31st October

It's Halloween, and two excellent strikers will be giving West Ham and Southampton's defences nightmares.

Everton 2-0 West Ham

In Romelu Lukaku Everton have an absolute gem of a striker. Only Diego Costa has more goals than Lukaku this season, and with ten of Everton's fourteen goals this season scored or assisted by Lukaku, he is not so much a vital cog in their attacking machinery so much as the only cog, with everything built around him. 

That's not to say that Everton don't have other good players, because they do. Against West Ham Ross Barkley was excellent and Yannick Bolasie had a couple of moments of good quality. But what this game also demonstrated is how reliant Everton are on Lukaku to consistently provide the goods for his team. In the first half in particular, Everton looked largely toothless, with Lukaku their most vibrant and dangerous player. And although Barkley and Bolasie turned up after the break, both of them have been hit and miss this season, whilst Lukaku has routinely been top class. 

The first goal was a bit of a shambles from West Ham's perspective. Adrian should have pushed a reasonably good effort from Seamus Coleman around the post, but instead pushed it back into the danger zone, where the tenacity of Bolasie came into play. Bolasie somehow got there ahead of Winston Reid to put the ball on a plate for Lukaku, who was less than six yards out and totally unmarked. How he'd been able to waltz into the six yard box completely unchallenged to pick up the pieces is exactly the question a furious Slaven Bilic will have been asking at full time, and the answer is that Kouyate in particular simply fell asleep, caught ball-watching. 

Up until that point it had been a reasonably close game, with Everton shading the chances as Adrian made a top save to keep a deflected effect from the much improved Barkley. But whilst West Ham had played well up until that point, they looked devoid of ideas. Payet had had one or two moments, Lanzini had had one or two moments, but West Ham never looked like a cohesive forward unit, so much as a collective of individuals capable of moments of magic. The introduction of Zaza and Andre Ayew in the second half did nothing to improve their attacking output, they simply looked lost. And after Everton scored, it was one way traffic. 

And Lukaku was at the heart of everything. He should have had a penalty, he was denied brilliantly by Adrian, and he got the assist for Everton's deserved second goal, chasing a slightly overhit ball into the channel from Barkley, cutting into the box and picking out the English midfielder with a stunning pass for Barkley to slam home. 

And Barkley is surely a man who deserves praise as much as he has deserved the flack that he has been taking in recent weeks. Whilst Barkley has come under fire, yesterday he was truly excellent, and his influence was very much felt on the team. What he needs to do is turn out those sort of performances week in, week out, in order to secure his place in this Everton team, and possibly win his way back into the England squad. 

For West Ham this was a seriously disappointing result, which derails their progress back up the league, leaving them at highest 16th and at most three points off relegation, depending on how Stoke and Swansea get on tonight. However, given that a win would have taken them into the top half of the table, it's early days yet, and the lower half of the table, as with the top half, is very congested. 

And for Everton, it's a win that gets them back on track, keeping them three points clear of Manchester United in the battle for Europa League spots, and keeps them four points off the top four, although realistically that's a gap that they probably won't be able to close. 

Southampton 0-2 Chelsea

The only man to have contributed to as many goals this season as Lukaku is Diego Costa, who added his eighth goal of the season to two assists to see off a spirited Southampton side. Southampton didn't do a whole lot wrong in truth. They made a couple of reasonably small mistakes whilst defending, but on both occasions they were punished. Moreover, whilst they dominated the ball, they were just unable to break down a Chelsea side that were compact off the ball and clinical on it. 

This really was a perfect away performance from the Blues, as they sat back and soaked up the pressure, only to hit Southampton with devastating counter-attacks, to pick up their fourth win (and clean sheet) in a row, and prove that last week's 4-0 demolition of United was no fluke. Defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal saw me and many others argue that Chelsea were probably not good enough to challenge for the title, but they've surged back into the top four since then, answering their critics in emphatic style. 

And no victory will be looked at more impressively than this one, as they surgically dismantled one of the best defences in the league, whilst simultaneously staying tight at the back under pressure from an in-form Saints front three of Redmond, Austin and Tadic. 

Southampton really had no answer to Chelsea, and any defensive errors were snatched upon with aplomb. I said earlier this season that Chelsea struggled for creativity and relied heavily on Eden Hazard and Diego Costa. And whilst that remains true to an extent, Chelsea have now scored 21 goals this season, those two scoring 13 of them, and even if Chelsea are reliant on Hazard and Costa to get them goals, then they could certainly rely on worse players. In fact, you'd be hard pushed to find a better striker/attacking midfield duo in the Premier League, with only Aguero and De Bruyne making a case at Manchester City (although if you count Alexis Sanchez as a striker he and Mesut Ozil are one hell of a twosome).

And it was Hazard and Costa who scored the goals. The first was a lovely pass from Moses, but neither Romeu nor Davis tracked Hazard's run and realistically both should have prevented him getting a shot on goal, particularly when that shot was a stunning rifled finish under Fraser Forster. And likewise for the second goal, Southampton should have done more to close down Diego Costa just outside the box, but Costa still had no right to go and produce the stunning curling finish that he did to kill the game dead. 

Southampton rarely threatened after that, with the best chance for Chelsea falling to Pedro during a goalmouth scramble that really should have ended up with the ball in the back of the net. Chelsea put in a perfect away performance, solid as a rock at the back and explosively destructive in attack. Since switching to three at the back they're now got a record of four played, four won, with eleven scored and none conceded. If they carry on in this form, then winning the league is definitely on the cards, given that only three teams have scored more goals and only two teams have conceded less. 

As for Saints, this wasn't a disastrous result. They remain ninth having had a tough run so far this season and if they carry on the way that they've been playing, they should certainly finish in the top ten, probably the top eight, which given the caliber of teams in this season's Premier League, is no mean feat at all. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Lewis Hamilton won. The gap is 19. Two to play. 
• But Seb Vettel suffered a bad, sweary day. Poor form. 
• Wiggins may be back. Emphasis on maybe.
• Djokovic claims he's ready to fight. Tasty.

30th October

So three big wins for the top three. And another poor result for Man United. I haven't seen enough of all of the games, nor do I have the time to analyse every game, so I'll quickly mention that Hull looked much better against Watford but still lost, Boro were much improved against Bournemouth and Spurs are really struggling at the moment, as Leicester picked up their first league point away from home.

Crystal Palace 2-4 Liverpool

When Jordan Henderson bisected the Palace defensive with a brilliant ball, and Bobby Firmino dropped a couple of yards deeper to exploit the offside trap before darting in behind to chip the keeper and put Liverpool two goals clear of Palace with less than twenty minutes to play, all Liverpool supporters watching breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

It was a long, painful game at times, with Dejan Lovren's defensive errors leaving Liverpool hanging on to a 3-2 lead, and Palace, much improved after the break, were putting them under real pressure. This was a game that was ultimately a showcase of both awful defending and sheer class forward play. But whilst both teams had their moments of madness at the back, shambolic defending allowing four headers to go in during a frenetic first half, only Liverpool had the class and brilliant forward play to secure the win. Whilst it was a wonderful pass from Henderson that sealed the win, the England midfielder once again a class act in the middle of the park, once again it was Phillipe Coutinho who was the best player on the pitch. This month Liverpool have played four league games, against United, Swansea, West Brom and now Palace. In all four, Coutinho has been Liverpool's best player, and in three of them he's been the best player on the pitch. 

And against Palace it was the same, Coutinho drifting left and right to rip holes in Palace's defence as Liverpool caused endless problems in the first half. It was Coutinho's brilliant pass that released Alberto Moreno for the first goal, a lovely turn over the top to free the left back, whose wicked cross was slotted in by Emre Can. Coutinho again was the creator for the second and third goals, as his excellent set pieces were headed in by Liverpool's central defenders. Whilst Palace's set piece defending was suspect to say the least, Liverpool rarely score off set pieces because the delivery usually isn't good enough. But Coutinho's two assists on Saturday night suggested otherwise. 

And it could have been more than just two assists for Coutinho. He freed Moreno again with a stunning reverse pass, and Moreno hit the post. And Coutinho himself could have found the net as his brilliant flicked header hit the post via Mandanda. 

Less impressive on the night was Sadio Mane, who also denied Coutinho an assist when he was unable to convert being in on goal after a stunning pass set him away. And Mane also missed a very good chance in the first half, as he skied the ball from a wonderful cut back from Clyne. 

But, as mentioned, this game was as much about poor defending as it was the class of Coutinho and Henderson, even though the latter won out. Twice Lovren made critical errors. The first goal was the result of a horrible shank by the Croat, straight up in the air, allowing McArthur to run in and challenge Loris Karius. McArthur got there first, won the header, scored an easy goal. A horror show from Lovren and Liverpool's new keeper didn't cover himself in glory either, although again he wasn't directly responsible. Karius is yet to make any glaring errors resulting in goals in a Liverpool shirt, but he looks uneasy in the role and could certainly do with a confidence boost, which hopefully some big second half saves from Christian Benteke will give him. 

