Even if it was against Watford, Liverpool sent out a statement

The reaction to Liverpool’s crushing 6-1 defeat of Watford has been split between their fans who believe the Premier League title could be in their grasp, and rival supporters who claim a win over the Hornets is nothing to write home about.

But no matter who the opponent was – one that remains in the top half of the table and who have not conceded six goals since the 6-3 loss to Tottenham on 21 September 1994 – it was the manner of Liverpool’s victory that was so impressive. In Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio mane, Jürgen Klopp has himself arguably the best attack-force in the league, and it won’t matter too much that they can’t keep a clean sheet if they continue to outscore their opponents in every match.

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Another telling factor is that in their four matches against their supposed title rivals so far this season, Liverpool have beaten Arsenal and Chelsea and drawn with Tottenham and Manchester United. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until New Year’s Eve before we find out how they shape up against Manchester City.

North London derby high on excitement, low on quality

The north London derby proved to be an end-to-end affair on Sunday afternoon that provided as much entertainment as it did for both sets of fans. Either side could have grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and taken all three points, but in the end there was a distinct lack of quality in front of goal.

Alex Iwobi saw two chances to score go begging, while some last-ditch defending kept Olivier Giroud at bay towards the end of the match. Spurs meanwhile saw Christian Eriksen’s free-kick rattle the post and could well have nicked victory late on through a close-range effort from Eriksen that was brilliantly saved by Petr Cech. It was Cech’s slip that nearly gifted Son Heung-min a chance to run through unopposed on goal, but he couldn’t take the opportunity and in the end, everyone left the Emirates Stadium feeling a touch disappointed.

Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Bernd Leno - 5/10 Has been really good since replacing Petr Cech in net but today won’t be a day he looks back on fondly (on a personal level anyway). He should’ve done much better with Spurs’ equaliser and that goal cost Arsenal their momentum in the game. He did make some good stops, mind. AFP/Getty Images Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Shkodran Mustafi - 6 An uncomfortable performance from Mustafi. Always looks like he’s going to score a goal going forward but his defending is suspect and got too tight to Kane quite often. REUTERS Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Sokratis Papastathopoulos - 7 A slightly better performance than his central defensive partner but there’s not much in it, really. PA Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Rob Holding - 5 Much improved player but like Leno, a huge error in decision-making cost his side a goal. Slid in on Son for the second goal and despite the limited contact, it was a ridiculous tackle to make. Getty Images Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Hector Bellerin - 7 A threatening performance going forward and can’t really blame himself for anything defensively in the game. REUTERS Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Lucas Torreira - 8 He’s certainly what Arsenal have been missing for the last few years with a bit of grit and determination in the heart of midfield. Scored the fourth goal of the game which was an absolute beauty. AFP/Getty Images Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Granit Xhaka - 7 Strangely enough, Xhaka was a bit of a passenger and that’s unusual for him as he’s normally involved, one way or another. Didn’t make any errors either though so that’s got to be considered a good day. Getty Images Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Sead Kolasinac - 8 The Bosnian full back, like his Spanish counterpart on the right hand side, was fantastic. A constant menace to that Spurs back line and sent in some delightful crosses. Getty Images Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Henrikh Mkhitaryan - 7 He was one of the key reasons Arsenal came storming out of the blocks early in the first half but he slowly laboured and lost his impact on proceedings and was replaced at half time. REUTERS Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 9 Scored the penalty that gave Arsenal the lead and chased a lot of causes down both wings. Will be remembered for his second goal which was a little bit special. The curl on the ball and the way Lloris stood to watch it fly past was glorious. Assisted the fourth goal with a classy pass to put the icing on the cake. Action Images via Reuters Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Alex Iwobi - 5 The least threatening of the forward players and his decision making often let him down, too slow to react to potentially promising situations. Replaced at half time by Lacazette. REUTERS Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Hugo Lloris - 7 Made some crucial saves during Arsenal’s early onslaught and was quick to come off his line at the key times. Conceded four times but didn’t really deserve it. Getty Images Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Serge Aurier - 6 Was a physically distressed figure after the first 20 minutes and was taken apart on Arsenal’s left hand side. Improved as the match went on but always seems to be playing games on the edge. AP Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Juan Foyth - 5 Not brilliant himself and has been another player who plays on the edge, and always looks like making a rash decision. Nothing particularly bad this afternoon but the first 20 minutes were enough to wobble any defender. Improved in the second half with some key interceptions. REUTERS Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Jan Vertonghen - 4 Has reason to be rather unhappy with his return to the starting line up, giving a penalty away for a needless handball and simply being rather unnerving to watch at the back. Unusual for him. Arsenal rampant against him. Shown a red card with 5 minutes to go to top off a bad day. REUTERS Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Ben Davies - 6 Not a particular threat going forward but nor was he ripped to shreds like his fellow full back partner. Didn’t add too much to proceedings though, either. Taken off for Rose in the latter stages. AFP/Getty Images Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Eric Dier - 7 A typically gritty performance from Dier who received his customary yellow card but also scored a goal to silence to the Emirates. Sadly for him, it didn’t last. AFP/Getty Images Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Moussa Sissoko - 5 He’s one of Spurs’ most improved players recently but today wasn’t his finest. Struggled to dominate the midfield. Action Images via Reuters Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Christian Eriksen - 7 Set up the equaliser with a fabulous free-kick, curled in perfectly and low. Otherwise played some neat passes in key areas but fpund himself on the back foot for a lot of the game. PA Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Dele Alli - 5 Like Eriksen, struggled to really impose himself on the game, and unlike Eriksen, didn’t make a meaningful difference to proceedings but did get himself a yellow card. Getty Images Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Harry Kane - 6 Scored the penalty and potentially had a good 5 minutes in the game but rarely threatened the Arsenal goal. Getty Images Arsenal vs Tottenham player ratings Son Heung-min - 7 Won the penalty to give Spurs the halftime lead, as well as winning the free-kick that enabled them to equalise. However, he squandered a number of chances, too. Action Images via Reuters

