When we look back upon the 2012/13 season in years to come, we’ll hardly consider the lack of bookings as a vital part of Manchester United’s title success – but a small, interesting part of their campaign has been their admirable disciplinary record. In the past couple of years, Sir Alex Ferguson has been in trouble with the FA more frequently than any of his players.
The pick of this weekend’s fixtures in The Championship is the top of the table clash between Queens Park Rangers and Leicester City at Loftus Road. Both sides have won 12 of their 20 league games and leaders QPR have a three point lead over the Foxes, who sit third, a point shy of Burnley who they drew with last Saturday.
No. 1: Good shape
Arsenal are playing with more structure than last season, which has improved their play both defensively and offensively.
Without the ball, Arsene Wenger has been able to depend upon a solid, settled back four that has rarely been guilty of positional errors. The centre-back partnership between Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker continues to look strong, and while Arsenal were opened up down the flanks against Dortmund last night, Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs have both been defending well this season.
Jose Mourinho has been a football manager for nearly two decades, the best part of which has been at the very highest end of the sport, but that time is over. No longer is Jose the Special One, his methods have become all the more outdated and all the less impactful.
Manchester City cantered to the Premier League title last season and they’re the runaway favourites to win it this time around, but they have a significant thorn that is ready to bury itself deep in their side, and that thorn is painted in the red of Liverpool.
The greatest myth about Leicester City’s extraordinary title-winning 2015/16 season is the idea Claudio Ranieri deployed a 4-4-2 system throughout the campaign.
That fits well with the image some are determined to portray – that Leicester were a simple, old-school, back-to-basics side that proved the obsession with possession play and fancy formations amongst more established sides was misplaced.
Chelsea's inevitable Premier League title triumph has been greeted with an equally inevitable debate about whether or not Jose Mourinho's side are boring.
The wider question, though - and the one which hasn't been asked anywhere near as much - is simpler: is this the most boring Premier League campaign ever?
The January transfer window is open – and yet nothing is happening. Usually various moves are completed in the first few days of the month, and there are a few intriguing rumours about further major transfers. This time around, everyone is either keeping their wallet in their pocket, or playing the waiting game...
Various clubs appear in need of an extra forward, however, so here’s a look at five emerging players who could prove a useful goalscorer for Premier League clubs...
Paulo Dybala, Palermo, 21.
The Premier League is no longer considered the best major European league, but it arguably remains the most competitive.
Whereas France and Germany both have 1/6 favourites to win their domestic top flight, and in Spain there's little chance of anyone outside the top three prospering, it is Italy and England who offer the most exciting title fights. And while Serie A's situation has changed dramatically after the departure of Antonio Conte, who led Juventus to three straight titles, in England there are simply lots of teams at a similar level.
