1) Hazard may tire of being kicked constantly
Eden Hazard was fouled six times at Stamford Bridge. At one point in the second half the Belgium international was fouled by not one but three opponents in the colours of Manchester United, dragged to the ground by a combination of Nemanja Matic, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones like a man being crushed by falling trees. It is a regular experience for Chelsea’s No10, who can duck in and out from season to season, but who is at least consistent in his role as a human piñata for opposition teams. Hazard is kicked constantly in the Premier League, usually without complaint. He will be 27 in two months and it is hard to say whether he is a better player than he was three years ago. But at times, watching him get scythed down over and over again, you do wonder how long it might be before he feels the urge to play at a different pace in a less painful league. Barney Ronay
Match report: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United
David Luiz faces battle for his place, warns Conte
2) Unsworth makes case for Everton job
David Unsworth’s audition for the Everton managerial vacancy received a positive recommendation at the very last, and by virtue of a 100th-minute penalty miss by the former Everton midfielder Tom Cleverley, but whether a remarkable win over Watford proves enough to secure him the job remains doubtful. Farhad Moshiri, Everton’s major shareholder, was alongside the chairman, Bill Kenwright, at Goodison Park – with Sky Sports’ Jim White for company – and plans to announce a permanent successor to Ronald Koeman during the international break. Watford’s beaten manager, Marco Silva, has been considered but whether he would leave mid-season is open to doubt. The out-of-work Sam Allardyce, assisted by the former Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare, is another option that has gained momentum during Everton’s miserable, pre-Watford run. Allardyce’s experience in relegation struggles is valuable but his appointment would not reflect well on Steve Walsh’s credentials as Everton’s first director of football. Walsh was appointed to improve Everton’s squad and long-term prospects of qualifying for the Champions League. He has a lot of ground to make up. Andy Hunter
Match report: Everton 3-2 Watford
Paradise Papers: Arsenal and Everton stakeholders’ ties laid bare
3) Manchester City may want attacking reinforcements
Arsenal paid £10m more for Alexandre Lacazette than they did for Alexis Sánchez yet started here with their record signing on the bench, all too predictably bringing on the striker when they were two goals down. Typical Arsène Wenger, it was said. Yet when Lacazette came on he scored and Pep Guardiola, for one, was impressed. “We could have had five or six goals, but we weren’t clinical, the last action was not there,” the City manager said. “Arsenal had players on the bench they could bring on to change the game, and once they did that when they made a counter-attack they were able to score.” The obvious question might still be why Lacazette was not involved from the start, yet for anyone wondering whether City will still be interested in Sánchez in January it sounds as if Guardiola would like to have similar game-changing options. When Arsenal turn up with Lacazette, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott in reserve, why should City not invest in some company for Gabriel Jesus? Paul Wilson
Match report: Manchester City 3-1 Arsenal
Wenger accuses Sterling of diving and may face charge
Jamie Jackson: five talking points from the Etihad
4) Tottenham miss Trippier and Davies
Tottenham Hotspur were disjointed against Crystal Palace and a part of the reason was the performance of their wing‑backs. To many fans at the start of the season Serge Aurier and Danny Rose, when fully fit, would have been the first choices ahead of Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies but, at the moment, it does not feel like that. Mauricio Pochettino turned to Aurier and Rose against Palace but the former had one of those days when he seems like a liability. Twice, he erred with passes and he was fortunate Palace did not capitalise. It was Rose’s first Premier League appearance since January and, understandably, he was rusty. His body shape looks different to how it was before his long injury lay-off. Aurier and Rose were involved in Son Heung-min’s winning goal but, more generally, they did not supply the penetration and delivery Pochettino demands – and has come to expect – from Trippier and Davies. David Hytner
Match report: Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Crystal Palace
Pochettino urges England to be cautious with Kane
5) Oxlade-Chamberlain hopes to have turned a corner
Having scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool on his first league start for the club in this win, Alex Oxlade‑Chamberlain charged towards the visiting spectators and celebrated with wild abandonment. The sense of relief as well as joy was tangible, and understandably so given the difficulties the 24-year-old has endured following his £35m move from Arsenal in August. Matters were not helped when he was left out of England’s squad to face Germany on Friday, and in that sense his contribution at the weekend – an encouraging display as well as the goal – was the ideal riposte. From Jürgen Klopp also came the firm sense that this is a player who will only improve. “A lot of players are like ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, I want’ [when they join a club] but he is like ‘what do you want from me?’ and he reacts,” the manager said. “He will be an important player for us.” Sachin Nakrani