Lovren's second big error was losing a header to McArthur inside the box, resulting in McArthur powering the ball into the top corner. Moreno should have stopped the cross, Lovren should have won the header, Liverpool really shouldn't have conceded. But that's been the story of their season so far. And whilst I think Klopp has a point that Liverpool's defensive problems have been overstated, and whilst we have looked significantly more solid with the imperious Joel Matip at centre back, a man who once again turned in a good performance and scored the crucial third goal, there's also no denying that the thirteen league goals conceded so far this season is too many. Even the porous Manchester United defence that conceded four to Chelsea last week has a better all-round defensive record and whilst Liverpool have the best attacking record in the league, their defensive record is preventing them from matching Arsenal and City at the moment. 

That said, we will improve, have already improved this season and Jurgen Klopp will no doubt be forcing his players to keep working on improving. The fact that the notoriously error-prone Lovren has made less and less mistakes is a boon for Klopp, who has already isolated Moreno, Mignolet, Lucas and Skrtel, our four most error-prone players in recent years and removed them from the starting eleven. Whilst Moreno offered a lot of attacking threat against Palace, he also looked shaky at the back, and is not someone Klopp is likely to rely on. 

From Palace's perspective, they will feel that defensively they needed to do more in this game. Coming forward they offered a threat, and Christian Benteke had several big chances to grab an equaliser in the second half, as Palace recovered well from falling behind time and again. But conceding two headers off set pieces isn't good enough. And whilst Liverpool's fourth goal was down to a brilliant piece of movement from Firmino to drag the central defender out of position, Palace's offside trap was still downright awful. 

But as I mentioned, I thought that Palace played well overall. Cabaye in particular was excellent, McArthur scored two very good headers, and Benteke was a constant threat. They offered more than enough to suggest that they'll be fine this season and will beat opposition worse than Liverpool with performances like yesterday's, although defensively they need to improve.

For Liverpool though, the good run of form continues, now unbeaten in eight league games and eleven games in all competitions, with nine wins in those eleven. Having only drawn away at Spurs and at home to Man United since the bad result at Burnley, Liverpool's form is increasingly impressive, particularly away from home where they've won at Arsenal, Chelsea, Swansea and now Crystal Palace. Right now with the way the league is shaking up, top four is still the priority, but the longer Liverpool stay in the mix, the more that they'll fancy themselves. 

Sunderland 1-4 Arsenal 

Whilst I predicted Arsenal to put Sunderland to the sword, I don't think this was quite how it was expected to go, as Jermain Defoe's penalty midway through the second half pegged back Arsenal. At this point, Arsenal looked, as they have done for a few weeks now, largely devoid of creative ideas. I like Alex Iwobi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but Arsenal are so reliant on Mesut Ozil to provide the creative spark in their team. As it was, Ozil had a quiet game, and Arsenal struggled at times to break down Sunderland. But then, with the game looking like a shock might be on the cards, Arsenal substitute Olivier Giroud stepped up, Alexis Sanchez turned on the class, and Sunderland imploded defensively. 

Beginning with Sanchez, a man who oozes quality from every pore and is so easily Arsenal's best attacking player, particularly with Ozil looking slightly off the pace at the moment. The first goal was a lovely piece of play, with Oxlade-Chamberlain's delightful cross thundered home by a stunning header from Sanchez. And all game Sanchez was a threat, with his movement and ball control, not to mention his passing causing Sunderland problems. And Sanchez got the second goal that his man of the match performance deserved when a mishit shot from Aaron Ramsey landed at his feet and he was somehow able to adjust his body and finish brilliantly. 

But the game was decided by substitute Giroud, who managed to capitalise as a rank average Sunderland side fell apart, giving Giroud first a free volley in the box which he dispatched with aplomb, and then a free header off a corner which he deftly turned in, as two goals in five minutes killed the game dead, with a brilliant impact from Giroud. Giroud gives Arsenal something different, as he's a target man and a natural goalscorer who will get into goalscoring positions in the box and can win the ball in the air. 

And from Arsenal's perspective overall this was a comprehensive victory that could easily have been more comprehensive, with Sanchez scoring early, creating two golden chances for teammates, and deserving a penalty right before Sunderland equalised, as he was dragged down inside the Sunderland box. And once Sunderland equalised Arsenal swiftly and clinically put the game to bed. Four goals against the worst team in the league, and Arsenal avoided a potential banana skin with aplomb. 

West Brom 0-4 Man City

Meanwhile, the final member of the top three, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, returned to both winning ways and the top of the table with a wonderful win over Tony Pulis' West Brom. A lot has been made of Sergio Aguero's poor form, but he answered his critics superbly with two excellent goals, exactly the kinds of goals that you would expect Sergio Aguero to score. The first was a great run into the channel and a clinical finish, the second was sublime, as he picked the ball up on the edge of the box and rocketed it past Ben Foster. 

But even at 2-0, West Brom looked dangerous and Salomon Rondon had two big chances to half the deficit. Despite keeping a clean sheet, City still look susceptible to big defensive errors and were fortunate not to let West Brom back into the game. But the longer the game went on, the more comfortable and relaxed City were and a brilliant run from Aguero allowed him to find Iker Gundogan, who scored his second goal for Man City, his third following shortly after following a great cross from substitute Kevin De Bruyne. 

City's formation fluctuated slightly to something closer to a 4-2-3-1, with Fernando drifting into the right back role, but ultimately this was a game all about the quality of City's players, rather than Guardiola's tactics. Aguero has had a quiet season so far but his goals, performance and general play were absolutely phenomenal to crush West Brom into submission, scoring the first two and creating the third. After a tough run of recent fixtures, it was vital that City recovered here. And they did so, with Guardiola, and Aguero, keeping the wolves off their back for the time being at least. 

Man United 0-0 Burnley

But one team who couldn't get the critics off their back, or the three points that they desperately needed, at home to Burnley, were Manchester United. Despite dominating the possession and having 37 shots, the most of any team since records began, United failed to penetrate a resolute Burnley defence. Part of the problem was the quality of shooting. Less than a third of the 37 shots hit the target, and when they did, a lot of Tom Heaton's saves were reasonably routine. 

That is to take absolutely nothing away from the exception Heaton, who did have to make two or three excellent saves to keep out an increasingly dangerous United side, including one that almost broke his  Moreover, Heaton was aided by a back four that threw themselves in front of everything to try and block United's attacks. 

And if it wasn't their own poor finishing, the excellence of Burnley or even just sheer bad luck, as Juan Mata's shot collided with the post, United could always blame the referee. Except they couldn't, as their biggest appeal for a penalty was Darmian, right on half time, who was offside when he picked up the ball. I think the appeal itself was tight, and would have been soft, but could have been given, and certainly was just, only just, on the line and hence inside the box. But it's not a bad decision so much as two bad decisions by the linesman, as even if he should have given the penalty, he definitely should have called Darmian offside. 

Moreover, whilst Ander Herrera was arguably unlucky that he slipped as he went into a tackle, he was nevertheless completely out of control of his body and absolutely clattered his man. It was a booking, even if he was unfortunate that he ended up in that position. It was not a good tackle, and Herrera can have no complaints. 

But the biggest culprit has to be Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who missed multiple clear cut opportunities for United, including arguably the miss of the season as he volleyed over from three yards with the goal gaping. Ibrahimovic now hasn't scored in six league games (despite having over 35 shots in that period), and has scored just once since the second game of the season. With a main striker who is horribly out of form, it's no surprise that United haven't scored in three games (the worst run in the Premier League) and have won just once in their last seven games, putting them 16th in the form table. 

For United, they really need to go away and have a good hard look at themselves. The problems that have been there since their humblings at Watford and against Man City haven't gone away, and they've reverted to the problematic 4-2-3-1, away from the 4-3-3 that worked very well against Leicester, a win that increasingly looks to have done nothing more than paper over the cracks. And it didn't even really do a good job of that. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Another day. Another England batting collapse. Shambles. 
• Murray flying. Number one ranking in sight. 
• Hamilton takes pole. Big race in Mexico tonight. 
• Sarries massacring everyone in their path right now.
• A controversial kick gave New Zealand the win vs England.

28th October

Premier League preview time chaps!

Sunderland v Arsenal (12:30pm Saturday)

Arsenal travel to Sunderland on the back of eight games unbeaten in the league, and having won six of their last seven. Sunderland on the other hand, are yet to secure their first win this season. You would imagine that this one is as predictable as they come, and to be honest I have no confidence that Sunderland's defence can keep out Arsenal's dangerous triumvirate of Ozil, Sanchez and Walcott. Arsenal are due to hit a bad run of form sooner or later, but given the Gunners' abysmal November form, I'm going to give them one more weekend. The Black Cats really could be in for a hammering here. That said, Jermain Defoe is due a goal against Arsenal; he hasn't scored against them in over a decade. 

Prediction: 4-1 Arsenal 

Man United v Burnley (3pm)

Without a win in three in the league, this could be the perfect chance for United to get back to winning ways, given that Burnley have conceded three in each of their three away games this season, and have a record of three defeats with an aggregate score of 9-1. United's home form may be patchy in the league this season, but only Man City have beaten them in all competitions at Old Trafford since Southampton in January. This should be a walkover. 

