1) Arsenal fail to make title statement
It is a quirk of the fixture calendar that Arsenal have not yet had an away game against one of their rivals in the top six, whereas they have played three of them at home. The 4-3 loss to Liverpool on the opening weekend was followed by the 3-0 thrashing of Chelsea in late September and now a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. It has been a mixed bag in the biggest matches and now feels like the trip to Manchester United after the international break will be instructive. Against Tottenham on Sunday, they failed to make a statement and it was a source of frustration for them that they surrendered the initiative after being 1-0 up at half-time. Physically, they were flat and creatively, they came to look laboured. Arsenal have the ability to look like world-beaters but it feels impossible, at present, to make any pronouncements on their title hopes. David Hytner
Match report: Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Victor Wanyama was lucky not to be sent off, says Wenger
Pochettino happy to get through tough month still unbeaten
Harry Kane happy with Tottenham derby performance after injury break
2) Ibe needs to find consistency for Bournemouth
Jordon Ibe has been substituted in all 11 starts since joining Bournemouth, which may seem cruel on a player who is still learning. On Saturday he was hooked at the break but Eddie Howe was right to point out the 20-year-old’s only problem is a lack of consistency. Ibe was mostly ineffective in the defeat to Sunderland and while his potential is undisputed, he too often drifts in and out of games. “He has some great moments and some really good 10 or 15 minutes but he has not put it together for any consistent period, hence why he’s come off the pitch,” Howe said. “I feel he has great potential and could be anything he wants to be but I think we tend to forget how young he is.” Consistency, though, is something that is often learned over time and Howe will remain patient with the winger. At the same time, the manager was frustrated by the line of questioning. “It’s not deliberately harsh but I’m thinking in the best interests of the team – that’s my job.” Alan Smith
Match report: Bournemouth 1-2 Sunderland
3) Burnley look better equipped for survival this time
A despondent Alan Pardew admitted that Palace “really needed a result” at Burnley, but Turf Moor is no longer the sort of place where visitors can expect to pick up points easily. Even when Palace thought they had a foothold in the game the home side hit back with a dramatic stoppage-time winner, scored by Ashley Barnes but created by Johann Gudmundsson, Burnley’s most impressive performer on the day. Steven Defour, Dean Marney and Jeff Hendrick were pretty good too, for this season Burnley are not just being stingy in defence but creative in midfield. They have goalscorers and goalmakers, and in Gudmundsson they had both. The Iceland winger provided assists for two of Burnley’s goals and scored the one in between. Andre Gray and Patrick Bamford remained on the bench unneeded. After 11 games two years ago the Clarets had one win, seven points and had scored only six goals. They have improved their attacking outlook, and 11 goals to date have brought four wins, 14 points and a visit to the top half of the table. Paul Wilson
Match report: Burnley 3-2 Crystal Palace
4) Koeman has an off day but should be celebrated
Ronald Koeman has not got a lot wrong since replacing Roberto Martínez at Everton, although the Dutchman will probably wonder whether it was an error to attempt to counter Chelsea’s 3-4-3 by using the same system. The charge against Koeman was that he was worrying too much about Antonio Conte instead of playing to his team’s strengths. Kevin Mirallas dropped to the bench, Phil Jagielka joined Ramiro Funes Mori and Ashley Williams as part of a back three, Everton were 2-0 down after 20 minutes and Koeman was forced to bring on Mirallas nine minutes before half-time. Perhaps Koeman was guilty of overthinking. But if Everton are looking for positives, maybe they should celebrate a manager who recognises danger, reacts during matches and tries to find a solution. The problem with Martínez was a lack of pragmatism, his utter conviction that his team’s talent in attack would cover up deficiencies elsewhere. Look where that got them. Jacob Steinberg
Match report: Chelsea 5-0 Everton
Conte tells Chelsea players they can improve after win
5) Hull have hope before Sunderland six-pointer
Saturday week promises to be a potential watershed afternoon for Hull City and their manager, Mike Phelan. The term “relegation six-pointer” can be overused but Sunderland’s next fixture at the Stadium of Light surely promises to offer the perfect definition of this particular form of torture. With David Moyes’s side finally having won a first league game of the season, at Bournemouth on Saturday, and Hull curtailing a run of six straight league defeats with Sunday’s home victory over Southampton, it promises to be highly intriguing. A 45,000-strong crowd is expected and the modern day version of the old “Roker Roar” could turn the ground into a formidably hostile venue for Hull but they do have the outstanding Robert Snodgrass on their right wing and he could well enjoy himself against Patrick van Aanholt. And as Phelan says: “Although we’ve had some soul-destroying defeats, there remains an inner belief.” Louise Taylor
