Mou clean sheets & Diego gonnna go? - 5 things from the EPL

Sport360 staff 14:24 13/02/2017
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  • The Premier League weekend saw Manchester United extend their unbeaten run while Chelsea were held at Burnley.

    Here, we look at five things we learned.

    Share with us your thoughts by commenting below, using #360fans on Twitter or getting in touch via Facebook.

    JOSE MOURINHO STILL DEFINED BY DEFENCE

    Jose Mourinho loves to tell everyone how he’s an attacking manager these days but the reality is United’s improvements have been founded on defensive organisation.

    They have statistically the second-best defence in the league, David De Gea’s 10 clean sheets trail only Thibaut Courtois and Eric Bailly’s return to the side has given them extra ballast. United are, once again, tough to beat.

    CAN GABBIADINI KEEP IT UP?

    Southampton’s scouting department is a thing of wonder and it appears they’ve hit upon another relative bargain with Manolo Gabbiadini who has three goals in his first two games for the club. In Premier League terms, £15m for a striker is nothing.

    That said, his career has been punctuated by inconsistency and he’s never been a regular goalscorer. The real test now is if the 25-year-old can string together a sustained run of form.

    COSTA MAY BE PLAYING FOR TIME

    Since his return to the Chelsea team against Hull on January 23, Diego Costa has scored one goal in 371 minutes and taken just four shots on target. He was successfully shackled by Michael Keane on Sunday and is missing all of his early-season spark and menace.

    A player of his quality can only go so long before he kicks back into gear but if this run continues, the suspicion he is seeing out time before securing a summer switch away, only grows in credibility.

    GARETH MCAULEY IS A PREMIER LEAGUE TREASURE

    Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the Premier League’s marquee golden oldie this season but, at 37, West Brom defender
    Gareth McAuley is two years older than the Swede and is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career.

    The Northern Ireland centre-back scored his fifth goal of the season against West Ham on Saturday – his most in six top-flight campaigns – and is one of only five outfield players who haven’t missed a single minute this term.

    CRYSTAL PALACE JUST CAN’T SCORE

    Crystal Palace are in a real pickle, sliding towards the foot of the table. What must be immediately concerning is that, despite Sam Allardyce’s style theoretically being able to get the best out of Christian Benteke, the Belgian has just one league goal in his eight matches under the former England boss.

    Palace, overall, with Allardyce at the helm average 0.5 goals per game. Relegation form.

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