Prediction: 3-0 United

Middlesbrough v Bournemouth (3pm)

Bournemouth are in fine form in the league at the moment, with their only defeat in their last seven coming at the hands of league leaders Manchester City. However, they are yet to win away from home this season, and Boro are in increasingly desperate need of points, having beaten only Sunderland this season. I fancy this one to be a really tight contest, and probably but I think if anyone's going to nick it, then it'll be Bournemouth. 

Prediction: 1-1

Spurs v Leicester (3pm)

This is another home banker. Leicester away from home this season are four defeats in four, having shipped eleven goals to Liverpool, United and Chelsea. Spurs are looking to get back to winning ways, after drawing their last two games and are without a win in four games in all competitions, and certainly have the firepower to make a woeful Leicester defence suffer away from the King Power. Only Liverpool have come to White Hart Lane this season and even scored, let alone picked up a result, so Leicester will probably fail to find the net.

Prediction: 2-0 Spurs

Watford v Hull (3pm) 

Hull are in serious danger of having the wheels come off. Their fifth defeat in a row to Stoke sent them into the relegation zone and their last two away games saw them ship a mind-blowing eleven goals. Watford meanwhile have been blowing hot and cold in both attack and defence last season, as evidenced by the fact that they've picked up 2-2 and 0-0 draws in their last three games. But against a Hull side with no discipline or organisation, Watford should pick up an easy win. 

Prediction: 3-1 Watford

West Brom v Man City (3pm)

This is a fascinating one to be honest. After six games without a win, the pressure is really on Pep's City side. West Brom don't score or concede that many goals, and might fancy themselves to pinch another 1-1 draw here, as they have in three of their last four games, but Liverpool showed last week at Anfield that defensively this West Brom side can't cope with a team that presses well and has plenty of pace and aggression in its attack. This is a winnable game for City, and if they turn up to the races, then they should win it. 

Prediction: 2-1 City

Crystal Palace v Liverpool (5:30pm)

Palace have been something of a bogey team for Liverpool in recent years. The infamous 3-3, the three straight league defeats that followed it, including one very near the end of Brendan Rodgers' rein, make this fixture one that stings for Liverpool fans. However, Liverpool have won on their last two trips to Selhurst Park, and have only lost one game there since Palace got promoted in 2013. Overall, this is the sort of game that Liverpool need to go into with confidence, and if they act as if they have broken their Palace hoodoo, they will have broken it. On paper, Palace look set to hit a bad run of form, and Liverpool have the team to take advantage. And the psychological element remains important, and it will be interesting to see how earlier results affect Liverpool's mindset. Will Christian Benteke come back to haunt Jurgen Klopp?

Prediction: 2-1 Liverpool 

Everton v West Ham (1:30pm Sunday)

The first of Sunday's double header sees a recovering West Ham travel to Goodison Park. The Hammers have back to back league wins under their belts to steady their slide down the table, both 1-0 victories. But it remains to be seen whether their defence can cope with the pressure if they concede, and both of Everton's defeats this season have come away from home. You would say that the home side remain heavy favourites for this one, and I think that they'll give West Ham a real reality check. 

Prediction: 3-0 Everton

Southampton v Chelsea (4pm Sunday)

Since switching to 3-4-3, Chelsea have been blazing a trail of fire up the Premier League, scoring nine goals without conceding in the three games since losing to Arsenal to move back within a point of the top three. On the other hand, Saints remain unbeaten after drawing with Man City, and are themselves in the scrap for European places. I think that Southampton will prove a tough nut for Chelsea to crack, and I think that Saints are favourites for this one, although I think it will be a draw. 

Prediction: 1-1 

Stoke v Swansea (8pm Monday)

Back to back wins against dross opposition have lifted Stoke out of the drop zone, whilst Swansea's defeats to the top three have seen them fall into it. Despite not winning since the opening day, Swansea have not looked like a bad side and sooner or later you have to feel that they will arrest their slide, whilst Stoke might be sitting a little more comfortably after their recent good results. I fancy the Swans to nick something in this game. 

Prediction: 1-0 Swansea

The Hard and Fast Section

• Tamim hundred. Moeen strikes. Bangladesh collapse. Advantage England.
• Will Rosberg take the title this weekend? Unlikely. 
• Pulis commits future to West Brom. Interesting.
• Big Sam to Wolves? Stranger things...

26th October

England v Bangladesh. Bit late but it's here.

England Clinch Narrow Win

Waking up at 5am on a Monday morning is not a fun experience, as many retail workers kicking off early shifts can surely attest. But when a test match is on the line, the unease is dolloped with a healthy taste of nerves. At 5am Monday morning, Bangladesh needed 33 runs to beat England, whilst the tourists needed just two vitals wickets. Less than half an hour later, I was tucked back up in bed, as England celebrated a 22 run win, after two brilliant pieces of bowling from Ben Stokes. 

It had been a match decided by the quality of England's all-rounders, as Stokes, aided by Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow, earned his title of man of the match with a sensational batting and bowling display: scoring over 100 runs including the highest score of the match (85) and taking six wickets, including, as noted, the two decisive ones. Moeen, having scored a vital 68 in the first innings to keep England's hopes alive as they collapsed to 21-3 and then 106-5, took five wickets himself to keep Bangladesh on the front foot, whilst Bairstow's scores of 52 and 47 were vital in a low-scoring match. 

For all the talk of how important England's spinners were going to be, seam played a huge part in England's bowling attack, with Stokes' 4-26 in the first innings England's best bowling figures, and eight of the twenty wickets that England needed were taken by seamers, with England's three seamers easily their most economical bowlers. Whilst the three spinners all took wickets, sharing them out almost evenly, all three were expensive, allowing Bangladesh to score much more quickly than they could against Broad and Stokes in particular, especially once reverse swing started playing a part. 

One thing is for sure, if England are to win in India, both their spinners and their top order need to drastically improve and quickly, as twice England collapsed, ending up 62-5 in the second innings on top of their first innings problems. Alistair Cook made critical errors against the spinners, Joe Root only made one decent score, Ben Duckett looked out of his depth and Gary Ballance's days as a test number four look numbered, with Hameed lingering with intent. 

But really, this test match was all about Bangladesh, who were seriously impressive on their own turf from start to finish and really deserved to win the test match. Test debutant Mehedi Hasan, a 19 year old off-spinner, showed England's spinners how it was done, taking 6-80 as he was handed 40 overs of England's 106 over innings, removing Root, Moeen and Bairstow amongst others. And in the second innings, it was Shakib Al Hasan who struck, removing Root, Stokes and Moeen to secure his own 5-fer. 

And with the bat, Bangladesh were equally impressive, the explosive Tamim Iqbal top-scoring with 78 from 179 in the first innings and lower order debutant Sabbir Rahman hitting an unbeaten 64 off 102 to give his team a real sniff of victory on the evening of the fourth day. Bangaldesh's debutants turned in a seriously impressive showing, indicating that their test form, much like their ODI form, is only going to improve over the next few years. 

It was a really really good, low-scoring test match, a real battle between bat and ball that ebbed and flowed for four days and finally was decided by two good pieces of bowling on the fifth day. It was also a test match in which DRS played an incredible role, with a record 26 decisions reviewed and an even more staggering eleven decisions overturned, with eight of Kumar Dharmasena's decisions overturned, a huge blow for him personally with just a 50% correct ratio on DRS. It was a truly dreadful day at the office for Dharmasena, as eight is the highest number of overturned decisions by a single umpire in a test match. 

It's the kind of record that should put any doubts about DRS well and truly to bed, as without it, this test match would have seen a shocking eleven critical umpire errors. Moeen Ali for example, was given out by Dharmasena three times incorrectly before making a score that was critical for England's success and as such it was very fitting that both of England's wickets on Monday morning came via reviews: first an intelligent and success review by Stokes to overturn a decision by Dharmasena, and then finally a desperate gamble from Bangladesh as England claimed their last wicket. 

Overall, this was a test match that highlighted several key facets of the modern game. The increasing use and reliance on DRS to prevent mistakes from umpires, the sense of home advantage that has increased in the game significantly over the last few years, but also, most cheerfully, the rise of Bangladeshi cricket towards the upper echelons of the game. Hopefully they can continue to improve and turn into a proper test playing nation. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Daniel Sturridge scored twice as Liverpool beat Spurs 2-1
• As did the Ox. Arsenal 2-1 Reading. 
• Newcastle put six past Preston. 
• And tonight: Manchester Derby and the quarters draw.
• Wood recalled for Autumn tests.

24th October

So Sunday's football just compounded an excellent weekend for Liverpool and Chelsea.

City 1-1 Southampton

If Saturday was very much a day where the defenders won out, with three goalless draws, an imperious performance from Joel Matip, and eight of the sixteen teams kept clean sheets, then Sunday was very much the defender's nightmare, with high profile errors from major English defenders making their teams look very red-faced. We start at the Etihad, where Man City's John Stones made a very poor backpass, as a result of a miscommunication with fellow defender Vincent Kompany, that allowed Nathan Redmond to nip in and give Southampton the lead against a City side that looked absolutely shell-shocked. Moreover, that gut-punch feeling was increased when City seemingly equalised five minutes later, only for Stones' goal to atone his error to be ruled out because Sergio Aguero was adjudged to have influenced play from an offside position. Under the rules, it probably was offside but it seemed harsh on City. 