Match report: Hull City 2-1 Southampton
6) West Brom must hope they can hang on to Rondón
West Bromwich Albion’s new Chinese investors have said they will make money available for transfers in January, which is why Tony Pulis set off on a short scouting mission to the continent last week. The manager says he is particularly keen to add creativity and youth to Albion’s squad, and the club’s supporters will surely welcome both. Everyone at the Hawthorns, however, must be braced for inquiries for Salomón Rondón, the striker whose part in a fine team performance at Leicester was merely the latest evidence that he is good enough to enhance practically any squad. The Venezuelan dominated Robert Huth and Wes Morgan, not only eluding them with his movement and deft touch but also outmuscling them, a feat beyond most forwards. He is a relentless and clever worker, a technically deft link man and a sharp finisher both on the ground and in the air. He will score or contribute to at least as many Premier League goals as, say, Romelu Lukaku, if Albion improve their play around him on a regular basis – or if he is bought by a more inventive team. Paul Doyle
Match report: Leicester City 1-2 West Brom
7) Karius keeps Klopp smiling
It was clearly not the reason Liverpool are top of the Premier League for the first time since May 2014 but Loris Karius’s performance against Watford ensured the positives were not confined to the front end for Jürgen Klopp. For the first time since usurping Simon Mignolet, and despite the scoreline, the 23-year-old was able to demonstrate why he has Klopp’s backing. “Loris was really busy, which is not usual in a game that finishes 6-1,” his manager said. Karius saved well from Étienne Capoue, Miguel Britos and Troy Deeney, while those training sessions designed to rough up the goalkeeper are clearly paying dividends, judging by the improvement in how he dominated the penalty area. Klopp added: “He can improve a lot but he has all the skills we think we need for a goalkeeper. We all expect 22-, 23-, 24-year-old boys to be ready for everything in the world but he is on the right way.” Andy Hunter
Match report: Liverpool 6-1 Watford
Jürgen Klopp says Liverpool can still improve
8) Middlesbrough belief gives them positive outlook
A late Marten de Roon header grabbed a share of the points on Saturday as Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough followed Everton and Southampton in City’s previous two home league games by taking a draw. Adam Forshaw outlined how they did it. “Maybe we did surprise them a bit,” he said. “Maybe we were a little bit too passive in the first half, we were a lot more positive in the second half and we’ve got ourselves a point at Man City. The manager said we needed more belief, he reminded us what we did well [in the away draw] against Arsenal, getting forward and creating chances.” The key word here is “belief”. Four days after City downed Lionel Messi’s Barcelona 3-1 at the same venue, Boro walked out for the second half and decided to take no notice of that result and so pressed and took the game to Pep Guardiola’s men – and the Catalan knows the aura of frightening invincibility built by the 10 straight wins at the season’s start is now gone. Jamie Jackson
Match report: Manchester City 1-1 Middlesbrough
9) Carrick gives United much-needed control
In many ways the Manchester United team at Swansea was full of square pegs in round holes, yet the inclusion of one player gave them balance. Michael Carrick made his first Premier League start of the season and helped United to take control of the game. He completed 95% of his passes and it seemed a fair point when a journalist informed José Mourinho that United have won all six of the matches in which Carrick has taken part this season and, on the back of that statistic, wondered whether the manager would consider playing the 35-year-old, who is only three months older than Zlatan Ibrahimovic, more often. “I would love to play him every game, but that’s not possible,” Mourinho said. When asked to elaborate, Mourinho replied: “For the same reason I cannot go to the gym every day any more. But [Carrick] started today and he played very, very well.” Stuart James
Match report: Swansea City 1-3 Manchester United
Mourinho questions United players’ mentalities after win
10) Hughes lets talented Bojan off the leash
Joe Allen has been the key man for Stoke of late, scoring four goals during a five-match unbeaten run. Bojan Krkic, the player Allen has eased out of the side, ensured that run continued at West Ham on Saturday with a deft late equaliser for a valuable away point. Mark Hughes deserves credit for the double substitution that brought Krkic into play. Alongside Peter Crouch, he asked different questions of a wobbly Hammers back four, while Allen dropped out of his new No10 role and back into central midfield. Hughes had cast Krkic to the bench, after a worrying start of only two points from six games. Now, seeing confidence return, Hughes felt comfortable enough to bring the sparkling Spaniard back to his first XI. “Clearly we have a really talented player within our ranks,” Hughes said of Krkic. “I’d suggest that given we’re on a six-game [unbeaten] run, he’s going to get opportunities. But we just had to be a little patient.” Paul MacInnes
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