Watford could be this season’s surprise package

Watford are a club that rarely make headlines but Walter Mazzarri’s side continue to churn out results this season and remain just three points behind sixth-placed Manchester United. A 3-2 win over Everton at Vicarage Road on Saturday – achieved after Romelu Lukaku had given the visitors an early lead – was an eye-catching result, not least because Watford featured 11 players of 11 different nationalities, a first for the club. It also brought Stefano Okaka’s first goals for Watford and in English football since he arrived from Anderlecht during the summer.

Watford put in a fine performance against Everton to claim a 3-2 victory (Getty)

With the excellent Etienne Capoue in midfield. Mazzarri’s side will always pose a threat – particularly at Vicarage Road where they have already beaten Manchester United and champions Leicester City. The side were tipped by some for relegation this season but if Mazzarri’s industrious and enterprising team can take a few more scalps at home then a top-10 finish is well within their reach.

Klopp’s goalkeeping conundrum

Loris Karius is taking a fair amount of stick for his nervous display in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against West Ham on Sunday, but the German goalkeeper is by no means the only culpable party. Adam Lallana’s foul that led to Dimitri Payet’s successful free-kick was entirely avoidable, while for West Ham’s second there were questions over Joel Matip’s positional awareness. Karius’ confidence is clearly low, but he is not helped by a defence that often leaves him exposed.

Nonetheless, Jurgen Klopp now has a big decision to make for Wednesday evening’s tricky trip to Middlesbrough. Does he keep faith in Karius and risk another anxious 90 minutes, or does he return to Simon Mignolet – and potentially still risk an anxious 90 minutes? Mignolet has himself been plagued by confidence problems during his three years at Liverpool. It is a decision Klopp must get right, because until Liverpool sort out their problems between the posts they will continue to ship easy goals and it is not hard to see them slipping further off the title pace.

Mkhitaryan finally proving his worth

After his exile following the dismal performance he put in against Manchester City at the start of the season, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is finally starting to flourish at Old Trafford. The power and assuredness of his right-footed shot to score the winning goal against Tottenham on Sunday demonstrated that this is a player rediscovering his confidence and natural abilities. In a match littered with inconsistencies, Mkhitaryan was a shining light. His ambition, vision and dangerous positioning brought an extra dimension to Manchester United’s game and provided a constant source of threat. His injury comes as an inconvenience, no doubt, but Jose Mourinho remains hopeful that this won’t hinder his United evolution. It may have taken a while but Mkhitaryan has finally landed.

Mkhitaryan provided the attacking threat that Mourinho's side have often missed (Getty)

There's still life in the old Foxes

Leicester’s season continues to move from one surprise to another. After recording unexpected defeats against the likes of Sunderland and West Brom, the Foxes comprehensively beat Manchester City on Saturday evening. The Foxes showcased all the qualities that saw them sparkle last season: lightning-quick counter attacks; Riyad Mahrez’s creative panache; and defensive resilience. Pep Guardiola’s men were embarrassingly poor – there’s no denying that – but the Foxes proved they’re still not a side to be trifled with. Consistency and confidence is now key and hopefully Saturday’s victory can provide an appropriate platform from which to resurrect their floundering domestic campaign.

Leicester ran four past Manchester City on Saturday (Getty)

Everton cannot exclusively rely on Lukaku anymore

After an impressive start to the season, in which Everton went six weeks unbeaten, the side have since been on the wane. Lacking confidence and ideas against Watford during Saturday’s 3-2 defeat, it’s apparent that the side need much than Romelu Lukaku. With nine goals to his name this season, including a brace against the Hornets, the Belgian continues to deliver – but he’s being let down by his current team mates. Nobody else in the Everton side has scored more than two league goals this season and manager Ronald Koeman has himself lamented an absence of world-class players in his squad. The club doesn’t have the money to bring in the big names but some new blood could go a long way to injecting life in the Toffees this January.

The Belgian cannot provide all the answers to Everton's questions (Getty)

Bellerin shows Arsenal what they missed