1) Rashford leaps ahead of Lukaku

After Ole Gunnar Solskjær rained praise down on Marcus Rashford, calling him the “catalyst” for Manchester United’s pressing game, Romelu Lukaku might wonder when he will next be given a start. Rashford scored and created Paul Pogba’s opener in the 4-1 win. Asked about Lukaku, who was a late, scoring replacement, Solskjær said: “At times he’s a good target man but if you tell him to be a target man he’ll never face the goal, today he was side on and he’s got the attributes of a top, top striker. We need to work on his fitness but I’m delighted even though he was half a yard offside – it was a good finish.” Next up is Thursday’s trip to Newcastle United as the caretaker manager seeks a fourth consecutive win from his opening four games. So far Rashford has excelled for the Norwegian so why would he drop him now for Lukaku? Jamie Jackson

• Match report: Manchester United 4-1 Bournemouth

2) Arsenal’s weakness at the back laid bare

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Few need to ask who Liverpool’s best defender is: not when many are proclaiming Virgil van Dijk the world’s finest. Pose the same question at Arsenal, however, and it is altogether harder to muster a convincing answer. A shambolic performance reflected especially badly on the supposed cornerstone. There may be mitigating circumstances for Shkodran Mustafi, rushed back from injury. There is no such excuse for Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who was abominable. Lacking pace or judgment, displaying rashness and clumsiness, it was a performance to bring back memories of Sotirios Kyrgiakos, another cumbersome Greek, at Anfield. While Papastathopoulos was a £17m recruit last summer, Saturday suggested Arsenal need to prioritise a centre-back this time as well. Richard Jolly

• Match report: Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal

• ‘Do we need blood?’ Klopp defends Salah over ‘dive’

Play Video 1:25 Jürgen Klopp: it's not important how far clear you are in December – video

3) Pochettino’s case gets stronger

Mauricio Pochettino has an even stronger case for Daniel Levy to back him in the January transfer window after Tottenham’s lethargic defeat to Wolves. One way of reading a listless display from Spurs is that Pochettino’s players struggle to cope with raised expectations. They played with the handbrake on against Wolves and an uncharitable assessment is that their title challenge has lasted all of four days. But while there are questions over their mentality, a consequence of their failure to sign anyone last summer is that their lack of squad depth makes it difficult to maintain the consistency required of title-winning sides. Spurs were leggy against Wolves but they were unable to rotate after a draining period. With Real Madrid and Manchester United casting covetous glances at Pochettino, it is time for Levy to give his manager funds. Jacob Steinberg

• Match report: Tottenham 1-3 Wolves

• Pochettino says Tottenham lost their heads against Wolves

4) Guardiola impressed by Zinchenko reaction

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Pep Guardiola described it as “one of the most incredible things I have ever seen”. No, not the heights touched by his great Barcelona team or even those of his current Manchester City side but the reaction of his 22-year-old left-back, Oleksandr Zinchenko, to the error that led to Southampton’s equaliser at St Mary’s. “He was the best player on the pitch,” Guardiola said, after City’s 3-1 win. “Do you know why? After the mistake, he never hid. That’s why I said to the guys: ‘Learn from Zinchenko today.’” Never let it be said that Guardiola is a stranger to hyperbole. At the same time, Guardiola knows a similar slip from Zinchenko or anyone else against Liverpool on Thursday is likely to prove more costly. City were eye-catching for long spells against Southampton but also lacked ruthlessness at both ends. They will have to be tighter. David Hytner

• Match report: Southampton 1-3 Manchester City

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5) Locadia starts to prove his worth

Arsène Wenger used to say that an overseas recruit arriving in the Premier League needed 12 months to get up to speed. He deployed that maxim with particular reference to Eduardo da Silva, who arrived in 2007, but is there any reason it should not survive today? Jürgen Locadia joined Brighton from PSV Eindhoven last January and is hardly the first player to start slowly after leaving the Dutch league. Until Boxing Day he had not scored in 10 months; the player himself was frustrated and while Chris Hughton is diplomatic enough to suggest otherwise, the club were hardly enthralled by his progress either. Yet he has provided big contributions against Arsenal and Everton in successive games, looking perfectly at home, and perhaps it is a reminder that the speed at which players are judged nowadays can be highly counterproductive. Nick Ames

