remier League weekend: 10 things we learned as Arsenal and Manchester United's title bids stall

The Gunners, Red Devils and Leicester all dropped points as Manchester City jumped to the top of the table after seeing off Southampton

Manchester City leapfrogged Leicester at the top of the table this weekend.
Manuel Pellegrini's men saw off Southampton, while the Foxes earned a point against fellow high-fliers Manchester United.
Arsenal's title bid suffered a blow, with Chelsea and Spurs playing out a goalless draw on Sunday.
Elsewhere, there was drama on the south coast where a flurry of stoppage-time goals saw Bournemouth claim an unlikely draw in a thriller with Everton.
Here's what we learned from weekend's action:

1) No wonder Leicester want big bucks for Vardy

Not only has he scored so many goals he has made Premier League history but Vardy makes Leicester tick.
He leads by example, setting the tone with his pressing of defenders and chasing of lost causes.
Without him Leicester would be a much lesser team and not just if you took out his goals.
No wonder the talk is it would take £30m to prise him away from Leicester.

2) Goal hero Watmore adds spark

First class from Duncan. The winger came on after half an hour and immediately sparked up the attack.

His goal came late in the day, but it was brilliantly taken. He cut in from the right and blasted home from a tight angle.
The Newcastle University economics graduate loves a sprint race against his full-back and had several dangerous forays into the penalty area.

Boss Allardyce is anxious not to over-expose the youngster and have him over hyped, and he still has lots of experience to gather.
But there is definitely potential there, which is keeping £9m Fabio Borini out of the team.

3. Still no clean sheet without Kompany

City skipper Vincent Kompany's importance was underlined once again with the Blues failing to keep a clean sheet for the 11th time without their imperious leader.
City may be able to cope without the likes of David Silva and Sergio Aguero, but they have no sufficient cover for Kompany, whose ongoing loss is felt with every goal City concede.

4. Steve McClaren is no longer the man to steer Newcastle away from relegation trouble

If anything, he has lost his players. He may have been happy to let people know that could be Mr Nasty after confronting his players in midweek. But they appear to have responded by downing tools.
What other explanation can there be for such a shameful display?
They are in serious danger of being relegated. Zaha hit the post, Wickham missed his kick in front of goal and, trust me, this could have been much, much worse.
It wasn’t so much the goals that were scored by Palace here. It was the manner in which they were conceded. Every one was preventable. There were too few challenges in midfield and his back four appear not to like tackling.

5. Lukaku deserves more recognition

Vardy's sensational streak in front has grabbed all the headlines of late, but Lukaku is just as lethal.
The big Belgian netted his eighth Premier League goal in as many games and was a constant thorn in the side of the Bournemouth back line.

6. Ighalo is some player

The Watford fans sing his name to Spandau Ballet's Gold – and the Nigerian striker is worth his weight in it. He has been involved in 75% of the Hornets' goals, but he is far more than a frontman. His running put Villa's nervous backline under constant pressure and they always looked on the verge of giving the ball away.
He had nimble feet to get a shot off after he was played through by Troy Deeney – and when the ball eventually got back to him after a series of ricochets he improvised a fine finish to put Watford ahead.
And it was his presence that pressured Alan Hutton into an attempt to nick it away which instead flew past Brad Guzan for an own goal.

7. Arsenal cannot win the league

 

Sorry, but they can’t. They really can’t.
Once Alexis Sanchez limped off with a hamstring injury, you knew it was all over.
Arsenal’s squad was already stretched by a catalogue of injuries to the likes of Theo Walcott, Francis Coquelin and Jack Wilshere.
But they don’t carry a big enough squad to cope with three or four, let alone eight or nine.
They were always taking a gamble in not strengthening the squad in the summer beyond the signing of Petr Cech.
It has caught up with them already and Arsenal are struggling in the title race. They are also prone to results like at Norwich and West Brom. Arsenal fans are facing yet another season of frustration.

8. Daniel Sturridge is clearly a quick healer

At around 5pm on Thursday evening, the Liverpool striker decided he simply wasn't fit enough to even sit on the bench against Bordeaux, but by mid afternoon on Saturday, he had recovered sufficiently to be named against Swansea. Clearly, the striker has some issues knowing his own body (or rather, is perhaps just a little too sensitive to it).

But he finally got on the pitch here with 20 minutes to go, and showed enough to suggest he'll be an asset under Klopp if he can actually play.

9. Mauro Zarate can replace Payet's influence

The Argentine is far more in favour under Slaven Bilic than he ever was under the Croatian's predecessor and with Dimitri Payet's injury absence, is likely to see more opportunities in the coming weeks and months.
He's been in and out so far, but the former Birmingham City loanee doesn't lack talent, as shown here with a number of clever touches and one magnificent freekick.
If Bilic can coax more consistency from him, then Zarate can have a positive influence on the Hammers season.

10. Costa's Chelsea days may be numbered

He was dropped to the bench despite Mourinho’s claim after their bust-up in Israel last week that they had enjoyed “kisses and cuddles” as they made up.
Even more significantly, Costa failed to appear for the pre-match warm-up. Kane, Vardy, Greizmann, Teixeira and just about every other half-decent striker has been scouted as a possible replacement.
The smoke signals suggested back in the summer that Costa wanted out. Chelsea denied it.
If he still wants to go it would appear there are few people at the club that would stand in his way.