MX23RW : Friday, November 30 18:38:49

5 things we learned from the Premier League this weekend

5 things we learned from the Premier League this weekend
© Reuters
Everton moved into the top six.

Chelsea lose for the first time, Manchester United disappoint at home again and a rebuilding job at Craven Cottage takes shape.

Press Association Sport looks at five talking points from the weekend.

Chelsea can be beaten

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has "problems to solve" (John Walton/PA).

It has taken until the final weekend of November but cracks have started to appear in Chelsea's armour. It was not Tottenham's inflicting of a first defeat of the season per se but the manner of it which prompted manager Maurizio Sarri to label it a "disaster". The Italian spoke of knowing he had "a lot of problems to solve" but his players' performances had papered over those cracks until now with David Luiz and Jorginho, in particular, the main culprits at Wembley. Sarri will hope slipping to fourth, with Arsenal just a point behind, will focus the minds.

Ranieri rediscovers his magic touch

Claudio Ranieri, the man who masterminded Leicester's miraculous title win, returned to the Premier League 21 months after being sacked by the Foxes to revitalise a flagging Fulham. After seven successive defeats the Italian came in for his first match and immediately oversaw a 3-2 win over fellow strugglers Southampton. They remain bottom of the table but are only four points behind 13th-placed West Ham. Crucially he also got Alexsandar Mitrovic back on the goal trail after a seven-match drought and if he can maintain that it will be pivotal to their survival. Next up, Ranieri's former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Salah warming up for winter

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Three goals in his opening eight Premier League matches had Mohamed Salah's critics doubting his ability to reproduce the form which saw him produce a record-breaking 32 in 38 games last season. But he has scored four in his last five and has now found the net in successive Premier League matches twice. At the same stage 12 months ago he had achieved that feat but most of his goalscoring was ahead of him as he scored five in seven games in December, two in three in January before really ramping it up in February and March. A goalscoring record inversely proportional to the falling temperatures is a handy thing to have with a packed schedule coming up.

Everton enter top-six equation

Marco Silva's Toffees have finally joined the top-six party. It has been some time since they have been able to say that after fluctuating spells under Roberto Martinez (11th twice), Ronald Koeman (seventh) and Sam Allardyce (eight). Four wins and a draw in their last six matches have seen them overtake Manchester United as the closest challengers to Arsenal. With a fully-fit squad to choose from they are arguably at their strongest for some time and with Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson scoring regularly and four clean sheets in seven league matches, Silva has built a strong base. The test will be to push on from there with Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham waiting in December.

Mourinho's moans have negative effect

Friday: Quotes emerge from Jose Mourinho suggesting the likes of Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford are "without character". Saturday: A team which included three of that quartet at some point are held to a dull goalless draw by a Crystal Palace side without a league win in 10 weeks. As they say in America, 'Go figure'. Mourinho has spent most of the season complaining about his players. Is it really any wonder his team are seventh in the table, with as many home wins as on the road (three) and, almost unheard of, a zero goal difference for matches at Old Trafford?


Click here for more stories about Jose Mourinho

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Andreas Pereira in action for Manchester United in July 2016
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City1311204053535
2Liverpool1310302652133
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs13100323111230
4Chelsea1384128111728
5Arsenal1383228161227
6Everton136432015522
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd136342021-121
8Bournemouth136252218420
9Watford136251717020
10Leicester CityLeicester135351817118
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves134451215-316
12Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton134361419-515
13Newcastle UnitedNewcastle133371116-512
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham133371422-812
15Huddersfield TownHuddersfield13247822-1410
16Crystal Palace13238817-99
17Burnley132381327-149
18Southampton131571024-148
19Cardiff CityCardiff132291126-158
20Fulham132291433-198

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