The Guardian/London


Arsenal face important test, Stoke have the quality to darken Van Gaal’s mood and will Watford show Chelsea that Mourinho’s sacking was no magic remedy?

1) Arsenal must avoid St Mary’s repeat
After their victory over Manchester City on Monday night, the signs are that Arsenal truly are the real deal. The title is hardly theirs to lose in this most perplexing of seasons, but it is there to be won and this is Arsenal’s best chance in years. Their squad is unified, they have coped with their injury crisis, Petr Cech is a calming presence behind the back four, Mesut Özil oozes quality and Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott are finishing clinically – all of which must make more cynical Arsenal fans suspect that everything is going too well. History tells them that misfortune tends to stalk their side at inopportune moments. Yet Arsenal can douse fears that this is another false dawn by beating Ronald Koeman’s defensively vulnerable Southampton, who are winless in their past six matches in all competitions. Is it a banana skin? This is the kind of game that the old Arsenal would have lost and they were a shambles at St Mary’s last season, slumping to a miserable 2-0 defeat on New Year’s Day. However they have come a long way in the past 12 months and victory would be another decisive step down the path towards glory.

2) Will Stoke inflict more misery on Manchester and Van Gaal?
The sudden availability of a manager who presided over the implosion of the Premier League’s reigning champions, who regularly becomes embroiled in conflicts and has seldom inspired his team to play a style that could be considered similar to the storied ‘Manchester United way’ has got some United fans to thinking that he is the ideal person to replace Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford, and the sooner the better. But what do United’s players think? It will be interesting to see what sort of reaction Van Gaal elicits from them at the Britannia. Even if United show more cohesion and quality than in their recent performances, if Mark Hughes’ side play as they did against the last visitors from Manchester, then United’s winless streak will continue and there will be no let up in the pressure on Van Gaal.
3) Watford can show Mourinho sacking is no magic remedy
Chelsea looked good again last weekend, especially in the first half, but was that because José Mourinho was gone or because Sunderland were garbage? Maybe a bit of both. What is certain is that Guus Hiddink’s first match in charge is likely to be a stringent test for Chelsea, as Watford have showcased the qualities that the champions have lacked for most of this season. If Chelsea’s centre remains soft, then the visitors’ midfield and the attacking duo of Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney are well equipped to take advantage.

4) Liverpool’s defence must step up
There was understandable excitement about Liverpool when they walloped Manchester City in their own stadium last month, but Jürgen Klopp’s side have only won once in the league since that victory, a penalty from James Milner securing a slender 1-0 victory over Swansea City on 29 November. Klopp was right not to get carried away. He has restored optimism at Anfield, but the German knows that he must improve his squad’s mentality, depth and quality.
The flaws that existed under Brendan Rodgers have not disappeared just because he has been replaced, and talk of Liverpool winning the title can be shoved to one side. For now, the only side with a negative goal difference in the top half should be focusing on qualifying for the Champions League. Yet even that will be beyond them if their defence does not improve. Liverpool were appalling in last Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Watford and Leicester City’s attack, led by the irrepressible Jamie Vardy, will surely have noted how Mamadou Sakho and Martin Skrtel were roughed up by Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo.

5) Shooting practice for Agüero?
Good news for Manchester City: Vincent Kompany, Fernando and Pablo Zabaleta all have a chance of being fit enough to play on Boxing Day, while Sunderland will have to build a central defence from at least two of Wes Brown, Sebastián Coates and John O’Shea. The hamstring injury that Younès Kaboul suffered during the loss at Chelsea seriously complicates Sam Allardyce’s efforts to arrest his team’s slide, as the Frenchman’s improvement had been one of the keys to the team’s relative progress under Allardyce. This could be a handy match for Sergio Agüero to rediscover his sharpness before the showdown with Leicester City three days later.