Is the best yet to come at United?

Having amassed five wins in a row while producing only one convincing performance among them (the 3-0 win over Hull), should Manchester United fans be pleased that their team is winning while playing poorly or apprehensive that this is as good as things will get this season? The overbearing emotion is more likely to be the former considering their present injury problems but there is a pervading sense that this is a team which could be penetrated easily no matter the combination at the rear.



It would be churlish to suggest Liverpool’s attacking problems are unlikely to cause United an undue amount of bother for this is a fixture which has always been most difficult to predict. Though so much has changed at Old Trafford since this fixture last season – when Steven Gerrard led Liverpool to a 3-0 win – for those who were there, the memory will remain a sore one. They look a decent shout to continue their winning run – but will the performance improve? AS





Will difficult December bring Newcastle down a peg?

At the beginning of December a glance at Newcastle United’s fixture list was unlikely to provide much festive joy for Alan Pardew’s depleted team, but four points from six (including putting an end to Chelsea’s run) has buoyed expectancy and they head to north London this weekend with plenty of Christmas joy. Things can change in an instant on Tyneside, however, and with an injury list which staggeringly looks worse than Arsenal’s, by the time new year arrives the tone may have changed again. They will head a couple of miles north from the Emirates midweek to face Tottenham in the Capital One Cup before the derby against Sunderland. Fixtures with Manchester United and Everton complete their month. An Arsenal crisis is never too far away either – there have been two already in the past week according to some – but they remain a formidable outfit at home, losing only one of their past 25. Confident Newcastle may be but that could well take a knock over the coming weeks. AS

Some tactical nuance from Nigel Pearson?

While ill-advised, Nigel Pearson’s angry response to abuse from a Leicester fan and subsequent refusal to apologise for it has been well documented and admired by those who feel supporters happy to dish out opprobrium should be equally happy to take it. What hasn’t been so well documented is that the majority of Leicester fans are not “of that ilk” and remain supportive of their manager, even if many of them feel that he is naive or stubborn in presuming that perseverance with largely the same tactics and personnel that won his team the Championship last season will be enough to keep them in the Premier League. There is also irritation at his occasional propensity of playing men out of position, limiting their usefulness.

Pearson likes to keep things simple, generally favouring a 4-4-2 with a pair of wingers and two strikers. Having secured just two points from the previous 30 available, his system clearly isn’t working and with the champions coming to town things could get very ugly indeed once the visitors gleefully set about exploiting the expanse of midfield left open to them. Does Pearson stick with the tried and trusted method that has served him so poorly in the Premier League thus far, or risk making several tweaks that could go horribly wrong and result in the mother of all hidings. Only time will tell, but here’s hoping he keeps calm in the face of any toxic abuse that comes his way if things don’t work out. BG

The industriousness of the under-rated George Boyd

A return of just two goals since his move to Burnley from Hull City would suggest George Boyd has failed to set to world alight since arriving at Turf Moor, but the club’s joint record signing has proved a very astute purchase even if his team remains in the relegation zone. Employed by Sean Dyche as a wide midfielder, the Scottish winger is a tireless worker who holds this season’s Premier League record for the distance covered in a game, with 8.29 miles during Burnley’s win over Stoke in November. At the time he featured three times in the Top 10 of long distance runners per match, occupying positions one and four (Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson, one of the players of the season thus far, was second and third). Burnley’s lowly status means he is kept busier in defence than attack and he is a noticeably strong and well-timed in the tackle. While his finishing could be better, it took a remarkable save from Robert Green to deny him what would have been an excellent goal at QPR last weekend. If Burnley are to beat Southampton Boyd is likely to play a pivotal role and in the face of a vibrant midfield as adept at keeping the ball as Southampton’s can be, he may very well need to break his own record for blades of grass covered. BG

Will Alan Irvine get cut some derby day slack?

Alamn Irvine: could victory against Aston Villa get West Brom fans on his side? Photograph: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

The natives are restless at the Hawthorns, where huge sections of the crowd have turned on Alan Irvine. During their last home match, a defeat at the hands of West Ham, fans spent much of the second half serenading him with We’ve Got Father Ted, chanting for him to “get out of our club” and demanding a wave from the technical area only to loudly boo when he obliged. A thoroughly kind and decent man, Irvine deserves better treatment whether these fans want him at their club or not.

Many of Irvine’s detractors were virulently opposed to his appointment before he’d even set foot on the training ground, so it’s difficult to see how he ever stood a chance. They will, with some justification, point to poor results, a turgid style of play and a propensity for deflecting blame for his team’s shortcomings as valid reasons why the Scot isn’t cut out for the job. In mitigation, it is no exaggeration to say that many of the players at his disposal were acquired in a late summer trolley dash conducted by the club, in which Irvine had little input.

This week, players such as Chris Brunt, Ben Foster and Craig Gardner were among several to rally around Irvine and extol his virtues as a both a manager and man with glowing public testimonials that sounded genuinely sincere. “The gaffer has been unbelievable for us,” said Gardner. “We are working so hard in training. He is there day and night. He is a proper man and we all want to do it for him. The way he conducts himself and the way training is – it’s brilliant.”

