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Five talking points this weekend's Premier League action

:Headline: Five talking points this weekend's Premier League action: ID:433045: from db_amp
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
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133
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