Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

1) Özil and Emery still a partnership needing work

Mesut Özil cannot quite get rid of the question marks. He was left on the bench throughout Arsenal’s win at Bournemouth, not even emerging to warm up during the second half as Unai Emery – in his own words – “decided for other options” and while he will at least be fresh for the almost-dead Europa League rubber against Vorskla Poltava he would presumably have had other things in mind when signing his new contract in February. Özil’s best work this season has come when fielded at No 10, a role that was unavailable in the 3-4-3 Emery deployed on Sunday, and the head coach may have seen enough to extend the experiment. “We are finding our best performance with the system, with the players and with the combination,” Emery said, in a clear acknowledgingment that Arsenal are still looking for a balance that satisfies him despite their unbeaten run stretching to 17 games. Nobody would doubt Özil’s ability to unlock a defence but Emery’s demand for a better blend between attack and defence may leave his prospects uncertain. Nick Ames

• Match report: Bournemouth 1-2 Arsenal
• Bournemouth too ‘demanding’ for dropped Özil, says Emery
• Nick Ames: Emery’s tough tactics bear fruit

2) Players likely to feel Sarri’s sting after first loss

Maurizio Sarri had been warning for weeks that it would come to this if lessons were not learned. That those slow starts would eventually punish Chelsea. “Now the problem is evident and I hope, first of all, to the players,” he grumbled, pointing to slackness in possession, a lack of urgency throughout the lineup, and an inability “to stay compact”. The players, of whom five fronted up to the media post-match and admitted standards had slipped, understandably called for a little perspective given this was a first defeat in 19 competitive matches under Sarri, and even suggested the loss was timely, but could offer no real explanation to the plodding openings. “It’s good for us to understand, to remind us that the Premier League is never easy,” said David Luiz. “Nobody is happy. But the coach has been many times angrier when we’ve won. It’s true.” Sarri has been demanding improvement since day one, and defeat will have stung. The squad may see a different side to the Italian at Cobham on Monday. Dominic Fifield

• Match report: Tottenham 3-1 Chelsea
• Dominic Fifield: Alli stifles Jorginho to put Chelsea’s title hopes on hold
• Hazard again suggests he may leave Chelsea in the summer

3) Maddison determined to ‘learn’ from dive

As he headed for the tunnel after 28 minutes, sent off after two moments of madness, James Maddison bowed his head in shame. He knew he had made a mistake, committed one of the most inexcusable crimes on a football pitch: diving. But, an ounce of credit to the Leicester midfielder for not going into hiding. Long before his embarrassing fall in the box was magnified on Match of the Day, the 22-year-old came out to confront the deserved criticism. “Nobody wants to see diving in our beautiful game,” he posted on Instagram. “I was anticipating contact that never came, but that’s no excuse. I will learn from it.” Maddison’s naivety took Leicester’s red-card tally to four this season, twice as many as any other side. Under Claude Puel, nine players have been sent off in 33 matches. “We have to manage better our attitude and our games,” Puel said. Ben Fisher

• Match report: Brighton 1-1 Leicester

4) Ranieri’s presence felt at Fulham

The respect between Claudio Ranieri and Ryan Sessegnon was mutual after Fulham kickstarted their campaign with a pulsating victory over Southampton. From the player’s perspective, it has been heartening to see Ranieri waste no time making his presence felt after replacing Slavisa Jokanovic. “He wants us to defend as a team,” Sessegnon said. “Very tactical – more tactical with this guy than the last one. He’s really set down the way he wants to play.” Fulham have been vulnerable all season and Ranieri’s main focus is on tightening the worst defence in the league. The Italian is less concerned about his attack and praised Sessegnon for a vibrant display after seeing the 18-year-old winger create goals for Aleksandar Mitrovic and André Schürrle. “He’s one of the best young players that I’ve met,” Ranieri said. “He’s young, a child. It’s not easy for him, but I’m very pleased with his performance.” Jacob Steinberg

• Match report: Fulham 3-2 Southampton
• Soares critical of Southampton’s mental frailty in Fulham defeat

5) Warnock wants to buy to save Cardiff

Cardiff made Everton work surprisingly hard for their win at Goodison, though Neil Warnock accepts he is going to have to spend money in January to give the club any chance of survival. “We will need to go shopping, I feel we will have to bring in a bit more quality to stay up,” the Cardiff manager said. “It is not easy to find players in January but two or three new players could improve the squad and give us a fighting chance. At the moment we have a right-back playing up front. He’s doing very well, but we need to be better.” Callum Paterson, the right-back in question, got himself in a great position to open the scoring in the first half, only to miss the target. A quality striker, or indeed any sort of recognised striker, might have put his side in front and increased the pressure on the home side. No one could fault the burly Paterson’s commitment or workrate, but his finishing possibly leaves something to be desired. Cardiff can still save themselves if they maximise their points return at home, but they are unlikely to do it with a right-back operating up front. Paul Wilson