Nevertheless City controlled the game and dominated as they looked for an equaliser. But Southampton, much like Everton and Spurs are recent weeks, are one of the best defences in the league and it took more than City had to break them down, although like last weekend they were able to secure an equaliser. Iheanacho, on as a half time substitute for the under-performing Kevin De Bruyne, made an excellent run across the front post to slam in Sane's low cross. It was an excellent move and an excellent goal from Manchester City's perspective but a moment of quality that they were unable to create a second time, and with Forster denying Iheanacho and David Silva, who toiled as he tried to almost single-handedly wrench City back into the game at times, City had to settle for a point. 

On the one hand, this is another worrying result for a City side that have now gone five games without winning. But on the other hand, Southampton are a very good side, are the joint second best defence in the league, and City will have now faced the three best defences in the division so far this season and been found wanting, along with, you know, the best team in world football in Barcelona. 

I'm not making excuses, merely pointing out that City's poor run of form has been in tandem with them struggling to break down exceptional defensive teams. As such, it'll be very interesting to see how they go next time out against West Brom.

As for Southampton, they're in a really good run of form now, and they are visited by Chelsea next weekend, giving them a real chance to claim a major scalp or at the very least a point. And speaking of Chelsea...

Chelsea 4-0 Man United 

It would be fair to say that this was a mauling. This was more than a mauling, this was a humiliation. Jose Mourinho returned the ground where his career had been first been dragged into ignominy and once again, his career took a severe public flogging, as he suffered the heaviest defeat of his career to the core of the same side that he failed to defend his last title with. 

To blame this defeat solely on Mourinho would be wholly unfair, but as the manager, he has made himself the man to shoulder that blame. There is no doubt that there are giant holes in this United squad, that the core of their defensive, midfield and attack isn't good enough to mount a title race, and Mourinho himself has hinted as such at multiple points this season, including his infamous admission that Juan Mata is a more important player to this United side than the Chelsea side that he sold him from. 

But nevertheless, the buck has to stop with Mourinho. Yes, he inherited a squad that wasn't ready to challenge for the title, but he spent almost £150m in the summer, with £90m of that being spent on one player, and none of his transfers have yet proved to be worth the money spent on them. Eric Bailly looked like a solid acquisition, but has faltered under pressure multiple times; Ibrahimovic has scored some good goals but looks overall detrimental to the way that United play and Henrik Mkhitaryan has played just over 100 minutes total for United in the league this season. And that's before we come on to Pogba. 

As I believe I've said before, I like Pogba. He's clearly a talented player and a good central midfielder player. But he's not the best player of all time, he's not worth £90m and at the moment, he's being outplayed on a weekly basis by first Jordan Henderson and now N'golo Kante, who it still baffles me that United didn't at least make a bid for in the summer. 

And it was Kante who thoroughly exposed Pogba time and again on Saturday, although again, the world record signing was far from United's worst player. But again, when you're supposed to be the world's best player (according to his transfer fee), you have to show up in big games. And simply put, Pogba has ghosted through every big game, every poor United performance, and when he's been needed to step up, he simply hasn't. Time and again, whilst United capitulated, Pogba was anonymous. Chelsea's fourth goal summed it all up yesterday, as the imperious Kante didn't so much sprint as jog past Pogba, leave Chris Smalling for dead and rifle past De Gea. Kante scored one Premier League goal last season. One. He is not a powerhouse of a goalscoring midfielder, Pogba, Herrera, Smalling et al just made no attempt to stop him.

And onto Chris Smalling, because as far as poor defensive performances go, his takes not so much the biscuit as the whole bakery. Ineptitude after ineptitude was on display as Smalling's positional play, reading of the game and ability to tackle simply vanished into thin air like it appears Memphis Depay and Mkhitaryan have done. For the first goal he simply made no attempt to get near or clear a ball that really, he should have dealt with as first port of call, instead waiting for his goalkeeper to come outside his area to clear it, or possibly Daley Blind who he thought was behind him. Smalling's indecisiveness proved fatal, as Pedro got a run on the hopeless Blind, nipped between the two, around De Gea who for some inexplicable reason had come out about two-thirds of the way far too late, and slotted into the empty net. The fact that this was thirty seconds into the game made it even more embarrassingly laughable. 

Things got worse for Smalling. Failure to track your man from a corner? Inexcusable. Bang. 2-0. Failure to tackle, block or even hold up Eden Hazard inside the box when he was looking to shoot? Inexcusable. 3-0. Failure to stop N'golo Kante jogging in a straight line into the box and shooting? Inexcusable. 4-0. Yes, the ball riccocheted fortunately for Cahill off the corner but as a central defender, Smalling's first job had to be tracking his man, not being drawn to the ball. And yes, Hazard should never have been able to get into a position to shoot in the box with only Smalling to block it but again, central defender. That should be central defending 101, blocking shots. And Kante's goal was just embarrassing. For one of supposedly the best two or three English central defenders in the country, Smalling's performance was nothing less than a complete shambles. And that's just the poor defending for the goals. 

I could go on, because there is plenty of blame to go around. The tracking of midfield runners was non-existent, the defending was shambolic, United's creativity was simply not there, and their finishing was even worse. Ibrahimovic probably should have scored, but to be blunt he had absolutely no impact on this game, as is becoming a worrying pattern for him. Once again, poor Marcus Rashford spent a significant portion of the game as an auxiliary left back with Jesse Lingard on the opposite flank equally useless. There was zero control in the middle of the park, and whilst United dominated possession and had as many shots, they always looked more likely to concede than score, as Chelsea counter-attacked to perfection and ran riot. 

So Chelsea then. Up until this season I have been largely unimpressed by Antonio Conte's side, and haven't considered them serious title contenders. And whilst the margin of victory and superiority in this game was largely down to how bad United were, there's no denying that Chelsea were excellent. They have now kept three clean sheets in a row since losing to Arsenal and switching to three at the back, and have scored nine goals in the process. Eden Hazard and N'golo Kante were absolutely phenomenal again today, both scoring in the second half but their pressing, danger and constant energy just made a mockery of United. 

Chelsea were ruthless, exposing United's weak spots again and again, scenting blood like a group of sharks. They defended largely excellently and Courtois made good saves when called into question. Whether or not Chelsea have what it takes to go all the way is for me still up for debate, but I wouldn't be surprised if they made a serious top four challenge now, and given that before this game I had United down as the stronger candidates to make the Champions League, Chelsea proved me totally wrong. And so did United. 

So how can Mourinho's men bounce back from this? Can they bounce back from this? They're now five points off the top four, and closer to Stoke in 16th place than they are to Chelsea in 4th. On balance, they looked more like relegation candidates than top four challengers on Sunday. They will be hard pushed to play this badly again, but with their best central defender, Eric Bailly, potentially out for months, maybe even the whole season, they could certainly be exposed defensively again. These are worrying times for Jose Mourinho. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Great wins for Stoke and West Ham. 
• Leicester's home form is bizarrely brilliant.
• Sissoko charged. Good riddance to bad elbow.
• Celtic continuing to fly under Brodge.
• England beat Bangladesh. Phew. Review tomorrow. 

23rd October

Well this ended up being a brilliant weekend of football...

LFC 2-1 WBA

There are days when you can rue missed chances. Where you can look at a narrow 2-1 win in a game in which you dominated, in which Liverpool were in total control and should have been 3-0, 4-0 up and off into the sunset and then managed to nearly implode, and say that that wasn't good enough. A two goal win would have sent Liverpool temporarily top of the league, but a late Gareth McAuley goal ruined that idea. And from a certain perspective, Liverpool squandered an opportunity to go top of the Premier League, and showed that they're not ready to be contenders with their trademark weakness and inability to defend set pieces. 

But to be frank, that perspective is nonsense, and this is not a weekend to be looking at the negatives. At the end of the day, any Liverpool fan who wouldn't have taken 2-1 and three points at 5:15pm on Saturday after Spurs and Arsenal both dropped points, with Chelsea and United playing each other today, is kidding themselves. As far as I'm concerned, this was a game that Liverpool simply had to win, and that was exactly what they did. To be level on points with league leaders Arsenal and Man City nine games in, and to be one of just two of the top seven to win this weekend is an exceptional result for Liverpool. 

So the game itself. Liverpool dominated from the first kick to the last, McAuley's goal from close range after a scrappy corner wasn't cleared aside. The reds got off to a great start and never let up the tempo from there. Emre Can started in midfield ahead of Wijnaldum and never looked out of place, helping Coutinho and Henderson to totally boss the midfield area, making gut busting runs and just generally influencing the play. Henderson, once again was totally faultless, with the highest passing accuracy of any Liverpool player who played a significant portion of the game and the most passes. 