Ultimately Irvine will stand or fall by his results and rightly so. However, one can’t help but feel that not even victory in a Midlands derby against Villa will help change the opinion of some Baggies fans with a sense of entitlement most unconnected with the club probably find a bit odd. Should West Brom win, it will be interesting to find out. BG

A chance for QPR to break their away duck

QPR’s record on the road is worse than that of Wile E. Coyote. Including a Capital One defeat at the hands of Burton Albion they’ve played eight and lost eight. In the Premier League they’ve been beaten seven times out of seven by an aggregate score of 17-2. Good recent home form has helped Harry Redknapp’s side drag themselves out of the bottom three, but the Hoops boss has reiterated the importance of harnessing the accompanying boost in morale in a bid to get some results on their travels. “The onus is on us now to pick up some points away from home which is key,” he said. “We have a difficult game on Monday against one of the best teams in the Premier League against Everton and we need to find a way of getting some points.”

This jaunt would appear to represent as good an opportunity as any for QPR to secure a result away from home as Everton’s record in league matches played after Europa League excursions this season is mediocre at best. In five to date, they’ve beaten Burnley, drawn with Sunderland and lost against Crystal Palace, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. It is a statistic that suggests Monday night might be an ideal time for Redknapp’s men to make their mark somewhere other than what passes for fortress Loftus Road. BG

Sigurdsson out for revenge

Swansea City were hardly bringing in an unknown quantity when they signed Gylfi Sigurdsson from Tottenham Hotspur, given that he spent the second half of the 2011-12 season on loan at the Liberty Stadium. They knew exactly what they were getting, a technically gifted midfielder with an eye for a defence-splitting pass and a goal and one who can be wonderfully elusive when he is in the mood, which is why it was such a shame it did not work out for Sigurdsson at Tottenham.

He never quite convinced at White Hart Lane, a consistent run of form always slightly out of reach, and that should be a source of annoyance for both Tottenham and Sigurdsson when you consider how dangerous he has been for Swansea behind Wilfried Bony, whose goal in last Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham came at the end of a move that was instigated by a probing pass from the Icelandic midfielder to Jefferson Montero. Tottenham’s loss has been Swansea’s gain, however, and Sigurdsson will be eager to prove that Mauricio Pochettino was wrong when he decided there was no place for him in his squad. JS

A hiding for Hull?

The good news for Hull City: Chelsea playmaker Cesc Fábregas must sit this one out on the naughty step just vacated by his gangly Hull City counterpart Gastón Ramírez. The bad news for Hull City: They have failed to win any of their past eight Premier League games, taken just four points from the last 24 available and must travel to take on a Chelsea side that has kept 12 clean sheets in their last 15 home games and won their last seven at home. Oh ... and Hatem Ben Arfa. We mustn’t forget the negligible impact of Hatem Ben Arfa.

Short of offering up a mass and hoping for divine intervention, it’s difficult to see the Tigers leaving Stamford Bridge with anything apart from their tails wedged firmly between their legs. Ahead of Saturday’s game, Steve Bruce has been getting his excuses in early, bemoaning the injuries and suspensions that have prevented him from “finding that right blend”, while also conceding that these are problems every manager is forced to deal with and overcome. All of which doom-mongering, leaves us in breach of the trade descriptions act by failing to provide anything in particular to “look out for this weekend” as far as this contest is concerned. Lots of goals, at a guess, with most if not all of them being scored by various players from just one of the teams involved. BG

A Friend in need

It has not been the best of seasons for referee Kevin Friend, whose latest error came on Monday when he failed to send off Southampton’s Sadio Mané for a naughty challenge on Robin van Persie, who can consider himself fortunate to have escaped serious injury. Already this season, Friend has been the subject of what seemed a reasonable complaint by Roberto Martínez over a decision that cost Everton a goal against Manchester United and he famously failed to dismiss Diego Costa for lashing out at John O’Shea during Sunderland’s recent match against Chelsea. This weekend he has been assigned Crystal Palace’s match against Stoke City and could do with a controversy free performance, if only to make life easier for those of us who are appreciative of how difficult referees have it and stick up for them accordingly, only to be made foolish when they get such apparently obvious decisions wrong. BG

Sunderland need a cutting edge

A couple of months ago, when Sunderland were incapable of not serving up goals for their opponents on a silver platter and with a smile, it looked like Gus Poyet was going to have to come up with another miracle. Yet aside from the kamikaze defending that led to them losing 8-0 at Southampton in October, followed by an equally dispiriting 2-0 home defeat by Arsenal a week later, Sunderland’s overall performances have not been bad enough to create the impression that they are destined for the Championship. They have defended stoutly at times, not least when they held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at the Stadium of Light a fortnight ago, and they have only lost once in their past six games, on a night when Sergio Agüero was in bewitching form for Manchester City. It could be worse, especially when compared to their precarious position this time last year, and yet the other way of looking at those stats is to point out that Sunderland have only won once and scored five goals during that period. They have had three 0-0 draws in their past four matches and their top scorer, Steven Fletcher, has four goals, which is more that can be said for the efforts of Jozy Altidore, who is yet to score in the league. Connor Wickham has fared slightly better, scoring three times, but Sunderland’s struggles in the final third explains why they are hovering two points above the bottom three. Although Sunderland have developed a knack of frustrating sides at one end of the pitch, which could be important against Sam Allardyce’s high-flying West Ham, far more incision is needed at the other end. JS