• Match report: Everton 1-0 Cardiff

6) ‘Fear factor’ fails to raise United’s game

In claiming Old Trafford still has the fear factor following Crystal Palace’s goalless draw at Manchester United, Roy Hodgson actually underlined the puzzle of how José Mourinho’s side can be as average as they were on Saturday. Hodgson said: “There are 75,000 people who are used to watching a very good team play with very good players, that has enormous strength in depth – bringing on [Alexis] Sánchez, [Marcus] Rashford and [Marouane] Fellaini, that tells you a lot, especially when people like [Romelu] Lukaku, [Juan] Mata and [Jesse] Lingard have started. So they started what they thought was their best XI and then brought those guys on. And the atmosphere, the fact that so much has been done over the years here to make Manchester United what Manchester United are, no team is ever going to come here without a certain fear factor.” Yet despite all the names highlighted plus those Hodgson did not who also featured – Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, and Nemanja Matic – United remain, strangely, a one-step forward, one-step back proposition. Jamie Jackson

• Match report: Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace

7) Full-backs fly to keep Liverpool in hunt

Liverpool are now 13 games unbeaten in the Premier League this season, with a record points tally for this stage of the season. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson have both been integral throughout thanks to their energetic attacking and defensive sturdiness, summed up by their efforts at Vicarage Road. The England right-back Alexander-Arnold whipped a free-kick into the top corner from 25 yards at a crucial point in the match to make it 2-0, showcasing another of his talents. Flying down either flank, he and Robertson instigated all of Liverpool’s counterattacking verve, a crucial aspect in tricky away games and one Watford could not cope with. As well as his superb attacking displays, in Robertson’s 12 league appearances this season Liverpool have kept eight clean sheets and he boasts five assists, more than any of his teammates, helping them to second in the table. Will Unwin

• Match report: Watford 0-3 Liverpool

8) Pellegrini takes solace from City tonking

As a test of where West Ham are this season, how far they might have progressed under Manuel Pellegrini, the mauling by Manchester City revealed little to those watching from the stands. But for the Chilean there was much to take from it. His claims that West Ham were as dangerous as their opponents seemed thin (City could and would surely have scored more had they felt it necessary), but he had a broader point that was more convincing. In sticking at it, Pellegrini said, his team had shown “the mentality to play in the same way against every team”. If West Ham want to be a big team, they will have to impose their style on other teams consistently, regardless of the opponent. This has not always been the case in recent seasons. With eight matches before they face a top-six opponent again, West Ham now have the chance to prove Pellegrini’s theory on the pitch. Paul MacInnes

• Match report: West Ham 0-4 Manchester City

9) Philip excels despite Mooy’s top Billing

The headlines inevitably belonged to Aaron Mooy, but another man in the beating heart of the Huddersfield midfield was arguably the best player on the pitch at Molineux. Philip Billing again excelled, alongside Mooy and Jonathan Hogg, with the 22-year-old’s superb goal-line intervention keeping Raúl Jiménez at bay and a silky flick for the overlapping Florent Hadergjonaj showing both sides of his game; they were contrasting moments, but both characteristic of another exuberant and mature display. Billing eats up ground, is unforgiving in the challenge but, perhaps most importantly, he possesses the guile to make a difference in both boxes. He was equally influential in the crucial victory at home to Fulham earlier this month and, as Huddersfield stretched their mini-unbeaten run to three matches, the great Dane put on another classy show. “He has grown,” his manager, David Wagner, said recently. “He has become a man.” Ben Fisher

• Match report: Wolves 0-2 Huddersfield

10) Eyecatching win can spark key weeks in Spurs’ season

You could say this about a few teams at the moment, but Saturday’s win over Chelsea marked the start of a crucial few weeks in Tottenham’s season. On Wednesday they face Inter in the Champions League, then comes the north London derby at Arsenal, a couple of slightly more gentle league games against Leicester and Southampton before a trip to Barcelona. They realistically have to win both of those European games to progress and of course a victory at the Emirates is non-negotiable, but it’s not just the win over Chelsea that will provide encouragement, more the nature of it. Poor as Maurizio Sarri’s side were, Spurs overwhelmed them with exactly the right attitude and tactics, a combination they’ll most certainly need in the next few games. “Now the challenge for us is to keep that level of competition,” said Mauricio Pochettino after the game. It could define their season. Nick Miller

• Barney Ronay: Spellbinding attack spooks David Luiz and Chelsea