Can United continue their good form?
LOUIS VAN GAAL’S side welcome Stoke City to Old Trafford this evening looking to make it four Premier League wins in a row after an impressive performance against Hull City on Saturday.
The question before the game was whether van Gaal would drop Robin van Persie after his recent below average performances. The manager stayed loyal to his former Dutch captain however and was somewhat repaid when van Persie smashed home United’s third goal.
The 31-year-old still didn’t look up to his usual standard. A number of times he mis-controlled simple passes, losing possession in the process. The goal will most likely keep him in the side however as van Gaal will want to stick with the team that easily brushed aside Hull.
Stoke, on the other hand, suffered a 1-0 loss to Liverpool but dominated periods of the game and probably deserved a point. With Wayne Rooney on a hot streak of form that saw him net yet again on Saturday United will feel confident going into this one.
Questions over the defence still remain but they did look a lot more comfortable against Arsenal 10 days ago and on Saturday. Chris Smalling looks to be playing with more confidence and the goal he scored on Saturday will have increased that.
Can Southampton recover?
It was all looking so rosy for the Saints before they came up against a ruthless Manchester City side on Sunday afternoon and were given a reality check.
Nothing should be taken away from the start that Ronald Koeman’s team have made to the season but this week could be their last in the top four.
They’ve struggled against the top teams so far, losing to Liverpool, Spurs and City and now face Arsenal away tomorrow night and Manchester United at home on Monday. Lose those two and they’re slipping away, much like they did last season.
This time last year, in the space of six weeks between late November and New Year’s Day, they faced most of the top teams and fell from third in the table to ninth.
Now they have to face Arsenal, United, Everton and Chelsea before the festive season ends, lose those four and they’ll be doing well to be in the top half by the time the middle of January rolls around.
It all depends on how they react to Sunday’s defeat. Koeman needs to learn lessons from the loss and use it as a learning curve so that his players are better prepared going into games against the top teams. They probably need to be a little bit more cautious. The Premier League is a harsh environment and playing exciting, attacking, expansive football, while entertaining, usually gets harshly punished if you don’t have the calibre of players to pull it off.
Will Steven Gerrard return to the Liverpool team?
Much was made of the Liverpool captain’s absence from the starting 11 for the visit of Stoke City to Anfield on Saturday. Brendan Rodgers’ decision really shouldn’t be so surprising however.
Gerrard is 35-year-old, he’s just come off the back of a World Cup during the summer and Saturday would have been his third start in seven days (including a trip to Bulgaria).
Starting him against Stoke would have been a mistake. Last Wednesday against Ludogorets and the Sunday against Crystal Palace Gerrard was overrun in the midfield, incapable of influencing the game as he used to.
This is only down to the simple fact that he doesn’t have the physical capacity to do so on a regular basis anymore.
Conversely, if Rodgers uses him more sparingly he will have that impact. Take Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes as they began to slow down at United. Alex Ferguson took the decision to phase the two players out, starting them only occasionally and springing them off the bench to bring their considerable qualities to the game when things might not have been going United’s way.
That is what Rodgers needs to do with Gerrard. For an opposing team to see one of the best midfielders of the Premier League generation coming off the bench would be worrying. Gerrard offers experience and assurance that is vital but Rodgers has to pick and choose when to use it.
Can Spurs upset Chelsea?
Despite conceding yet another early goal yesterday Spurs came away with the three points and looked very impressive, possibly the most impressive they’ve looked all season.
Midfielders Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb and striker Harry Kane showed a fantastic willingness and energy to run and harry, something that could cause Chelsea problems tomorrow.
Even Roberto Soldado found the net, his first goal since 2 March and one that will give him a much needed confidence boost.
On the other side of the coin Chelsea were stumped by a resilient, tactically clever Sunderland side that fully deserved their point on Saturday evening.
After the final whistle Mourinho cited tiredness as a factor for the draw, reminding everyone that he and his team didn’t arrive home from Schalke until 5am on Wednesday morning.
If tiredness really was the case then a game against a confidence-filled Spurs side just four days later will not fill the Portuguese manager with excitement.
Can Welbeck prove himself from the left again?
When the Arsenal team was announced on Saturday with Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud all in it for the first time eyebrows were raised as to how they would manage playing together.
The answer: quite well. During his time at United Welbeck was routinely shunted out to the left to make space in the middle for van Persie and Rooney.
Since joining Arsenal he has enjoyed that role himself, one that it is well known he prefers to be used in. That was until Saturday when Giroud returned to the team and Welbeck was pushed out wide.
The attitude of the England striker has always been one of his best traits and that was clear again on Saturday as he played with the same enthusiasm as he has done all season, despite being deployed in a less favourable role.
He got his reward as well with the winning goal, courtesy of a powerful header. Wenger will most likely use the 24-year-old in the same role again on Wednesday evening but if he continues the form that’s seen him score six goals in 14 appearances already he may soon replace Giroud in the central role.
