Monday 23 January 2017 15:38, UK
Former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell has graded every Premier League performance from the weekend's action - so how did your side get on?
Leaders Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the table to eight points, but rivals Liverpool were surprisingly beaten at home by struggling Swansea City, while champions Leicester City are still looking for their first away win of the season.
We asked the one-time Gunners, Nottingham Forest, Everton and West Bromwich Albion frontman to run the rule over each of the 10 games and this is what he had to say...
Arsenal got out of jail, they really should be taking teams like Burnley to task at home, 1-0 up and cruising - maybe could have been 2-0 with a penalty for Shkodran Mustafi. But Arsenal made heavy weather of it because Granit Xhaka lost his head again. Getting sent off was a crazy thing to do and it put Arsenal on the back foot, Burnley then went for the jugular and got a break, and it was a penalty. And Arsenal needed a slice of luck, which can help, and Alexis Sanchez then pops up and scores the goal. They played okay, but they were not great and they let Burnley back into it.
Burnley playing away from home at the Emirates is a tough one, their away record is not great and it is their home form that will determine whether they stay up or not. So for them, it was a B. They got back into the game and must have thought they would nick a point, but just got done at the end, which is probably harsh on them and a tough one for them to take. But that is how their away form has gone.
Chelsea were not great, but they were solid and just look unstoppable and impregnable at the moment. They do not let goals in - they did get away with one in the second half, as it was a penalty to Hull, but they did not get it and these things happen when you are down there. But again, Chelsea come back and win the game 2-0, they were not great, but they grind on again and they keep pushing on and that is another game gone.
I thought Hull played their part in the game, they played a decent and looked decent and they were well in the game. And if they get that penalty, it is 1-1 and you just never know from there… I think the manager [Marco Silva] has made a big difference and you can see they are playing with a lot of passion, thought and quality. The Ryan Mason incident was a tough one for them to take obviously, and I wish him all the best and hope he recovers, but for Hull it was a 'B' performance, they just did not get the break.
It was important for Southampton to get back to winning ways, and this was a good game for them, to roll over Leicester 3-0 in front of your own fans. They were not really troubled and the main issue for them was Virgil van Dijk getting injured with a cup game coming up. But it was a great, convincing win, although to be honest, Leicester did not turn up.
It is a case sometimes of what Leicester is going to turn up? Leicester can either be brilliant on their day and turn anyone over, or they can be awful. They are the champions, but it is handling being the champions which they are finding the hard part because you have a target on your back now and every other team wants to beat you.
Let's be honest, Leicester did not really turn up and it was an 'F' performance quite frankly and they have had too many of those type displays this season. And is it not funny that in the Champions League, their performances have been 'As' and 'Bs', but in the league now, where maybe they do not get so up for, their performances are 'E' and 'F'.
This is a game Liverpool were geared to win, with everybody thinking: 'How many are they going to score?' But in the Premier League, every team is dangerous and to go 2-0 down to Swansea… but Liverpool showed guts and steel to get back in it, with Roberto Firmino going great to score two goals. But the Achilles' heel for Liverpool is they keep conceding soft goals and they were all their own doing.
But for me, the third goal…. You have got yourselves back into it, and just make sure you do not concede again, as you know at home you are probably going to get another chance in the game. But that mind set to push and push and push and leave the back door open, and then Swansea go and score and you have another mountain to climb.
Considering they were at Anfield, it was probably an 'A'. I thought Fernando Llorente had a very good game, but Swansea showed some guts and did not just park the bus, they actually took the game to Liverpool, which made for a really good match. You are much better doing that against the top teams and Paul Clement has gone in there and said: 'We are not just going to sit back and if we are going to go down, we are going to go down fighting.'
I think this was a game that Bournemouth thought they were probably going to win. They would have looked at Watford and thought: 'We can put them to task,' but they showed plenty of guts [to get back in the game] and probably a fair result for Bournemouth in the end.
Again, what Watford is going to turn up, as they can be poor and then they can beat anybody on their day? Watford taking the lead a couple of times and there was an incident with Christian Kabasele going down with cramp. But you cannot go down with cramp if you are defending, even if you just stand there and put yourself in position, as you are a body that they have to get around.
But with Watford being up in this game, this is a match they had to see out, so probably a C for both teams, with Bournemouth being favourites, while Watford were in the lead….
The issue for Crystal Palace is that when you are not scoring goals, and the longer the game goes on at home, you know what is coming... Sam Allardyce wants to address the issue, because he has gone in there and had a good chance to have a look at some of the players. And you will notice that he wants to address both full-back positions, which says to me they lack a bit of quality in each area going forward, as they have a fantastic striker in Christian Benteke. But some of the delivery coming in is going to be from full-backs overlapping and they are not getting that quality into the box. So it was a tough one to take for Palace.
Everton seem to have turned the corner now under Ronald Koeman and they are pushing to win these games, whereas it could have been easy to sit back and say: 'Let's take a point.' But not anymore and Seamus Coleman pops up with a really important goal and now Everton are looking to push on. So a 'B' for them after an important away win.
The inconsistency of these teams - Boro have been to Man City and drew and gone away and got some really good results. But at home it seems like when the onus is really on them to go and attack teams, that is when they are at their most vulnerable. They are looking to sign players in the transfer market, they probably lack a bit of quality and need a shot in the arm by getting a few players in - Bojan Krkic seems to be one of them, a good player with quality, but that result is a 'D'.
West Ham seem to have now turned a corner and since the Dimitri Payet situation has gone on, Andy Carroll has stepped up, Michail Antonio has stepped up, the whole team has stepped up. And it seems to have galvanised everyone, it is us against the world and they seem to be getting results. A fantastic win and Carroll popped up with another two goals. And Slaven Bilic must be really happy with what is going on at the moment and he has come out publicly and said: 'We will sell Payet now' because I have got my team back. So an 'A' for them after what was a great away win.
You know what you are going to get with Stoke, they are going to tough it out with you and if they take the lead, then you have a tough game on your hands, especially at the bet365 Stadium. Stoke would have obviously been disappointed that Man Utd scored so late, but a great goal by Wayne Rooney to break the record.
A lot of it was keep ball by Man Utd, but without having that cutting edge, and that seems to be the issue for them at times in that they have so much possession, but they are not really ruthless enough. Really, though, on possession and chances, they probably should have won the game.
West Brom are flying and Tony Pulis has done a great job yet again, he has never been relegated and West Brom have pushed on ability wise and players, who know their system and you know what you are going to get with them. So a 'B+' for them, as you really would have expected them to beat Sunderland, that is how far they have come.
I would not even say an 'F', I would say a 'D' as you are not really expecting much from them away from home and Sunderland just could not live with West Brom on the day.
Man City battered Tottenham at times and really should have been out of sight by half-time, they got their noses in front and then got their noses even further in front, but the same old story…. Being 2-0 up, you expect them to see the game out, so a 'B-' as they took the lead and played very well.
Tottenham are the real deal and you have to give credit where credit is due, they have been there or thereabouts over the last few seasons, and now they are looking strong again. To be 2-0 down at Man City and to come back to 2-2 shows some spirit and mettle, and Mauricio Pochettino is building something special there. Obviously as an Arsenal man, I do not like to see it a lot of the times, but you have to give credit where credit is due and Tottenham are a serious contender. So a 'B' for Spurs after coming back and getting two goals to nick a point.
