1) Southampton really miss Austin’s power
This time last year Southampton paid £4m to sign Charlie Austin from Queens Park Rangers. It was a while before he made an impact, but he certainly made an impact during the early part of this season, scoring nine goals in 19 games. But Southampton’s form has tailed off since Austin suffered a shoulder injury last month. They have lacked a cutting edge and have won only three of their past nine games in all competitions, sinking into the bottom half of the league in the process. Shane Long has rarely been prolific, Jay Rodriguez is still regaining his sharpness after his injury problems and Nathan Redmond is maturing. While Claude Puel’s side dominated for long spells against Burnley, a shortage of ruthlessness left them vulnerable and Joey Barton scored a late winner for the hosts. The outcome might have been different had Austin been available, but he is likely to be out until March. They may have to buy again.
2) City cannot afford to be this meek again
Manchester City remain wildly inconsistent, with even Pep Guardiola seemingly unable to bring calm instead of chaos. Going from a 5-0 FA Cup win at West Ham to a 4-0 defeat at Everton in just over a week represents what election pundits would term a nine-goal swing. It appeared Guardiola’s problems were over when City’s performance at the London Stadium had everyone reaching for the superlatives once again, yet at Goodison they all came flooding back. Everton were good, well worth their win, though it was City’s ineffectiveness that proved the greater surprise. They did not respond to going a goal down as they had against Arsenal in December, this was a performance more in keeping with their meek display at Anfieldon New Year’s Eve. and City cannot afford to be meek at this stage of the season.They are now 10 points behind Chelsea, and though Guardiola has conceded defeat in the title race, he must be sick of being asked the question. A more pressing concern is whether City will even make the top four. Right now it could be said that of all the top six they appear most likely to miss out, were it not for the uncertainty over which version of City will turn up next week at home against Tottenham. Guardiola is in charge of the Premier League version of the girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead. Everyone knows City can be very, very good, but when they are bad, they are horrid.
3) Signings required to keep Hull above relegation dotted line
Hull City’s victory against Bournemouth was their first in the league since 6 November and one that ensured a move off the bottom of the Premier League table above Swansea City and Sunderland. Marco Silva’s appointment was greeted by much scepticism, but the Portuguese coach has proven pedigree in Europe and has already galvanised support among supporters previously preoccupied with singing against the Allam family. Silva has spoken of a desire to bring players in during the January window and if Hull can sign one or two quality additions then an escape from relegation is certainly not beyond them. However, those signings are crucial. Hull cannot rely only on Robert Snodgrass and Abel Hernández to provide an attacking spark. If Silva is to be successful at Hull he needs boardroom backing in the next two weeks.
4) Kanté’s return shows Ndidi what needs to be done
Signed to improve Leicester City’s midfield solidity, Wilfred Ndidi enjoyed a promising debut in the FA Cup win against Everton last week and the visit of Chelsea provided the perfect opportunity to compare him with the player Claudio Ranieri hopes he can replace, N’Golo Kanté. But Kanté’s excellence in Chelsea’s 3-0 win against Leicester on Saturday merely underlined how much the champions have missed him since his move to Stamford Bridge in the summer. While Antonio Conte’s side have benefited from the Frenchman’s snappy interceptions and astute passing Leicester have slid towards the bottom three. Ranieri selected three central midfielders in an attempt to win the midfield but Nemanja Matic and Kanté were dominant despite the potential for them to be outnumbered. That was partly down to Conte’s tactical excellence – Chelsea’s 3-4-3 system means they often swamp the middle – but also Kanté’s brilliance. Although Ndidi clearly has potential he has big shoes to fill.
5) Ibrahimovic shows Rooney age cannot wither him
In March Zlatan Ibrahimovic, then 34, stated: “I’m only just warming up,” regarding one of the current era’s most successful careers. Fast forward to January 2017 and, now 35, the Swede slotted a 14th Premier League goal of his inaugural Manchester United season against their fiercest rivals to place his tally second only to the 15 of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Dwight Yorke after 20 outings in the competition. On the evidence so far Ibrahimovic is walking the “warming up” talk and who knows how many more he may finish with before the season’s end. Free transfers do not come much better than his from Paris Saint-Germain. Wayne Rooney, four years younger than Ibrahimovic, hustled and bustled after coming on at halftime – as James Milner can painfully testify – but it was as provider, not goalscorer, that he made his mark, helping to set up Ibrahimovic’s late goal.
