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A Manchester United defender looks reborn after a slight positional tweak and Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta may have dropped his guard at the worst possible time.
Meanwhile, the race for Premier League survival is well and truly on as the defending champions’ have had a teenage sensation emerge from nowhere.
There’s also an unheralded teenager sparking Manchester City’s title surge while one high-flying underdog embraced the proper dark arts of football.
Review all of the recent Premier League action in the latest edition of PL TALKING POINTS!
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HOW ‘FABULOUS’ UNITED STAR WAS REBORN AND DRIVING RED DEVILS FORWARD
In the three games Manchester United has played since the Premier League resumed after the World Cup break, the Red Devils have nine points with seven goals scored along the way.
But another equally important statistic is the number of goals conceded in that period: zero.
Granted, United’s opponents in the three game spell were Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Bournemouth, who combine for an average spot on the ladder at 16th, so it’s not exactly their biggest test.
However, clean sheets are nothing to be sniffed at especially when Erik ten Hag’s side are facing teams who desperately need any and every point they can get.
Yet what is most notable is that in United’s back four for two of these games, there was an interesting presence at centre back: Luke Shaw.
Shaw, a left-back by trade, has rarely, if ever, played in the middle of defence throughout his career.
But in a move originally born out of necessity more than anything else, ten Hag slotted the English international into the heart of the backline.
Shaw passed with flying colours, with ten Hag branded his performances at centre-back as “fabulous.”
The 27-year-old returned to his more familiar position at left-back for the match against the Cherries, where he scored and chalked up the pre-assist for Marcus Rashford’s goal.
With United now equal on points with third-placed Newcastle United and with a game in hand over the Magpies, it’s a clear contrast in mood at Old Trafford to what it was before the World Cup break.
Shaw has been pivotal to the upturn in form and, as these three games have proven, will be vital to United getting back into the Champions League.
ARTETA’S BEHAVIOUR LEAVES BIG QUESTION AMID GUNNERS’ TITLE CHARGE
Mikel Arteta is in just his third full season as Arsenal manager, but he’s got the Gunners sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League.
It’s a title bid very few could have predicted before the start of the season and although there is a long way to go before it’s all said and done, Arteta cannot deny the target is squarely on his side’s back.
Perhaps the Spaniard is feeling some of the pressure of it all considering his erratic behaviour on the sideline during Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Newcastle.
Although the Gunners initially seemed the likelier of the teams to break the initial deadlock, Arteta raged on the sidelines at anyone who came into his line of sight.
His fury then took hold of his players, who also lost their heads as Newcastle and Eddie Howe harnessed it as only they could.
Maybe this is just a one-off for Arteta this season when it came to his frustrations boiling over.
But, as The Telegraph’s Jason Burt notes, the fact the 40-year-old is behaving like this at the midway point in the season can’t bode well for the latter months should Arsenal still be in the title picture.
“If Arteta is reacting like this to a hard-fought draw – Arsenal were playing reasonably well and were not being beaten – then it poses the question as to whether he can cope if his team are still in a similar position at the business end of the campaign,” Burt wrote.
“He also has to consider how he might be affecting his players — and this is a very young team — on the pitch. They lost discipline against Newcastle.
“There is so much to admire about Arsenal and the work Arteta has done.
“But the way he behaves on the touchline? Far less so.”
THE CITY TEEN WITH ABSURD QUALITY THAT IS ‘SO DIFFICULT TO FIND’
Manchester City teenager Rico Lewis is a very handy right-back.
So much so that he kept out Joao Cancelo, one of the Premier League’s best right-backs, out of the starting lineup for City’s first two games after the World Cup break.
The 18-year-old earned rave reviews for his first two performances, before dropping to the bench for City’s clash against Chelsea.
However, after Guardiola’s initial tactical plan in the first half failed to work, the Spaniard brought Lewis on for Cancelo at half time.
The second half was a completely different story, with Lewis providing plenty of balance on the right and linking up with Riyad Mahrez who played in front of him from the hour mark onwards.
Not only did Lewis turn in an impressive performance of his own, but his presence helped bring out the best in his teammates.
It’s an invaluable quality Guardiola raved about, especially considering Lewis is yet to even log double figures in Premier League games.
“This young boy has the ability and quality to not just play good, but to make his mates better,” Guardiola said.
“This is so difficult to find.
“When he came in, Rodri played better, Kevin [De Bruyne] played better, Riyad [Mahrez] played better, he has the talent to do this.
“Since we came back he is playing and right now he is fundamental to us, he’s a key player for us the way we’re playing right now.
“The dynamic for Rico — tic-tac, move, right, left, inside — helped everyone have that rhythm, that’s why he changed the game.
“He changed the game with his dynamic from minute one.”
Whether Lewis can continually keep Cancelo out of the starting lineup for the rest of the season remains to be seen, but given the difference in City’s levels with Lewis on the pitch compared to without him, it’s hard to argue against his inclusion for the future.
RACE FOR SURVIVAL WELL AND TRULY ON
If the teams in and hovering above the drop zone weren’t aware they were in a relegation scrap, then they well and truly should be aware of it now.
The Premier League is almost at its halfway point and the relegation odds for a handful of clubs are shortening with every game.
Two of the bottom three teams have already made a managerial change, with former Spain and Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui taking over from Bruno Lage at Wolves while Nathan Jones was plucked from Luton Town to join Southampton.
Although Lopetegui is just three games into his tenure, the signs are already good with a win, a draw and a defeat from his first three games.
As for Jones, he might not even last the season having lost all four of his Premier League games in charge of the Saints as the club lies rooted to the foot of the ladder.
Everton, who have never suffered the fate of relegation, occupy 18th spot on 15 points.
The Toffees have not won since a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace on October 23 and Frank Lampard is in an almighty fight to save his job less than 12 months after he took over at Goodison Park.
But such is the razor-tight race for survival, a win for Everton would lift them as high as 13th, with Leicester City on 17 points.
Sandwiched between the Foxes and Everton are Leeds (14th, 17 pts), Nottingham Forest (15th, 17 pts), Bournemouth (16th, 16 pts) and West Ham (17th, 15 pts).
Brutal runs of fixtures await all teams, but none more so than Leicester, who have games against Brighton, Aston Villa, Spurs and Man United on the horizon.
A failure to take points from any of those games could leave the Foxes in some serious trouble.
