Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool
How much longer can Jose Mourinho last at Chelsea after a sixth league defeat of the season? The reigning champions are 15th in the league and the title is already out of their reach. A top four finish could also prove difficult because there are no signs of improvement with the team looking so fragile. Before this season it was rare a Mourinho side would not win a game in which they took the lead, but once Philippe Coutinho cancelled out a Ramires goal it was almost inevitable Liverpool would claim all three points. Mourinho has never lost more than six games in a Premier League campaign at Chelsea and one more defeat could signal the end for the club’s most successful manager. The players don’t seem willing to fight for him and today he’s been hit with a one match stadium ban as well as a £40,000 fine. Mourinho is also the subject of an individual legal claim from former Chelsea team doctor Eva Carneiro. It was a big result for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp so I wonder did Roman Abramovich take note of what can happen when you change manager. The Russian certainly has form!
Man City 2-1 Norwich
Manchester City left it late but a penalty from Yaya Toure was enough to see off a battling Norwich side. Joe Hart gifted Norwich an equaliser, but John Ruddy was equally as generous down the other end in the lead up to the penalty. Aleksandar Kolarov even missed a late spot kick for the league leaders, but Manuel Pellegrini’s side are grinding out results without Sergio Aguero and David Silva. Wilfried Bony just doesn’t have the composure of Aguero in front of goal right now, but that could change with a few more games under his belt.
Swansea 0-3 Arsenal
Arsenal look like City’s most likely title rivals and have won five league games in a row since the defeat to Chelsea in September. Olivier Giroud is scoring goals, Mesut Ozil is in fine form and I’m starting to think maybe this could be the North London club's season. Swansea were unhappy with the second goal but I think Lukasz Fabianski owed Arsenal a gift or two given some of the mistakes he made as a Gunner.
Crystal Palace 0-0 Man Utd
Manchester United haven’t scored a goal in more than five hours and they were lucky they didn’t concede at Selhurst Park. A Wayne Rooney free kick was their only shot on target and some would argue the United captain shouldn’t have been on the pitch to take the free. Rooney has only scored two league goals in this campaign, but it’s not as if he’s missing chances because the team are not creating them. Louis van Gaal continues to play Anthony Martial on the left as the United fans cry out for the teenager to start up front. It’s not all bad though because they’re only four points off top spot.
West Brom 2-3 Leicester
Jamie Vardy scored for the eighth league game in a row to help Leicester come from behind yet again. The England striker is the top scorer in the league with 11 goals and then comes his team-mate Riyad Mahrez on 7 goals alongside Odion Ighalo of Watford. Leicester are up to third place, so naturally both Vardy and Mahrez are attracting interest from other clubs. Last season it was Southampton but it’s all about Leicester in this campaign and what a return to the Premier League for Claudio Ranieri. West Brom have kept six clean sheets in the league, but that was the fourth time this season they’ve conceded three in a match.
Watford 2-0 West Ham
West Ham were unbeaten away from home in the league before Slaven Billic decided to start Andy Carroll. The big centre forward may have scored the winner against Chelsea but he’s not the most effective player to have on the counter attack and he was at fault for the opening goal. I’d expect the Hammers to drop off a bit after claiming some major scalps but it’s all about the move to the Olympic Stadium for them. That was Watford’s second 2-0 win in a row so despite all the change during the summer, the Hornets are doing very well on their return to the top flight. Odion Ighalo scored both goals to take his tally to seven league goals already.
Newcastle 0-0 Stoke
For the second week in a row Newcastle failed to score but the positive for Steve McClaren is that his side had a total of 36 shots in the games against Stoke and Sunderland. Stoke keeper Jack Butland produced a number of crucial saves to help his side earn a point and the Potters also needed the post to rescue them in the first half.
Everton 6-2 Sunderland
Sunderland were blessed to win 3-0 in the derby last week but Sam Allardyce probably realises now that he has a lot of work to do with the defence. The Black Cats came from 2-0 down to draw level, but Arouna Kone scored his first Everton hat-trick to get the Toffees back to winning ways on a day the club remembered former manager Howard Kendall. Republic of Ireland defender Seamus Coleman played the full 90 minutes after recovering from a stomach bug.
Southampton 2-0 Bournemouth
Bournemouth are starting to find the going tough in the Premier League, although they haven’t been helped by injuries. The one plus was more game time for Harry Arter as he continues to regain full fitness. Southampton are starting to get back to the form of last season and are unbeaten in seven games in all competitions.
Tottenham 3-1 Aston Villa
Remi Garde watched from the stand as Aston Villa suffered a ninth league defeat of the season. Villa conceded after only three minutes with some poor defending from Ciaran Clark but the league’s bottom side did at least battle in the second half to make a game of it. Harry Kane got his fifth league goal of the season to help Spurs move up to fifth in the table, a point behind Manchester United.
