet lost on both occasions.
The reason for their misfortune was simple — Steven Naismith, for all his admirable endeavour, is simply not good enough to lead an attacking line at the highest level.
Romelu Lukaku, on the other hand, emphasised today that he has the quality needed if Everton are to have any hope of maintaining their bid for Champions League football next season.
Having been out for a month, the big striker came off the bench to side-foot home Leighton Baines’ cross and give Roberto Martinez’s team the all-important three points against a determined West Ham outfit.
5. Chelsea outclass Fulham, but next three games could determine their fate
After toiling through the first half this afternoon, Chelsea eventually outclassed Fulham courtesy of an outstanding Andre Schürrle hat-trick.
Even Felix Magath, the Fulham boss, admitted his side were the far inferior team on the day.
Nonetheless, given that it was bottom against top, today’s result always seemed inevitable.
The next three league matches though, are harder to predict — two home ties against Arsenal and Tottenham, as well as a tricky away fixture at Aston Villa, who have sprung a few surprises already this season.
Maximum points would mean they’d be well set up to claim the title — apart from Liverpool away, all their other matches are ones you’d expect Jose Mourinho’s men to take three points from.
However, a loss or two — particularly with the added distraction of Champions League football in between — could see their entire season swiftly unravel.
