MX23RW : Monday, September 24 08:08:54

5 things we learned from the Premier League this weekend

Liverpool showed fine form to defeat Tottenham.

Liverpool claimed a convincing win over Tottenham while Manchester United held on at Watford and Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha complained about rough tackles.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at these and other talking points from the weekend's action in the Premier League.

Liverpool are living up to the hype

Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool still have much to prove but they passed a big test at Spurs
Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool still have much to prove but they passed a big test at Spurs (Adam Davy/PA)

Liverpool's summer recruitment and flying start to the season have seen many tip them to launch a serious title challenge, but they still had to prove they are capable of living up to their billing. They did that this weekend with a convincing victory against Tottenham at Wembley – a fixture in which they were thrashed 4-1 last season. The Reds dominated from the outset and their 2-1 success flattered Spurs. Jurgen Klopp has addressed his side's weaknesses and maintained their attacking threat. There are big games against Manchester City and Chelsea in the next month but, with a 100 per cent record to date, confidence should be high.

Pochettino was right – Tottenham are off the pace

Mauricio Pochettino's side have been below par
Mauricio Pochettino's side have been below par (Nick Potts/PA)

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino raised a few eyebrows at the end of last month when, just days after an impressive 3-0 win at Manchester United, he warned players they would have to improve. The Argentinian said he was disappointed with the first-half display at Old Trafford and feared they could "crash" if they got carried away with the result. It seems he had a point. They lost the next game to Watford and they were poor against Liverpool. Spurs could be suffering from having so many players involved in the World Cup's latter stages but they are certainly making more mistakes than would be expected.

Zaha believes he is being targeted by opponents

Wilfried Zaha
Wilfried Zaha feels opponents are singling him out (Mike Egerton/PA)

It will be interesting to see how referees treat Wilfried Zaha from now on after Crystal Palace's star man claimed after Saturday's win at Huddersfield that he is being singled out for aggressive treatment. Speaking of his frustration, Zaha told the BBC: "I feel like before anyone gets a red card I'd have to get my leg broken. Against Watford the guy stood on the back of my calf and still a yellow card. Why am I getting different treatment to other players? I don't understand it and it's every week, every referee."

Mourinho has not lost the dressing room

Jose Mourinho's battling qualities were evident in Manchester United's performance this weekend
Jose Mourinho's battling qualities were evident in Manchester United's performance this weekend (Martin Rickett/PA)

If Manchester United's win at Watford on Saturday is anything to go by, Jose Mourinho has not lost the dressing room. Speculation about the United manager's future may have been rife in recent weeks but the players are still fighting for him. The football may not have been pretty but the attitude was excellent, with United digging deep for their 2-1 success.

West Ham are finally up and running

Andriy Yarmolenko
Andriy Yarmolenko scored twice as West Ham won their first game of the season at Everton (Peter Byrne/PA)

It has been a tough start to life at West Ham for Manuel Pellegrini, and questions were even starting to be asked about the Chilean's future after four successive Premier League defeats. But his team delivered for him at Everton, producing a performance that made a mockery of their position at the bottom of the table. With home games against Chelsea and Manchester United coming up, it was a timely win.

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Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek in action during a pre-season friendly with Lyon in August 2018
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool66001421218
2Manchester CityMan City65101931616
3Chelsea65101441016
4Watford6411116513
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs6402127512
6Arsenal6402129312
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd631299010
8Bournemouth63121011-110
9Leicester CityLeicester6303111019
10Wolverhampton WanderersWolves62316609
11Crystal Palace621346-27
12Everton6132811-36
13Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton6123811-35
14Southampton612369-35
15Fulham6123813-55
16Burnley6114710-34
17West Ham UnitedWest Ham6114511-64
18Newcastle UnitedNewcastle602448-42
19Cardiff CityCardiff6024314-112
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield6024314-112

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