Is Hazard a confidence player or is there more to it?

What’s changed in Eden Hazard this season compared to last? The Chelsea manager, obviously, with Antonio Conte clearly getting more out of Hazard than Jose Mourinho was able to in 2015/16. But that can’t be the complete story/ Hazard did struggle with injury last season, but he looks like he has the confidence back this term and that shone through his desire to take players on in the 5-0 demolition of Everton on Saturday.

With Diego Costa toning down the aggression this season to concentrate on scoring goals, Hazard’s resurgence has helped throw Chelsea right into the middle of the title picture. Before his dramatic slump in form, Hazard was talking of himself rivalling Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the world’s best player. Perhaps it went to his head, and when his form dropped it hit him harder than it would have done others.

But now that the Belgian is back to his best, who knows how far can he push Chelsea on this season.

Pogba and Ibrahimovic will only justify outlay if they keep up form

It’s only natural to expect a healthy return on the £89m Manchester United spent on Paul Pogba, so to see him score twice in 10 Premier League matches was certainly a disappointment to those who sanctioned his world record transfer in the summer. However, the France international provided a timely reminder of his class on Sunday when he struck home a fierce half-volley in the 3-1 victory over Swansea.

Even though Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived on a free transfer, there’s a still an expectation on him to deliver given that he is earning a reported £200,000-a-week at Old Trafford. Having not scored in his last seven league outings, there was a collective sigh of relief at the Liberty Stadium from the away fans when he struck twice, but that goals on Sunday are not enough to placate the sense of under-achievement this season.

Sunderland show mettle to keep survival hopes alive

Bottom of the Premier League table, down to 10 men after having Steven Pienaar sent-off for two bookings and having already fought back from a goal down, Sunderland had no right to beat Bournemouth on Saturday. Yet the rallied, and with manager David Moyes barking orders from the stands due to his touchline suspension, a resurgent Victor Anichebe won a penalty that allowed strike partner Jermain Defoe to land their first winning goal of the season.

If Sunderland are to perform their greatest miracle and stay up this season, they need more steely performances like the one at The Vitality Stadium. They remain bottom of the pile, but a few more results like this one can drag teams like Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and West Brom towards the wrong end of the table. There’s still enough time to perform the unthinkable.

Burnley learn from the error of their ways

Two years ago during their last spell in the Premier League, Burnley led Crystal Palace 2-0 only to concede twice and see a later winner fgo in favour of their opponents to suffer a 3-2 defeat. It must have felt like déjà vu for Sean Dyche on Saturday when, after Sam Vokes and Johann Berg Gudmundsson goals, Connor Wickham and Christian Benteke dragged the Eagles level.