3 things we learned: United, Arsenal and Chelsea keep pace

Arsenal dominate and United get a valuable road win at Watford as all the top clubs except Tottenham are winners in the midweek Premier League games.

The top of the table continues to separate itself from the pack as all the big six teams won, except Tottenham, who are now in semi-crisis. Manchester United came away with an impressive 4-2 win despite their improvised backline, Arsenal put on a clinic at home against Huddersfield, and Liverpool and Chelsea also won.

United get an impressive away win thanks to unlikely heroes

If United are to stay in the title race they’ll need this exact type of performance from squad players such as Ashley Young and Jesse Lingard. Young turned back the clock on Tuesday night at Vicarage Road, scoring not one but two lovely goals early in the first half to give United a decisive 2-0 lead.

This looked like a tricky affair for Jose Mourinho and his men as the wily Portuguese had to resort to a makeshift backline against Watford’s younger Portuguese tactician Marco Silva. From that aspect Young’s early goals were crucial as they enabled United to do what they do best afterwards, which is to effectively kill the game by committing midfield players such as Antonio Valencia and Nemanja Matic to sit deeper and help the defense.

Having Paul Pogba back to full fitness makes a huge difference, but asking the young Frenchman to carry the team on his back or counting on Romelu Lukaku to provide a consistent goalscoring spark are not a realistic scenarios. This is exactly why Young’s contribution on his return to Watford, along with Jesse Lingard’s end-to-end run and clinical finish to seal the win, were so important against a top half opponent. United continue to keep pace and should be hopeful about their chances to challenge Manchester City should such contributions from unlikely sources continue.

Arsenal give hope

Having won three games in a row and not conceded a single goal in the process, Arsenal are enjoying their best moment in quite a while. The one-touch passing and off the ball movement were exhilarating to watch, the kind of display that made many a North American soccer fan fall in like with this Arsenal team. Mesut Ozil was absolutely magical with his dribbling and passing, carving up the Huddersfield midfield like a Thanksgiving turkey.

It’s worth noting that the visitors were probably reeling after having played, chased around and given up a late goal to a Manchester City team that’s difficult to play against, to say the least. But that is just how life in the grueling Premier League gets.

Gunner fans should enjoy this current spell of play from their team. With a game against Manchester United in two days time, this magical spell could come to a crushing end. There will be plenty of time to fret over Wenger’s, Ozil’s and Alexis Sanchez’s futures (or lack thereof) at the club. If there is one thing Arsenal fans have learned it’s that the agony of defeat usually and immediately follows this temporary ecstasy. Enjoy it while it lasts.

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Leicester bring back the old magic against struggling Tottenham

With so much focus on the big six as well as Manchester City’s record-setting campaign, we seem to forget that Leicester were Premier League champions only a year and a half ago. Hosting a Tottenham team in disarray the Foxes showed that under manager Claude Puel’s tutelage they can bring back the old magic, producing the type of cynical, well organized win against a top opponent that led them to the title in 2016.

The formula is very similar to the one used during the title campaign. Quick vertical play coming out of the back, looking to play Jamie Vardy in space behind the opponent’s defense. It was as a result of such a lofted ball behind the Spurs defense that Vardy found himself in space and elegantly chipped Hugo Lloris for the opening goal. Leicester were the more aggressive team in the midfield and benefitted from some poor Tottenham finishing. Without really dominating the game, Leicester put on a performance resembling their 2016-17 campaign.

On the other side, Tottenham are now officially in a slump, having gained only one point in their last three games against lowly West Brom.