Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action - two

 

6) Newcastle have striking shortages up front

Striker

Papiss Cisse

Appearances

13

Goals

2

Shots

15

Shots on target

40%

Offsides

12

It would not be January without a few hopeful questions to managers about their winter shopping lists. Arsène Wenger and Steve McClaren produced the same coy expression and vague noises about scouring the market for what they need to help their cause over the second half of the season. Newcastle’s need for a striker is plain. Their inability to score in their last three matches has undermined good performances and the news that Papiss Cissé might be absent until spring makes that search even more critical. McClaren’s “two or three months” assessment of Cissé’s injury puts a big burden on the 21-year-old Aleksandar Mitrovic. Only Aston Villa and Swansea have scored fewer Premier League goals than Newcastle and it does their scoring conundrum no favours to recall that six of their 19 came in one splurge against Norwich. The “tireless work” McClaren talks about behind the scenes needs to turn into a signed, sealed and delivered striker to help the cause.

7) Leicester face a tough run to keep in touch

The vagaries of the fixture list mean that after a tricky December Leicester face another run of challenging matches, specifically a six-game spell that could tell us much about whether Claudio Ranieri’s side can stay the course and gatecrash the top four. A trip to Aston Villa is about as comfortable as it gets these days but the other five league games in the next half a dozen have Leicester going toTottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Arsenal. They also host Liverpool and Stoke. Many expect Leicester to fade away and some will seize on a three-game streak in which they have failed to win or score as the start of their fairytale season unravelling. But a goalless draw at home against Manchester City is no disgrace and Leicester would have been celebrating three points on Saturday if Riyad Mahrez had converted from the spot. And, let’s be honest, we all want to see Leicester hang in there, don’t we?

8) Odjidja-Ofoe presses his case at Norwich

Southampton certainly helped their opponents on Saturday – with Sadio Mané’s slovenly timekeeping, several players’ wild finishing and Victor Wanyama’s even wilder tackling – but it should not be overlooked that Norwich also helped themselves. In particular Alex Neil made another influential change from the bench. The Norwich City manager was the first to make a substitution and his introduction of Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe made a real difference. The Belgium international is powerfully built but he is no mere enforcer. Rather he plays with finesse and incision. Shortly after being chopped down by Victor Wanyama in the challenge that led to the Kenyan’s second yellow card, Odjidja-Ofoe set up the winning goal with a tricky run and neat pass to Alex Tettey. After spending an early part of the season on loan at Rotherham United and then growing frustrated at his lack of action at Norwich, Odjidja-Ofoe met the manager last month to discuss his future. Neil promised to give him opportunities to impress before any decision was taken about what to do in January and the player duly impressed in the defeat at Tottenham Hotspur and the victory over Southampton. “Vadis will definitely remain here,” said Neil on Saturday. “He’s shown me and the team that he’s got something to offer us, so credit to him.”

9) Sunderland could be forgiven for not being up for the Cup

Sunderland surely cannot afford to make a concerted effort in the FA Cup, particularly as Sam Allardyce will need to rest key players before the Wednesday night Premier League game at fellow strugglers Swansea which follows Saturday’s third-round tie at Arsenal. “I like to respect the FA Cup, which is rightly admired throughout the word due to its history, tradition and, of course, drama,” wrote Allardyce in the match programme for his side’s home game with Aston Villa. “Having a round of midweek Premier League games immediately afterwards, however, is the worst possible time to schedule a league programme. It will place such demands on our squad that I will have to give careful consideration to the line-up I select at Arsenal.” When you are second bottom of the table, Cup glory seems an unwanted irrelevance and many Sunderland fans will sigh with understandable relief if, as widely expected, they bow out to the holders at the Emirates on Saturday. Unfortunately managers of much better-placed teams facing somewhat kinder ties may also be distracted by the midweek fixtures with their inconsiderate time-tabling surely a case of the Premier League devaluing the FA Cup. 

10) Fletcher embodies the Pulis spirit

Midfielder

Darren Fletcher

Appearances

20

Shots blocked

7

Clearances

23

Much has been made of Stoke’s free-flowing football in past weeks and rightly so but this was a day in driving West Midlands rain when the team with more hustle and bustle were always the more likely to prevail. Leading the mud fight in blue and white was Darren Fletcher, chasing and harrying and being a general nuisance. At 31 he is around a typical box-to-box midfielder’s peak and his ability to cover ground – only five Premier League players have covered more than the West Brom captain this season – is proving essential to Tony Pulis. Claudio Yacob guards the front gate as Fletcher goes foraging and that energy, coupled with an intelligence to read the game, enables him to make small but critical impacts in play; Fletcher recovered possession on five occasions against Stoke, one of which stopped a dangerous counterattack in full flow and launched the move for Stéphane Sessègnon’s well-taken goal. Pulis made a bold move when he installed Fletcher as captain on his arrival last February, risking a rift with the previous incumbent, Chris Brunt, as well as a split in the dressing room. But that gamble has been vital in shaping another immovable Pulis force in the mid-reaches of the Premier League.