We are well into the last month of 2016 and nearing the halfway mark of the Premier League which is shaping up to be one of the most intense title races in a while. Antonio Conte’s Chelsea maintained their lead at the top of the Premier League with yet another victory while Arsenal moved to the second spot, only three points behind Chelsea.
Manchester City suffered a thrashing at the hands of Leicester City while Liverpool dropped points yet again. Tottenham’s lead over Manchester United at the fifth spot was cut short after the Red Devils edged out a 1-0 victory at home while Everton dropped points yet again this week.
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At the bottom of the table, Swansea City picked up three vital points with a fantastic 3-0 victory over relegation rivals Sunderland while Hull City came away with only a point against Crystal Palace. A few unexpected results, a few shocks and a few surprises – a classic Premier League game week has come to an end.
Here are ten things we learned from this game week:
#1 Arsenal prove their quality this season, yet again
While the Gunners have consistently been finishing over their fierce rivals Tottenham and securing a Champions League spot for quite a while now, it's been over 10 years since they won the Premier League trophy. However, this could be the season for Arsenal. Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Petr Cech and Laurent Koscielny, the big names have been performing well.
However, the players that have made a good side look even better are players like Theo Walcott, Hector Bellerin, Shkodran Mustafi, Francis Coquelin and Alex Iwobi. Walcott has stepped up this season while Iwobi and Bellerin seem to be at their best despite spending time on the sidelines injured. Mustafi has been the signing Arsenal needed and they are certain title contenders this season.
#2 Everton are losing the plot
Ronald Koeman’s first season with Everton has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. After finding themselves in the top four after six games, the Toffees’ season seems to be on a downward spiral. It is the big names that haven’t stepped up for them this season. Ross Barkley is going through a very poor spell while Leighton Baines hasn’t been the same since his injury.
While Romelu Lukaku has been fantastic up front, Everton are relying too much on his quality for goals. Gerrard Delofeu did a decent job in the first half, stepping in for the injured Yannick Bolasie. Kevin Mirallas was poor throughout the game while the centre-back pairing of Funes Mori and Ashley Williams were at fault yet again. With one win in their last ten games, Everton are really struggling.
#3 Burnley continue fine form at home
While they haven’t been stealing the headlines, Sean Dyche’s Burnley have silently been racking up vital points in the League, which see’s them well away from the relegation zone placed 13th on the table. However, 16 of their 17 points this season have all been at home. Turf Moor has certainly been their hunting ground this season.
The Clarets did a fantastic job to pick up all three points against a Bournemouth team that seemed in high spirits after a fantastic win against Liverpool last week. Bournemouth started out well but were shocked by two quick goals from the hosts. Since then it was all Burnley as they beat the Cherries 3-2.
#4 Llorente’s form is a positive for Swansea
Swansea City were pretty active in the summer transfer window signing two Spanish strikers in Borja Baston and Fernando Llorente. However, neither of the players made their mark in the Premier League until Swansea’s game against Crystal Palace where Fernando Llorente scored two late goals to give his side a thrilling victory.
It looks like the striker has been given a morale boost ever since and he has been in fantastic form. A good collective performance from Swansea’s midfield and the attack led by captain Leon Britton gave fans a glimmer of hope that their team could survive the relegation battle after they beat another strong relegation favourite in Sunderland 3-0.
#5 Pep Guardiola gets his tactics completely wrong
Pep Guardiola has been lauded for his tactics on many occasions but Manchester City’s game against Leicester City was a classic example of how dangerous Leicester City can be when given the space to counter-attack. It looks like Guardiola had learnt nothing from Leicester's title winning campaign last season after he played a defensive high line.
The Foxes capitalised on this to shock City with three fantastic goals within the half-hour mark. Yet another mistake from John Stones gave the Foxes a fourth in the second half. However, all blame must not be put on Guardiola as his players looked in absolute shambles in the first half and misplaced too many passes for a Pep Guardiola team.
#6 Clinical Costa gives Chelsea another win
While Diego Costa was always a great striker, he seems to be on a different level this season. The Spaniard was one of the players most affected by Conte’s arrival. Antonio Conte recognised Costa’s talent and has done a fantastic job by shaping him into a much better player. However, it isn’t Costa’s skill that Conte has anything to do with, but his temperament and behaviour.
The striker has a reputation for being too aggressive and often getting into unnecessary brawls on the field. Conte identified this as passion and turned the negativity of his passion into positive aggression, something that has made Costa even more dangerous.
With 12 goals already this season, the Spaniard is proving to be one of the best strikers in the world at the moment.
#7 Manchester United finally hold on to a lead
Finally, the Red Devils have won a game in the league. Surprising eh? Manchester United have had a poor start to the season by their standards dropping too many points, especially at home. Mourinho’s habit of trying to hold onto a one-goal lead has proven to be too much for Manchester United’s defence to handle, but it wasn’t the case against Spurs.
Marcos Rojo put in a fantastic performance along with Phil Jones as the Manchester United defence gave Tottenham very few chances. For once, Manchester United ended up on the winning side despite playing good football consistently for the last few games. Could this be the start of a long winning streak? Only time will tell.
#8 Liverpool’s dip in form and poor defence is worrying for Klopp
One month ago, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool seemed almost unstoppable. The Reds were one of the best attacking sides not only in the Premier League but Europe in terms of goals. However, with Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge missing, Liverpool’s attack doesn’t seem to be as convincing.
In defence, the Reds have been anything but special this season. A fantastic attack has been making the defence look better than they are. With Liverpool looking less threatening up front, the flaws in defence have been clear – most notably for Michail Antonio’s goal when the defence seemed to be asleep.
Ultimately. it looks like Liverpool's defence isn't good enough to win the League.
#9 West Ham showing slight signs of revival
It was meant to be a landmark season in the club’s history for West Ham United, but the new occupants of London’s Olympic Stadium have had a nightmare in the Premier League so far. The Londoners have not been able to find stability this season and find themselves just above the relegation spots, battling for their lives.
However, it isn’t all bad for West Ham United in the past few weeks. Despite not winning in their last six games and drawing three, the Hammers have been good in five of these games, barring the game against Arsenal. It has only been a matter of consistency and organisation in defence. A bit more effort and West Ham can revive what looks like a terrible season.
#10 The season where ‘Defence’ matters the most
With 15 games down, there is a clear theme to be noticed this season in the Premier League. All of the teams that have been doing well this season have been defensively sound. While not much has to be said about Chelsea’ defensive prowess, Arsenal’s back four have been having a fantastic season. West Brom, too, have been solid this season – a classic Tony Pulis team.
On the other hand, teams like Manchester City and Liverpool have been good in the attack but very poor at the back. It has been the same case with Everton. Manchester United have been punished very often due to lapses in defence. Maybe it is true that ‘Attack wins you games but defence wins you titles.’