But it was once again Coutinho who was the star of the show, showing a brilliant range of passing, dominating the game, always looking dangerous and producing two moments of class, including scoring the crucial second goal. His fellow front three both were also excellent, with Mane adding the first goal and playing a key role all day, and Firmino had a good day, although he missed a couple of big chances to add to Liverpool's tally in the second half. 

With Firmino and Lovren both denied brilliantly by Foster, Liverpool could easily have put in three or four before McAuley's smashed close range finish, but in terms of quality, the game was over inside thirty-five minutes, as Liverpool produced the two moments of magic to see the game won. The first goal was scored by Mane, but it was a beautiful team goal. A good pass into midfield by Milner, dummied brilliantly by Coutinho, picked up by Can. Can released Firmino on the left and a wonderful cross from Firmino was inch perfect to find Mane, whose excellent finish put Liverpool in front.

But the second goal was all about Coutinho. Firmino and Mane's excellent pressing freed up the little Brazilian inside the penalty area, but Coutinho sent two defenders the wrong way before thundering in a brilliant low driven finish. Week in week out Coutinho proves himself to be a class player and has been the Reds best player this season, this week yet more evidence of that. He is the game-changer that Liverpool need and with him propelling them, they'll feel that they can beat anyone this season. 

But what really impressed me, up until the calamity that was West Brom's goal, was Liverpool's defending today, particularly the seriously impressive Joel Matip, who looks an absolute steal on a free transfer. Matip has been strong, powerful and read the play well, as well as composed in possession, and on a weekend where expensive and high profile defenders have made critical errors, as Chris Smalling and John Stones were humiliated, Matip remained calm and composed throughout. Liverpool are yet to concede more than one goal in a game this season where he has started. And as I have pointed out about Dejan Lovren before, he looks much more secure next to a partner who knows how to defend. 

So overall, plenty of positives for Liverpool to take going forwards. But of course, the negatives remain. They missed plenty of guilt-edged chances to kill this game off, Firmino the worst offender and simply put going forward that's not something that can be allowed to continue. Moreover, the highly publicised set piece problem appears to be getting worse before it gets better and again, this is an alarming problem that has never appeared to improve even slightly over literally years of football. 

Nevertheless, despite a nervy ten minutes that in truth were more nervous due to the situation than anything tangible that West Brom created, given that West Brom produced very little of any quality all day, Liverpool won the game. They didn't go to the top of the table, but to be honest, that means very little. Does a 2-1 win in a game that we should have won by three or four feel a little wasteful and frustrating? Yeah sure it does, but ultimately, it's too early in the season to be panicking about goal difference, given that we're only two goals behind City and one behind Arsenal. 

In truth, the win itself is enough reason to celebrate, especially given the slew of results that went Liverpool's way on both Saturday and Sunday. Arsenal and Spurs were both very poor as they were held to goalless draws that they both could easily have lost. Everton wasted good chances as Burnley nicked a late winner to see them off 2-1, and then there's what happened in today's matches, which I will look at tomorrow.

But for now, twenty points off nine games, another win under the belt, and being level on points with the top two is more than good enough for me. There'll be periods later in the season when the psychological blows being struck will become greater. But for now, it's all about one thing. Winning, and it doesn't matter how you win. Although it does help when your team plays very, very well, as Liverpool did this weekend. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Lewis Hamilton cut the gap by winning in Austin.
• England v Bangladesh is on the wire. Brilliant stuff. 
• Leicester beat Racing Metro. No. Really. 
• And Wasps snatched a thrilling draw with Toulouse. 

22nd October

Apologies for not writing recently, busy week and had a lot of focus on that FPL article. Anyway, Premier League preview.

Bournemouth v Spurs (12:30pm)

Bournemouth are much improved in recent weeks, and have only lost once in their last six league games, to Man City. However, they have a tendency to fall apart once they concede to the big teams, and their prize scalp of Everton this season was claimed with a clean sheet behind them. If Spurs can score early, then it could be a long day for Bournemouth. But Spurs have been struggling to score early recently and the longer Bournemouth hold on, the better their chances of nicking a winner. And wouldn't it be brilliant if on loan Gunner Jack Wilshere were to have a huge impact on this game? Nevertheless, you'd have to back the visitors. 

Prediction: 1-0 Spurs

Arsenal v Middlesbrough (3pm)

Arsenal are flying. Absolutely flying. You'd imagine that their bubble will have to burst as we head towards the Christmas period, but I don't think that time is coming just yet. Especially with a home game against a Boro side that look short on options in attack. Defensively I don't expect Boro to concede loads, but they will concede enough to comfortably lose this game, with Arsenal as dominant as they have been in recent weeks. 

Prediction: 2-0 Arsenal 

Burnley v Everton (3pm)

This could be a really tough game for Everton, with Burnley's home form exceptional. Liverpool and Arsenal both found it impossible to break them down at Turf Moor and Everton are going to have to be at their best to even get a point out of this match. Nevertheless, Burnley are on the back of a dismal performance against Southampton and Everton should have enough quality to break them down. And if Everton can score once, it will probably be enough. 

Prediction: 0-0 

Hull v Stoke (3pm)

Hull are a train wreck right now, the inevitable combustion that we've been waiting for since the start of the season seemingly happening with their 6-1 battering at the hands of Bournemouth. Meanwhile, after a shaky start Stoke are rapidly improving, notching their first win of the season last time out against Sunderland, with Joe Allen at the heart of it. So on form, you'd have to say that an away win is the favoured result. But it could well finish 1-1 as well. 

Prediction: 2-1 Stoke

Leicester v Crystal Palace (3pm) 

This is a really tough one to call. Leicester have been genuinely awful at some points this season, but fairly decent at others. Moreover, they've been very very good at the King Power, where they've picked up all of their points this season. But Palace also have solid away form, and have secured some good wins this season. I think Leicester will be favourites, but could easily see Palace nicking something off a set piece. 

Prediction: 2-1 Leicester

Swansea v Watford (3pm)

Even tougher to predict than Leicester v Palace. Right now, you'd have to say that Watford are favourites, but they are so patchy it's hard to predict what they're going to do. And Swansea have looked much better than their results would indicate against Liverpool, City and Arsenal, but nevertheless haven't won since the opening day. With two dodgy defences but decent attacks, this could be a belter. 

Prediction: 2-2

West Ham v Sunderland (3pm) 

With West Ham also starting to pick up their form, this game has come at the perfect time for them, as they look to make it two wins on the bounce. Sunderland meanwhile hit a new low with their 2-0 defeat to Stoke, a game that was billed as a relegation dogfight which ended up being incredibly one-sided. You would have to say that West Ham should win this game, maybe even comfortably. 

Prediction: 2-0 West Ham 

Liverpool v West Brom (5:30pm) 

Liverpool's Anfield form has been very good this season, running riot against Hull and Leicester, and their 0-0 draw against United on Monday night, as Jurgen Klopp pointed out, will be very good practice for exactly what they're going to get from Tony Pulis' side tonight. Nine men behind the ball, pump it long to Rondon, look to score off set pieces. Away from home, I'd say that Liverpool might struggle to break down West Brom and that 1-1 would be a solid bet at the Hawthorns, but at Anfield I reckon the home side will have enough in the tank to see this one out, especially with Lallana and hopefully Wijnaldum back. Nevertheless, the probability of Rondon nabbing a goal is very high, so I don't expect this to be an easy one for Liverpool. 

Prediction: 2-1 Liverpool 

Man City v Southampton (1:30pm Sunday)

This could be a tough game for City, especially on the back of defeats to Spurs and Barca and a draw with Everton. Southampton are a good side and in very good form, with ten points from their last four games. Nevertheless, you would imagine that at the Etihad that City would have enough in the tank to break down the Saints, even when they struggled against the other two best defences in the league in Spurs and Everton. Narrow win for City, but a win nevertheless. 

Prediction: 2-1 City

Chelsea v Man United (4pm Sunday)

For United, their draw at Anfield on Monday night has made this game a must-win, with five of the six teams ahead of them all having very winnable fixtures. By the time they kick off on Sunday, they could be eight points behind City and/or Arsenal and seven behind Spurs; a draw against a side that really aren't good enough to be making the top four won't cut it. Nevertheless, I think a draw is the most likely result at the Bridge, with neither team good enough to cause the other enough problems and both teams having similar strengths and weaknesses. If I had to pick one, I'd pick United, but I don't have to pick one so I'm not going to. It's fitting that the Jose derby would end in a draw away from home against a big club.

Prediction: 1-1

The Hard and Fast Section

• The England/Bangladesh test finely poised. 
• The All-Blacks are just on another level. 
• F1 hotting up. Four races to go. US this weekend. 
• Konta to probably miss WTA finals. Gutting.

18th October

Well that was utterly dreadful.

Bore Draw At Anfield

I said that last night's game was a must-win for Man United. Apparently Jose Mourinho disagreed, because he saw it as a cannot-afford-to-lose. I'm going to pick apart this decision in a minute, mostly because I think it's a bizarre move from Mourinho that says as much about how much money United have wasted as it does about his own negative tactics. 

