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Five talking points this weekend's Premier League action

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City are looking ominously good after posting an eighth win in a row.

Manchester City's eighth win in a row kept them clear at the top of the Premier League as teams around them dropped points over the weekend.

At the other end of the division there was a timely win for Newcastle and a stalemate between West Brom and Fulham.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at what we learned from this weekend's Premier League action.

Blue Moon rising to the top

Manchester City are looking ominously good after posting an eighth Premier League win in a row – and 12th in all competitions – by seeing off Sheffield United 1-0. Gabriel Jesus scored the decisive goal and Pep Guardiola's side had to show a different side of their game to get past the battling Blades. Jesus gave them an early lead, but Chris Wilder's men matched City for much of the game and almost snatched a late leveller through John Fleck. City have been very good at cruising past teams in recent weeks, but finding a way to win – without Sergio Aguero or Kevin De Bruyne – will please Guardiola, whose side end the weekend three points clear at the summit.

Tuchel up and running but Werner's drought goes on

Timo Werner suffered another afternoon of frustration (Andrew Couldridge/PA)

Thomas Tuchel registered his first win as Chelsea boss with a 2-0 victory over Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso scored the goals, but it was another frustrating afternoon for Timo Werner. The 24-year-old, who cost almost £50million in the summer, registered another blank, meaning he has scored just once in his last 17 games. Tuchel admitted that Werner is struggling with his confidence but is backing him to come good.

Bruce eases the pressure

For Mohamed Salah six Premier League games without a goal is considered a drought, so he was relieved to end it in style in a 3-1 win at West Ham. The Egyptian scored two trademark goals in the second half to send Liverpool into the top three and get their season back on track. But Salah was not backwards in coming forwards in giving a reason why he had struggled for goals. In an interview with Sky Sports after the match Salah, unprompted, laid into VAR. He said: "I don't like VAR, it kills the game off. That joy of football. In the Champions League and other countries they give the striker more space but here, I don't want to complain about it or get fined, it is just my opinion about VAR. I don't like it."

Problems mounting for Spurs

Jose Mourinho's Tottenham side have slumped in recent weeks (Andrew Boyers/PA)

If losing Harry Kane during Thursday's defeat to Liverpool was not bad enough, the manner of Tottenham's performance in the 1-0 loss at Brighton suggests the problems are much worse than that. In the middle of December Jose Mourinho's men were top of the league, yet a run of two wins from the following nine games has seen them slip to a staggering 11 points off leaders Manchester City. Not only has any title challenge crumbled away, they are not certainties in a top four race that is still wide open after Leicester, West Ham and Everton also lost over the weekend. Mourinho's tactics have come in for criticism all season but the pragmatism that made him one of the best managers in the world is scrutinised even more when his side do not win.

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Fulham125341717018
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125341313018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham124351519-415
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154
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