6) Moyes regrets catching bullet dodged by Hughes
When Ellis Short sacked Steve Bruce in November 2011, Sunderland’s owner was torn between making Mark Hughes or Martin O’Neill his next manager. Ultimately he chose O’Neill, so we will never know how Sunderland’s recent history might have unfolded had that “sliding doors” moment been reversed. Hughes has since built an attractive Stoke side who cantered to victory here and, noting David Moyes’s despairing body language, quite possibly suspects he dodged a north-east bullet. With money now too tight to mention on Wearside all the indications are that Moyes deeply regrets accepting Short’s invitation to become Sunderland’s fifth manager post-O’Neill. Lacking 11 senior players, eight injured and three at the Africa Cup of Nations, his bench was staffed by youngsters; sending the absent owner a pointed message, he did not use a single substitute as thousands of disillusioned fans streamed towards the exits mid-match. Relegation beckons.
7) Swansea must improve defence if drop to be avoided
There were actually moments of encouragement for Paul Clement in Swansea’s defeat against Arsenal: if you like this sort of thing, the rainbow that appeared above the Liberty Stadium as they purposefully passed the ball in the first half might have been symbolic. Still, despite some fine work done in the middle of the pitch, Swansea’s problems lie at either end of the pitch. “We didn’t show any real quality in the attacking third,” Clement said after the game, which was a kind way of saying they created virtually nothing despite having a good amount of meaningful possession. And at the other end, while two of Arsenal’s goals arrived via extreme fortune, the other two came about after Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sánchez were allowed space on the edge of the six-yard box. The defence is the more pressing concern: Swansea have conceded the most goals in the division and the last time the team with the outright worst defensive record in the Premier Leaguesurvived was in 1996. Arsène Wenger claimed Swansea have enough quality to survive, but it is clear Clement has much work to do.
8) Pulis wants good players, not just reinforcements, this month
Tony Pulis did not pull his punches. West Bromwich Albion need a boost and it has to come from the club’s Chinese owners in the form of a signing or two during the transfer window this month. The manager has spoken before along these lines and he did so with gusto after the thumping at Tottenham Hotspur. Pulis mentioned how he was “desperately disappointed” to have missed out on the midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, who has moved to Everton from Southampton for an initial £20m, and he does not want West Brom’s budget – which he described as being “pretty tight and rigid and strict” – to be an obstacle. “We need to bring players in,” the West Brom manager said. “We need a lift and it’s not just the players – it’s everybody around the place. It’s not just signing players, it’s signing good players. There’s a big difference in that.”
9) Watford faithful would welcome broken English
The many and effusive tributes paid to Graham Taylor before this match with Middlesbrough may or may not have had an effect on Watford’s performance. Either way they weren’t very good. That’s now five points from eight matches for Walter Mazzarri’s side who look like they need a good shaking up and, especially, an injection of pace. Injuries and African absences are playing their part but it’s clear the Hornets need a different way of playing beyond deep crosses that look for the head of Troy Deeney, as willing and as capable as their skipper is. Tom Cleverley, who came closest to scoring on his debut on Saturday, may help break the lines but real pace either out wide or up front is very much lacking. And it may also be time for Mazzarri to ditch his translator and start speaking to the media, in English. A fear of being misunderstood is understandable but as Watford sink down the table and discontent becomes vocal, a more direct engagement with supporters may help
10) Allardyce holds out little hope unless existing team plays better
The turn of phrase Slaven Bilic used was “crucial moments” to reflect on those pivotal games that have that extra impact to potentially change the course of a season; West Ham delivered on that front. But concern was etched all over Sam Allardyce’s face after the game. Crystal Palace have barely given him a moment, let alone a crucial one, to convince him they are ready to relaunch themselves. So chastened was he by the way his team capitulated he gave the impression that the job he took on has turned out to be harder than he anticipated – and he did not exactly arrive sporting rose-tinted spectacles. “I was fully aware of it when I got in,” he said. “It’s a long time things haven’t been going well results-wise. Every game where they don’t achieve a result means the gap between points and games played tells you the whole story. If you’ve got less points than games you’re going to get relegated so you’ve got to start catching up.” The question of whether Palace have enough in their squad to save themselves was not one Allardyce answered with enthusiasm. “I don’t know yet,” he said. “It’s hard to tell. I certainly think when Wilfried [Zaha] and Bakary Saka come back it will make a difference, and keeping McArthur fit and Loïc Rémy fit too. The rest have just got to get better individually and collectively, and if there’s any more to bring in we’ll try our best to do it. That’s the hard part – well, the whole job’s very difficult at the minute – but eventually by the time the window shuts it’ll be us working with them tirelessly to make them better at getting results.”