In any case, United went into this game looking to play for the 0-0 and they got it. Whether Liverpool played nowhere near their best because United's tactic worked or whether United's tactic worked because Liverpool played nowhere their best is a point for debate, but largely irrelevant. Shorn of two of their midfield trio in Adam Lallana and Gini Wijnaldum, Liverpool looked short of energy and creativity in midfield, Firmino was wasted out on the left, Emre Can looked off the pace and, worse still, he made the team look unbalanced, as he attempted to play the role that Jordan Henderson has been performing superbly (and once again Henderson was faultless last night) from further up the pitch. 

But despite that, and when Lallana came on the point was exaggerated, Liverpool were the better team. United did a good job of killing the game, but nevertheless created nothing themselves, one good ball in from Pogba dreadfully finished by Ibrahimovic the sum total of their attacking threat. At the other end, Firmino had a good aerial chance and headed straight at De Gea, Can wriggled through a few challenges to test the United goalkeeper and then De Gea proved why he's United's best player with an out of this world save to deny Coutinho, who went for a trademark Coutinho 30 yarder and, to be fair, was barely an inch off the top corner. Against Hull, Arsenal, and to be honest against any other goalkeeper in the league, that was a goal. Moreover, Valencia was forced into a brilliant last ditch tackle to deny Firmino as Liverpool knocked on the door towards full time. 

So far from a vintage performance from either side. United will feel happier, because their tactic worked, albeit their tactic was to get everyone except Ibrahimovic behind the ball and make it impossible for Liverpool to play. Earlier this season we discussed the possibility that Liverpool would have to find ways to break down some of the smaller teams that went to Anfield and parked the bus. This just wasn't supposed to be one of those games. 

And if calling United a smaller team seems slightly childish, well that just exaggerates the point that I'm trying to make. Jose Mourinho considers it a victory for his tactics that he came to Anfield and was able to hold out for a point. Can you imagine if Sir Alex's United came to Anfield, with the most expensive Premier League squad ever assembled, sitting in 7th place in the league. held on for a point and were happy about it? Moreover, can you imagine that three or four years ago, we'd have picked up a point against United and been slightly annoyed that we didn't just smash them off the park? 

My point is just that it's hard for United fans to make the argument that they're a bigger and better team than Liverpool right now when their own manager practically admitted that United couldn't beat Liverpool with his team selection and tactics. Six man back line, hoof it up to Ibrahimovic, hit repeat. That's not to say that United didn't play well or that their tactic didn't work: De Gea in particular was exceptional, but Ander Herrera (deservedly man of the match) and Fellaini deserve credit in midfield and they were as defensively solid as you'd expect: Young and Rashford were tracking back excellently. The fact that we're sat here saying Marcus Rashford had a great game despite spending almost all of the second half in his own third says it all really. 

And to be honest, I'm not even bitter or frustrated about this. I'm pleasantly surprised. Yes, I really wanted to beat United, but as I said yesterday before the game started: a draw suits us far more than it suits them. Yes, United are happier with a draw, and yes a point away from home at Anfield is a good result, but nevertheless, in their current position it was not what they needed. 

Mourinho's tactic of playing for a draw in big games away from home is predicated on two main ideas. One is that his side will win more games against the smaller teams. At the moment that isn't happening (evidence in a moment). The other is they come out neutral to the other big sides in the big games. Again, that isn't happening. The big point that Mourinho seems to have missed is that it isn't just Liverpool and Man United in the title race at the moment (indeed you could make arguments that neither of them are in the top three title contenders). And whilst United didn't lose ground on Liverpool this weekend, they did lose ground on Arsenal and Chelsea, and remain off the pace from Spurs and City. Mourinho's side are two points behind Chelsea, three behind Liverpool, four behind Spurs and five points behind City and Arsenal. To be five points off the pace inside eight games is really not good for a team that are supposed to be challenging for the title. 

So the evidence then. First the "smaller" teams. Now since the start of the season, everyone except Liverpool has played two games against the so-called big six clubs, plus Man City and Spurs have played Everton. So Chelsea, United and Arsenal have played six games against the so-called smaller clubs, Spurs and City have played five and Liverpool four. Now in those games, Man City have dropped zero points, Arsenal Chelsea and Spurs have all dropped two points, Liverpool have dropped three points and United have dropped five points. So of all the top six teams, United have dropped the most points against the teams that they should be expecting to beat, which means that surely they should be making those points up against the big teams? Well no, although they're not doing the worst. 

So as mentioned, all of the "big six" clubs have played each other twice, except Liverpool who have racked up four games already, and have had easily the hardest run in so far. Let's look at their success in reverse order. So the team that's done worst is Chelsea, who lost both games to Liverpool and Arsenal. Then it's United, with one point from two games. Then Arsenal and City, who have both won one and lost one. Then Spurs and Liverpool. Spurs have won one drawn one, which works out on average the same as Liverpool, who have won two drawn two. So not only do United have the worst record of any of the big clubs against smaller teams, but they also have the second worst record against big teams. 

Again, this is early days, and Mourinho would argue that a sample size of eight games is nowhere big enough to draw any real conclusions, and he's not wrong. He could also argue that he's only had his squad for a few months and still has a lot of work to do on it, an argument that loses some of its traction when you consider the money pumped into it, but definitely not all of its traction. As I said at the start of the season, it'll take time for Conte and Jose to bed in their sides. 

But the fact remains that Liverpool have now played four of their five big opposition (again no offence to Everton who sit 6th, ahead of United) and have not lost a game yet. And they're frustrated because they didn't win all four. Whilst Jose is sitting 7th and happy to have taken a point at Anfield. 

My point is this. I have nothing against Jose's tactics. I think it's childish and churlish to say that one way of winning games or winning leagues is better than another, especially when Jose is as a title winner as anyone is. But, you can only hail tactics when you're winning. And right now, United aren't winning. They didn't win this game, any more than Liverpool did. Whilst they got what they set out for, what they set out for isn't good enough. Playing for a draw away from home in big games is a great tactic when you're leading the pack, but when you're behind and already chasing, it doesn't quite cut it. 

United have a big few weeks coming up, as they play both Arsenal and Chelsea in their next four league games, and failure to win either of those games will mean that Liverpool will have picked up at least five points on them in big games. So it's time for United to start winning big games, or they could be facing a very big uphill battle to win the title. Drawing this game means that they cannot afford to go to Stamford Bridge and take a point. That game should be very tasty indeed. 

But the final word has to go to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, who as I mentioned, have now picked up eight points from four extremely tricky fixtures, three of them away from home, and have also beaten the Champions at Anfield. 17 points from 24 with easily the hardest fixtures of any of the top teams represents a very good tally from Klopp's boys and they remain very much in the hunt for top four football or better. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Faletau picked for Autumn Internationals.
• Dan Carter cleared of doping charges.
• Cook links up with England squad. Preview tomorrow. 
• Leicester and Spurs in Champions League action tonight.

17th October

Okay brief summary of Sunday's games before a preview of tonight's game? Sound good? Good.

Middlesbrough 0-1 Watford

Let's be fair, this game was terrible. But Watford deserve a lot of credit for that. After a really poor first half, notable for Boro's totally inept striker Negredo almost scoring an own goal and the totally inept Roger East inexplicably failing to send off Barragan, as well as missing a couple of decent penalty shouts across the ninety minutes. But once Watford moved in front following a stunning strike from Jose Holebas, they shut up shop perfectly, and managed to totally kill the game. Boro showed nothing in terms of penetration or creativity and were totally unable to break down Watford in the second half. 

It didn't help that Negredo was useless, Gaston Ramirez contributed nothing and Karanka left it far too late to introduce impact substitute Jordan Rhodes, who had no time to have an impact on the game, although his other attacking change, the introduction of Adama Traore did at least add something to their attack, albeit not much. 

But overall, this was an easy victory for a Watford side keeping their first clean sheet of the season, as their back five were rigidly solid, and once they scored they never threatened to lose that lead. In terms of Watford's attack, Isaac Success was the most enterprising player on the pitch. He was direct, attacking and influenced the play more than any other attacking player, although that isn't saying much. 

I was really disappointed with Boro, particularly the way that they responded to falling behind. Although they didn't concede too many chances, once they were a goal down they needed to chase the game and they didn't look like they were really capable of doing that at any point. Yes Watford did an excellent job of killing the match dead, but Boro had absolutely no answer to those tactics. Boro don't look to me like a team in danger of relegation, because they've not collapsed yet, and always seem to keep going until the final whistle and don't concede many goals. But talk is cheap and unless Boro get points on the board very quickly then they will be in serious trouble, and they don't look like scoring at the moment. 

As for Watford, this was far from their best performance, but it was their most solid defensive display of the season and they came out with the three points that they needed. A few more results like this one, especially when they don't play at their best, will be very welcome indeed. 

Southampton 3-1 Burnley

Southampton turned the screw on Burnley to move 8th in the Premier League, with two goals from Charlie Austin and one from Nathan Redmond, and truthfully it could have been more but for some wonderful goalkeeping from Tom Heaton, who did brilliantly to deny Austin in particular in the first half, but also Dusan Tadic, Redmond and substitute Jay Rodriguez. 

