Danny Higginbotham: Chelsea can mix it, Arsenal’s players are using zonal marking to shirk responsibility and Luka Milivojevic was the signing of the January transfer window
SunSport columnist Danny Higginbotham runs the rule over the good, the bad and the ugly from the weekend's Premier League action
CHELSEA CAN MIX IT
WE KNOW Chelsea can play great football but at Stoke they showed they can mix it as well — and that is the hallmark of a winning side.
Keep up to date with ALL the Chelsea news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary
My old club tried to be physical with them but Chelsea stood up to it and scrapped in the way Manchester United used to when they were winning titles.
ARSENAL ARE ZONED OUT
WEST BROM’S first and third goals, both by Craig Dawson from corners, showed the problem with zonal marking. Because you have to take up a position, it allows the opposition to get a run on you. And Arsenal are not the biggest anyway.
MOST READ IN SPORT
With man-marking, you cannot pass the buck. If your man scores, it is your fault.
DAVIES HELPS BARKLEY BLOOM
EVERTON’S Tom Davies is an outstanding young player.
He is good on the ball and I really like his movement off it. Against Hull he swapped positions with Ross Barkley constantly and dragged players away from Romelu Lukaku.
It is giving Barkley four or five extra seconds on the ball, helping him have a real impact.
BORO MUST NOT LOOK BEHIND
MIDDLESBROUGH have let in the first goal in 14 games. They have lost 12 of those and drawn the other two.
Boro are good defensively but they are not a high-scoring team.
And if you keep conceding first, heads go down and confidence drains away.
MILIVOJEVIC SOARS FOR EAGLES
CRYSTAL PALACE have won their last three games without conceding and new defensive midfielder Luka Milivojevic has been outstanding.
He allows Yohan Cabaye to get higher up the pitch and lets Jason Puncheon, Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend operate closer to Christian Benteke.