• Match report: Brighton 1-0 Everton

• Hughton warns against ‘looking upwards’ after Everton win

6) Striking shortage for Palace and Chelsea

This was a lacklustre contest which arguably thrust the focus on what both sides lack up front. Palace’s shortcomings have been obvious all season, with their pursuit of Liverpool forward Dominic Solanke an acknowledgement reinforcements are required given they have now failed to score in seven of 10 home league games this season. Wilfried Zaha, far from a natural centre-forward, is cutting an increasingly frustrated figure. Chelsea had spoken with Juventus and Milan about Gonzalo Higuaín and with Olivier Giroud departing on crutches, the cameo offered up here by Álvaro Morata may inject some urgency into those talks. The Spaniard, who may move to San Siro in return, had pulled his snood up over his face during the first half, looking rather uninterested as well as cold, and was horribly off the pace when introduced. Dominic Fifield

• Match report: Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Álvaro Morata on the bench at Selhurst. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

7) Hart loses out to Heaton

“There are three England goalkeepers at this club and I can only pick one of them,” Sean Dyche said when explaining his decision to drop Joe Hart and bring back Tom Heaton. “I think I’m a fairly loyal sort of guy, and Joe wasn’t playing badly, but after looking at the stats and results I decided it was up to me to do something different.” It would be unfair to blame Hart for Burnley’s stuttering form this season, just as Heaton’s return was not the only factor in securing a clean sheet against West Ham and a much-needed win. But the goalkeeping switch was evidently popular with the crowd, who ended up chanting Heaton’s name. After a longer run in the Burnley goal than anyone was expecting after joining the club in summer, it might be Hart’s turn now for a spell on the sidelines. If Dyche is as loyal as he says, the shirt is Heaton’s to lose. Paul Wilson

• Match report: Burnley 2-0 West Ham

8) Warnock works wonders

Neil Warnock has joked before that he would like a minute’s booing rather than a minute’s silence when he passes away. The 70-year-old has rubbed opposition fans up the wrong way throughout his managerial career, almost thriving on the animosity at times, yet even his biggest critics must accept that he has worked wonders with a Cardiff team who punched above their weight to win promotion and are now threatening to do the same by surviving in the Premier League. Victor Camarasa’s terrific winner at the King Power Stadium gave the Bluebirds their first away win of the season and was reward for a gutsy display that prompted a classic Warnock response. “Our keeper didn’t have many saves, apart from the penalty,” he said. There were six other saves actually but now is not the time to let the facts get in the way of a good story. Stuart James

• Match report: Leicester 0-1 Cardiff

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Neil Warnock gestures to the travelling Cardiff fans at full-time. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/JMP/Rex/Shutterstock

9) Time for Wagner to ease shackles?

With just under half a season to go and only five points between themselves and safety, it would normally be hasty to suggest Huddersfield are doomed to relegation. But listening to David Wagner after his team’s late defeat at Fulham – their seventh in a row – it was difficult to draw another conclusion. He was beleaguered, unwilling to offer even a cursory platitude about his team’s prospects. The German’s cautious approach kept the Terriers up by the skin of their teeth last year, and the way they lined up at Craven Cottage – with two full-backs in midfield in a 4-4-1-1 formation – showed he has not changed. Yet they are well on course to score even fewer goals, with just 12 to their name so far. “We have an issue with scoring, which is no secret,” Wagner said. Is it too late to try a different approach? Paul MacInnes

• Match report: Fulham 1-0 Huddersfield

10) Ritchie’s display a double-edged sword

Rafael Benítez is exaggerating when he says it will take a miracle for Newcastle United to avoid relegation this season but the Spaniard does find himself in an infuriating bind. He knows that his minimalist employer, Mike Ashley, knows that he is a good enough to keep Newcastle in the Premier League with the existing squad so every time the team do well, Ashley is vindicated and Benítez’s hopes of getting more help from the owner are dented. That is why Matt Ritchie’s excellent performance as an improvised left-wing-back against Watford on Saturday could be both a positive and negative development. Benítez wants the club to sign a specialist left-sided defender in the January window but if Ashley saw Ritchie at Watford, he may conclude there is no need. Paul Doyle

• Match report: Watford 1-1 Newcastle