Match report: West Ham United 1-4 Liverpool
Bilic facing Hammers exit as Moyes waits in wings
6) Newcastle need January investment
When Newcastle’s Dwight Gayle had an early goal controversially disallowed for offside, Bournemouth looked there for the taking. Failing to win second balls, sluggishly low in tempo and wholly unimaginative in the passing sphere, they looked prime relegation candidates. Had Gayle scored they might well have folded, but hats off to Eddie Howe for keeping his head and devising a credible Plan B. A manager noted for his purist streak sensibly switched to a direct second-half approach and Bournemouth’s accurate long balls started posing Newcastle’s defence – and Javier Manquillo especially – problems. Howe’s refusal to panic duly earned stoppage-time dividends when Steve Cook headed a last-gasp winner from a corner. Rafael Benítez described it as a “self-inflicted” defeat and he had a point but it also highlighted the Newcastle manager’s urgent need for a high-calibre striker. Amanda Staveley’s mooted takeover cannot come soon enough. Louise Taylor
Match report: Newcastle United 0-1 Bournemouth
The Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos
7) Tarkowski development highlights Burnley’s progress
It is pretty obvious why Sean Dyche is such a coveted manager, but a good example of how far Burnley have come under him is James Tarkowski, who was excellent again in the 1-0 win over Southampton. Burnley signed Tarkowski in 2016, but if Dyche had his way it would have been much sooner, as a few years earlier he tried to buy the defender from Oldham. “When I first got here I wanted to buy him, but we couldn’t afford it,” Dyche said. “It was £300,000 and he went to Brentford.” This was in the midst of a point about how much Tarkowski had progressed as a defender, but it also served to highlight that in five years, Dyche has taken a club who could not come up with the cash to buy an Oldham defender to the fringes of the Champions League places. If it is what he wants, nobody should begrudge him the chance to move on. Nick Miller
Match report: Southampton 0-1 Burnley
8) Puel is turning Leicester around
Only two matches into Claude Puel’s reign, Leicester are showing signs of maturing. He has declared that his ambition is to make them much more than fearsome counterattackers and the initial signs are that the Frenchman is on the right track. At Stoke, Leicester were comfortable and dangerous in possession, exerting more control and asking more questions than they tended to under Craig Shakespeare. They should have scored more goals before Stoke fought back. Puel was let down by persistent bad finishing at Southampton – who have not solved the problem since his departure – but he can be confident that his attackers at Leicester will prove more reliable. “It is an encouraging game and we can keep the spirit going forward, keep the good dynamic,” he said. “But it is perhaps disappointing because of all the chances we had.” Paul Doyle
Match report: Stoke City 2-2 Leicester City
Dionatan Teixeira, former Stoke defender, dies aged 25
9) Brighton are thriving back in the top flight
These are still early days, and there are enough examples of newly promoted Premier League clubs starting promisingly only to badly lose their way, which is why Chris Hughton spoke afterwards about the importance of no one at Brighton becoming complacent, yet there is still much to admire about the way that his team has settled into life in the top flight. The victory at Swansea meant Brighton registered back-to-back away wins at this level for the first time since 1981 and lifted Hughton’s side into the top half on the back of only one defeat in their past six league matches. There is a sprinkling of quality in the side in the shape of Anthony Knockaert, who set up the goal at Swansea, and Pascal Gross, who already has five assists – and what a story Glenn Murray is proving to be up front. Brighton, in short, are enjoying themselves. Stuart James
Match report: Swansea City 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Will all three promoted sides stay up this season?
10) Pragmatic Pulis under pressure
How does the West Bromwich Albion hierarchy view Tony Pulis now? This was a game from which they should have taken something, especially so once Huddersfield were reduced to 10 men, yet they slumped to another defeat and that is now only two victories in their past 20 Premier League games. The malaise is finally causing more than just isolated pockets of their support to lose patience, and that is understandable when Pulis continues to play with five defenders, three holding midfielders and only two players of attacking inclination. Next up is Chelsea, followed by Tottenham Hotspur. The board must decide whether to stick and hope, or twist and risk losing the stability that the chairman, John Williams, enthusiastically hailed when Pulis signed a contract extension at the Hawthorns this summer. Lawrence Ostlere
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