And overall this was a thoroughly comprehensive display from Southampton, as in the second half they swept a side that clearly wasn't anywhere near their level. Burnley ran hard and defended okay, but in truth Southampton were just a class above them, carving out a handful of good chances before three goals in fifteen minutes early in the second half took them clear. Two of those goals were for Austin, who had fluffed his lines on a couple of occasions from good positions in the first half before fortunately scrambling one over the line off a corner, a good header from Van Dijk setting up the situation. It was the kind of scrappy goal that strikers like Austin love to score, and he added his second from the penalty spot after fill in Saints left back Sam McQueen (exceptional playing after second choice left back Targett pulled his hamstring) was bundled over. 

And either side of those goals, the man of the match Nathan Redmond rifled in from the edge of the box after Burnley failed to deal with another corner. Burnley's away form continues to be awful, and defensively they just don't look as solid away from Turf Moor, shipping nine goals now in three games to Chelsea, Saints and Leicester, compared to just three goals conceded in five games at home. It's an issue that absolutely needs to be addressed and quickly.

As for Saints, this was a confident, powerful display and with Austin up front their side looks so much more balanced. With ten points from their last four games, they're surging up the league table and look very much like top half finishers yet again this season. 

Liverpool v Man United 

So, the main event. Liverpool vs Man United. After Saturday's results, the stakes could not be higher. For Liverpool, a victory would take them level on points with Arsenal and City, and potentially top of the Premier League. If Liverpool win, they move six points ahead of United, who would be stuck in 7th, already five points off the top four. 

Conversely, if United win, then the momentum is all in their favour. For all the talk of Liverpool's good start to the season, defeat tonight would leave them level on points with United and Chelsea and maybe outside of the top four. If United win, then all of the top six sides will be within three points of the top of the table. 

So we can automatically see how big this six point swing can be. At this early stage of the season, this is a pivotal strategic game for both sides. For United, it's already almost a must-win, whilst for Liverpool, it's a real opportunity to put themselves very much in the mix for the title, and an opportunity that they cannot afford to drop. But nevertheless, with a three point lead over United at kick off, it's very much more United who are under pressure to secure a result. 

But to be blunt, that's just the icing on the cake. The tip of the iceburg. The points situation in the Premier League right now is nothing but a bonus. This is Liverpool vs Manchester United, it doesn't need a title race to be exciting. It's the biggest game of the season for both of these teams. The fact that it comes at a pivotal moment in both of these team's seasons only adds to the excitement. 

This game just feels different this year. For the first time in a long time, arguably for the first time since 2009, it feels like a game between two heavyweights. Liverpool have been languishing in previous seasons, and the only time in the 10s that they've been a real contender United were sat in 7th under Moyes and it was a walkover. But this year, both of these teams, headed by Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho, are expected to challenge for the title, if not at the least make top four. I'm personally not sure yet if either of them are capable of building a sustained title challenge, but for both teams, Liverpool especially, tonight is an opportunity to demonstrate that they are. 

It's as much about sending a message as anything else. Klopp has made it clear that it's not about that, that it's about securing the three points and to an extent that's true. But Liverpool right now are in a better place than United, and they have the perfect opportunity to turn up on the pitch and make that the case. Liverpool should win tonight. That's the truth. They have the home advantage, the superior firepower, the superior intensity, and the superior tactics. They should win. 

But nevertheless, this is Man United. They always find ways to win games. That's what Man United do. Especially against Liverpool. Louis Van Gaal's United were not better than Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in January but they won that game. In fact, United have won the last four against Liverpool and whilst it would be unfair to suggest that Liverpool have been better than United for the last two years, as this simply isn't the case, the truth is that they should not have lost the last four games to their opponents. 

Years when Liverpool beat Man United are years where they have sent messages. Liverpool have done the double over United just twice since 2002. And on both of those occasions, Liverpool went on to mount the only two serious title races that they've had since the turn of the millennium: 2008/9 and 2013/14. Beating United would send a serious message that they're not just going to be the Liverpool we've seen over and over again for the last decade, two steps forward and one step backwards, but a Liverpool side that are going to keep moving forward and mount a serious title challenge. 

That isn't to say that losing tonight is necessarily fatal to Liverpool's chances, but it would be a huge blow to a side that have been seriously impressive so far this season to fall back behind United, a side that up until this point they have been superior to in the league. Everything is set up perfectly for Liverpool to win this game, and as a result, everything is set up perfectly for them to blow it. 

And then of course there's the option that I haven't considered at all yet. The draw. Personally, I don't think a draw would be a bad result. Certainly I think with this game more of a must win for United than it is for Liverpool, a draw for LFC to keep them in the top four, keep them within striking distance of the top two and keep United down in 7th and at arms length would be pretty solid, especially given that we've already beaten Arsenal and Chelsea this season, as well as drawing with Spurs. 

But on the other hand, a draw wouldn't be the result that Liverpool are capable of, and it certainly wouldn't send the message that fans want it to send. Whilst it would be a worse result for United than for Liverpool, it nevertheless wouldn't be a bad result for United either, to come to Anfield and take a point when you would wager on current evidence that not too many teams are going to do that this season. 

And ultimately, that is what it all comes down to. Rationalisation, as I have tried to do in this piece, is absolutely pointless. Because it's Liverpool vs Man United. And nothing has ever been needed to make that game a must-win. These are two teams that hate each other with every fiber of their being, that want to crush the opposition more than anything. Even when it's been more of a battle of mid-table mediocrity than a clash of the titans, for Liverpool and United fans, the only motivation needed has been to crush the opposition. 

And tonight is simply no different. However you spin it, however you shape it, it all just boils down to one simple thing. 

I really, really, really want to beat United. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Ben Duckett continues wonderful tour form. 
• England's women collapse as West Indies level series. 
• French flying as Clermont and Bordeaux win in Europe. 
• Inter Milan are in total disarray.

16th October

Lots of brilliant football on yesterday, so I want to try and review every game to some degree. In some cases, it'll just be a couple of paragraphs, in other cases, a proper match review, since I could obviously only watch one 3pm KO live.

Chelsea 3-0 Leicester

As one of the three games I did watch, I can safely say that the scoreline absolutely reflects the pattern of the game (as the expected goals tally points out). This was as good a performance for Chelsea as it was a poor one for Leicester and with every passing week, the evidence to suggest that beating Leicester very easily ranks as a good result for a top team is starting to wane. It looked good when Liverpool did it, started to look a bit iffy when United did it, and now that Chelsea have exposed what was another relegation worthy defensive performance from Leicester, it just looks like par for the course. 

Make no mistake, Leicester were utterly terrible, a defensive display so woefully inept that worse players than Diego Costa and Eden Hazard would have filled their boots. Costa was given the freedom of Stamford Bridge to slam home from six yards off a corner, Wes Morgan apparently forgotten that he was supposed to be marking Costa, as he stared blankly into space, no doubt thinking about shining his Premier League winners medal later that night, and not at all concentrating on actually playing football. 

And Hazard's goal was just as shambolic, with Huth and Hernandez (who despite being listed as a right back seemed to forget that he wasn't a CB until Ranieri switched to 5 at the back so he actually had a right back) both missing an easy interception, the ball bouncing into Hazard's path and Kasper Schmeichel making it ludicrously easy for Hazard to walk around him and slot into an empty net. 

To say Leicester offered no threat would be unfair, since they definitely offered a lot of threat to their own goal, so dreadful were they in the first half. The lack of pressing, the lack of tracking runners and the amount of basic defensive errors meant that Chelsea's 2-0 half time lead actually flattered the Foxes. And although they came back into the game in the second half, I nevertheless cannot think that they had a meaningful chance, apart from when David Luiz almost hacked into his own goal, hitting the post after an excellent cross. Luiz actually had a brilliant game and alongside that phenomenal (if a bit lucky) defensive clearance, he also nearly scored twice from free kicks at the other end and just all-round kept an isolated Jamie Vardy out of the game. 

And when the third goal came, it was as inevitable as it was masterful. A brilliant run from Victor Moses, albeit with no Leicester players bothering to run with him, a cacophony of incompetence, and Moses was set away by a stunning touch from substitute Chalobah, arguably the best assist of the season so far. Moses did the rest to compound Leicester's humilation. 

After a string of poor results, back to back wins have put Chelsea back in contention, as they sit level on points with Liverpool and only three points off the top of the table. But against a Leicester side who really were totally abject, there are only so many positives that can be taken from this game. Chelsea have done what they've needed to do so far this season, and put away teams that they should be putting away, but they'll need to improve if they want to make the top four.

Arsenal 3-2 Swansea

There are a few things to note from this game. The first is that the result is Arsenal's sixth straight win, putting them level on points with league leader's Man City, and that it consigns Swansea to the relegation zone, with their fourth straight defeat. But looking in a bit more detail, we can see that once again, it was a spirited performance from a Swansea side that absolutely should have got something from the game, creating enough chances to make something happen. Sigurdsson and Barrow in particular played really well and on another day, Swansea would have picked up at least a point. 

