Sportsmail takes a look at 10 things we have learned from an entertaining weekend of Premier League fixtures, the Capital One Cup final as well as intriguing statistics from the Football League...

1. Playing up front has made Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling a target for Premier League defenders who can’t cope with his pace and trickery.

The 20-year-old was fouled four times by Manchester City players during Sunday’s 2-1 win at Anfield, twice as much as any other player.

Across the whole season he’s won 65 free-kicks – more than any other player apart from Chelsea’s Eden Hazard who has had 75.

Raheem Sterling (centre) was fouled four times by Manchester City players during Sunday's 2-1 win

2. Cesar Azpilicueta chose Wembley to remind everybody – including Jose Mourinho – that he remains Chelsea’s best left back.

The Spaniard has seen Filipe Luis put his place under pressure with some good performances while he’s been dealing with some niggling injuries.

But his dominant display in the Capital One Cup final was a key to cutting off supply to Tottenham’s danger man Harry Kane.

Azpilicueta came out on top in all but one of 15 battles for the ball during the 90 minutes, and won every one of the nine tackles he made.

Cesar Azpilicueta (right) won 14 of his 15 battles for the ball during Chelsea's Capital One Cup win on Sunday

3. Juan Mata is desperate to show Louis van Gaal he deserves another chance to prove he can be part of the future at Manchester United.

The Spaniard got only seven minutes on the pitch including injury-time against Sunderland as a late replacement for Wayne Rooney.

But he still managed to get on the ball often enough to find a team-mate with 11 out of 12 passes as well as trying a shot which was blocked.

Juan Mata (No 8) came on as a late substitute for Manchester United as they beat Sunderland 2-1

4. One of the details Tim Sherwood needs to attend to as he tries to rescue Aston Villa is their habit of switching off when the opposition have a throw-in.

It was a fault under Paul Lambert’s management and clearly remains a problem.

Papiss Cisse’s winner for Newcastle followed a throw where Villa failed to shut the ball down quickly enough – just as happened before Mame Biram Diouf’s equaliser for Stoke seven days earlier.

Papiss Cisse's (right) winner for Newcastle on Saturday came from Aston Villa switching off after a throw-in

5. Darren Fletcher must have kept himself superbly fit during the frustrating first few months of the season when he was warming Manchester United’s bench.

Since signing for West Brom the 31-year-old has played four full matches in 19 days – as many minutes of Premier League game time as he’d had in six months under Louis van Gaal.

His stamina was exceptional in the 1-0 win over Southampton, covering 7.3 miles in the game with only Craig Gardner running further. He was also the most accurate passer among the Albion players.

Darren Fletcher (left) covered 7.3 miles in West Brom's 1-0 win over Southampton at the weekend

6. Jonjo Shelvey seems to have taken on board the very public criticism dished out by Swansea boss Garry Monk.

Since the midfielder returned from a four-game ban handed out by the FA for elbowing Liverpool’s Emre Can he’s played some of his best football of the season.

The 23-year-old was a key man in the win at Burnley, making four chances and getting on the ball more than any other Swans player.

Jonjo Shelvey (right) has become one of Swansea's star men following his four-game ban earlier this season

7. Everton have won six of eight matches in the Europa League this season, but can’t translate that success into the domestic programme with just the same number of Premier League victories.

After the 2-0 defeat at Arsenal, Roberto Martinez’s side have equalled the club’s record for the fewest number of victories after 27 matches.

It’s happened five times before – and once in the Premier League era in the 1998-9 season.

Roberto Martinez was unable to prevent Everton losing in the league once more - this time at Arsenal

8. Emile Heskey has always been much derided but at 36 the former England striker, named in his time as a favourite front partner by Michael Owen and many others, contributes to a team performance as well as ever.

Bolton’s 1-0 win over Brighton means that since Neil Lennon invited his old Leicester team-mate to return to English football he has won three, drawn two and lost only one of the six matches he has started.

Emile Heskey (left) has only tasted defeat once in games he's started for Bolton this season

9. Steve Cotterill is well prepared for life after Matt Smith with his League One leaders Bristol City.

Fulham forward Smith has scored seven goals in 11 starts at Ashton Gate, but regulations means his loan spell can’t be extended.

City boss Cotterill left the 6ft 6in former Leeds star on the bench for the 1-0 win over Rochdale – and didn’t give him more than the final minute, either, as his side won 3-1 at Doncaster in midweek.

Matt Smith (centre) has scored seven goals in 11 starts while on loan at Bristol City this season

10. Former Northampton midfielder Richard Hill’s varied CV in coaching includes time in charge of FC Kairat in the Kazakhstan Premier League and advising Ethiopia during an Africa Cup of Nations campaign, as well as coaching at Aston Villa, Reading and Swindon among others.

The 51-year-old, who won the Conference South title with Eastleigh last season, is now edging towards a second successive promotion.

He’s obviously captured the imagination of the South Coast club – a crowd of 4,126 watched them thump Macclesfield 4-0 to move five points off the play-off places with three games in hand.