But defensively they remained all over the place, as Theo Walcott scored two of the easiest goals of his career and should well have added another two to that tally. Walcott is a player who has had immense potential over the years but his inability to add enough goals to his game means he may well feel he's wasted large portions of his career, and this game was no different. In any case, it's obvious that Swansea haven't replaced Ashley Williams, who was having a brilliant game across the country. There remains a lot of work for Bob Bradley to do.

And Granit Xhaka's dismissal raises a number of questions about the nature of cynical fouls, which are now apparently going to be given red cards, or at least, Xhaka's was. It was a poor foul, a dodgy tackle from behind never intending to win the ball. And screamers aside, Xhaka's discipline and performance levels will be worrying Arsene Wenger as he was all over the place for Swansea's first goal and appears to be a booking or a sending off waiting to happen. 

But nevertheless, once again the Gunners showed enough attacking threat to see off the Swans, and are now the league's joint top scorers. With six wins on the trot, they will be feeling pretty confident of their chances of making a real title fight happen. 

Bournemouth 6-1 Hull

And meanwhile, at the lower end of the table (a phrase that seems wholly inappropriate now that Bournemouth have moved into 9th place with this victory), Hull City suffered a humiliating defeat that merely turns up the heat on their survival fight. They've now picked up one point in six games, and heavy defeats to Liverpool and Bournemouth have decimated their goal difference, which is now comfortably the worst in the division with -12. 

And this was as bad a performance for Hull, and to be fair as good a performance for Bournemouth, as the scoreline made it look. Bournemouth were utterly dominant from start to finish and their attacking line of Junior Stanislas, Jordon Ibe and Calum Wilson, bolstered by Josh King in the second half, were vibrant, threatening and direct. Although their first three goals came off set pieces, their general play was exceptional, and that proved to the case in the second half, as they piled the pain on a Hull side that just simply collapsed. But right from the off, Bournemouth had more energy, more movement and played the better football, whilst Hull's lack of pressing or tackling cost them dearly, as Bournemouth were given the time and space to play football and used it to devastating effect. 

These are the sorts of results that can really signify how a team is going to perform over a given season. For Bournemouth, this was a terrific confidence booster, a brilliant display of intent and exactly the kind of result that suggests they'll stay in the Premier League. I've accused them of lacking attacking threat before, but eight goals in their last two games has really bolstered their scoring stats and yesterday they scored half of their twelve league goals this season, a tally level with Everton and only one behind Spurs and United. 

As for Hull, their first two wins of the season against similarly relegation addled teams have, looking back, done little to suggest that they have what it takes to stay in the Premier League and results like this one are major body blows to their chances. To lose 6-1 to a team that should be in and around your position (and Bournemouth were only one point ahead of Hull at the start of play) is an absolute embarrassment. Hull are in serious trouble. 

Man City 1-1 Everton 

Okay here we go. City have now dropped points in back to back games, have been pegged back on top of the Premier League and face a tricky Champions League game against Barcelona. The tabloids are already licking their lips, sensing a meltdown. But the reality is that if Everton goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg hadn't had the game of his life to deny both Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne twice, including two penalty saves. And make no mistake, City should be scoring their penalties, but the narrative looks entirely different either Aguero or De Bruyne score from the spot and City win, and that is comfortably out of Guardiola's control. 

Because make no mistake, this was a game that City absolutely should have won. They dominated the game for the entirety of it, created all of the better chances, played very well given their experimental and interesting 3-2-2-3 formation (that absolutely worked and is one that they should stick with by the way). They were caught on the counter-attack once, and that was down to a brilliant run from Lukaku, who bulldozed his way past Clichy before finishing brilliantly, but other than that, City were rarely threatened and they dealt with Everton's attacking threat competently. 

Moreover, Everton deserve so much credit, because in pointing out that this is two points dropped for City doesn't quite do justice to their opponents. Phil Jagielka made two critical errors in conceding the two penalties but other than that he and his outstanding partner Ashley Williams were faultless. Everton's defensive shape and compactness made it incredibly difficult for City to penetrate them, and City's chances mostly came from range or with plenty of defenders between themselves and goal. 

Nevertheless, David Silva in particular was lively and incredibly dangerous. With De Bruyne and to an extent Sterling clearly not back at their best having picked up knocks, and Leroy Sane looking solid but unspectacular, so much of City's positive play came through the Spaniard, who was the best attacking player on the pitch. 

But in truth, this game was all about Stekelenburg, whose two penalty saves were the least of his brilliance, tipping a fizzing, whipping strike from De Bruyne onto the post from range and, even more impressive, a finger-tip save to deny Aguero. He was easily the man of the match, and the man who earned a valuable point for his side.

Looking forwards, Everton can feel very good about their current position and their defensive nous against City was exceptional. They will certainly cause anyone problems based on this performance. But truthfully, there's not too much for City to overly concerned about. If they carry on playing like they have so far this season, they will remain favourites for the league title.

Stoke 2-0 Sunderland 

And from the top to the bottom, and a game between the league's bottom two, who had no wins between them going into this game. It ended up being a much needed tonic for Stoke, who plunged Sunderland further into the abyss. leaving the Black Cats with just two points off eight games. And it was the Welsh maestro Joe Allen who was once again the hero for the Potters, with two goals from poor Sunderland defending, but that also demonstrated his increasing influence on this Stoke side, reflected in his goal-scoring output of four goals in three league games.  

And whilst a clean sheet was debatably as welcome as the three points, it may well be the easiest clean sheet that Stoke keep all year, as Sunderland offered almost nothing in terms of attacking threat. Whilst there is still plenty of improvement to come from Stoke, this result demonstrated that they are certainly not as bad as a Sunderland side which is week on week proving itself to be good value for their reputation as relegation fodder. The confidence and lift that this performance, result and clean sheet will give Stoke is immeasurable, and they should be able to kick on and get a positive result next week against a desperately poor Hull side. As for Sunderland, they face West Ham at the Olympic Stadium and that's increasingly looking like a must-win game for them. 

West Brom 1-1 Spurs

So with Man City dropping points against Everton, the opportunity was there for Spurs, the only unbeaten side left in the division, to go top of the league with a win over West Brom. A game that they predictably managed to fail to win. Their performance in this game was arguably the same as the majority of their performances this season, where they played okay and dominated the match against a side that they would been expecting to dominate and beat comfortably. But despite their excellent play in the first half, Dele Alli in particular failed to find the back of the net, firing straight at Ben Foster in a couple of decent one on one situations. 

And from there, the game opened up and Spurs could have no complaints when they did fall behind, as they had failed to take their own chances and West Brom had played increasingly well as the game had gone on and created chances of their own. Also, predictably, it was Nacer Chadli who scored the goal, the quickest to react after Lloris bundled a McClean shot onto the post.

But Dele Alli kept putting himself in good positions and was finally able to slot one into the back of the net to pinch a point for Spurs. Much like the City game, Spurs didn't deserve to lose and certainly should have won the game, and much like City, they failed to take the chances presented to them. So with their rivals dropping points, Spurs needed to up the ante and in this game, as they've been threatening to do against smaller teams for a while, they dropped points. 

Nevertheless, it would be churlish to not give Spurs the benefit of the doubt that I gave City and certainly Spurs will be there or thereabouts in May if they are able to keep finding their levels. And it cannot be denied that Ben Foster had a decent game, even if the majority of his saves were little more than routine. Spurs are definitely missing Harry Kane. 

But for West Brom, this is another good point, as they continue to ascend the table, picking up their tenth point of the season to move four points clear of the drop zone and very much in the mixer for a top half spot. And they really will be glad for this point, with a trip to Anfield next time out and Man City the week after. 

Crystal Palace 0-1 West Ham

The late kick off was a game that failed to live up to the high standards set by the rest of the day, but was the perfect game for a West Ham side that had been on a five game streak without a win. In the end they were worthy winners, as apart from a brief spell right before half-time when Christian Benteke missed two sitters, including a penalty, they offered very little threat, whilst West Ham could easily have added a couple of goals to their second half tally before a harsh red card to Cresswell derailed their momentum. 

Overall Benteke was the villain of the piece, as he managed to side foot his penalty wide having tricked the keeper into diving the wrong way, and then moments later headed onto the post with the whole goal to aim at. But other than that Palace looked like they struggled as West Ham's defence managed to avoid implosion. Townsend was so easily Palace's best attacking threat, but that says more about the talents of Puncheon and Zaha than it does about him. 

As for West Ham, they were much improved in every area of the pitch. Defensively they looked much more solid than they have done in recent weeks and coming forwards they offered more threat, with Lanzini in particular looking very dangerous. And it was Lanzini who scored the winning goal, with a lovely cute finish after an excellent cross by the hard done by Cresswell. 

Overall, Palace have been brought down to earth after a string of good performances, but remain comfortable in the top half of the division. As for West Ham, they are out of the bottom three and crucially there was lots of positives to take from the game as they were much improved in both attack and defence. But this was a scrappy game and one neither team can be fully happy with. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Andy Murray wins Shanghai Open. Majestic. 
• But heartbreak for Broady and Watson in Hong Kong. 
• Saints, Sarries and Wasps with huge European wins. 
• England's women seek to seal their five match series victory.