Football writer Alex Keble highlights the hot topics and tactical lessons from Matchweek 15 including:
- Postecoglou's Spurs in bottom half for first time
- Vardy writing fairytale final chapter
- Amorim's slow start a concern
- Fulham remain Arsenal's bogey team
- Glasner explains Man City's tactical flaws
- Ipswich relying on away form
- Newcastle's hesitant defending exposed
- Villa back on track after wobble
Spurs’ patchy form continues
An inspired Cole Palmer helped Chelsea to a deserved tactical victory at Tottenham Hotspur, where Enzo Maresca’s 3-2-2-3 formation outwitted Spurs’ high-pressing 4-2-4, which you can read about here.
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The incessant pressing from Spurs, continuing long after the home side went 2-0 up, was memorably criticised after the game by Jamie Carragher, who thinks Ange Postecoglou should have adjusted things to preserve their lead.
"I wake up every morning, and if the sun's shining I put a pair of trainers, shorts and a t-shirt on," he said on Sky Sports. "But if it's raining, you put your coat on!"
That analysis of Postecoglou’s relentless "Plan A" tactics is an old story by now.
What’s new is Spurs’ league position: outside the top half for the first time under Postecoglou (excluding the first four Matchweeks of this season).
The corresponding fixture last season, when Chelsea won 4-1 away, marked the end of Spurs’ electric start of eight wins and two draws from the first 10 Premier League games under Postecoglou.
Beginning with the Chelsea game last November, Spurs have won 60 points from 43 Premier League matches, a record of 1.40 points per game that would give them 53 points over a 38-game season.
Most points gained in Premier League since 3 Nov 2023
| Club | GP | W | D | L | Pts |
| Arsenal | 43 | 29 | 7 | 7 | 94 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man City | 43 | 28 | 10 | 5 | 94 |
| Liverpool | 42 | 28 | 10 | 4 | 94 |
| Chelsea | 43 | 24 | 10 | 9 | 82 |
| Aston Villa | 43 | 20 | 11 | 12 | 71 |
| Bournemouth | 43 | 19 | 9 | 15 | 66 |
| Man Utd | 43 | 18 | 10 | 15 | 64 |
| Newcastle | 43 | 18 | 9 | 16 | 63 |
| Spurs | 43 | 18 | 6 | 19 | 60 |
| Fulham | 43 | 16 | 10 | 17 | 58 |
Over the last five seasons, a total of 53 points would put you somewhere between eighth and 12th in the final table. That’s not where they expect to be, yet Spurs have been in this form for over a year now.
Worse still, with one win in seven matches across all competitions, they appear to be going backwards.
Vardy writing fairytale final chapter
When Leicester City were relegated in 2022/23, we assumed their incredible journey, and Jamie Vardy’s in particular, had reached a sad end.
He was inspirational in their great escape in 2014/15, their remarkable Premier League title win the following season, the run to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, and the FA Cup triumph a couple of years later.
Then came what looked like their demise. But almost unbelievably, the Vardy story isn’t over. He and Leicester are surging for one final chapter; for one final overcoming of the odds to end their fairytale together on a high.
Vardy scored 18 goals in the Championship last season, driving Leicester to promotion and their fourth trophy of his time at the club.
And now, back in the top flight, Vardy is again the leading light.
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On Sunday against Brighton & Hove Albion, he became the second-oldest player in Premier League history - aged 37 years and 332 days old - to both score a goal and register an assist in a single match, helping Leicester move five points clear of the relegation zone in the process.
Vardy has scored or assisted in six of his last seven Premier League games - and has already netted six goals this season.
If Leicester stay up, Vardy will be the reason. It is the ending he and the Foxes deserve.
Man Utd’s lack of new-manager bounce a worry
Everybody knows the size of the task at hand, not least Ruben Amorim, who has made it crystal clear it will take a long time to turn the ship around.
But that does not make it any less surprising that Manchester United have failed to get any kind of new-manager bounce; that the appointment of Amorim has barely had an impact on performances.
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Man Utd have won only four points from four Premier League matches under Amorim, which is the worst start of any manager at the club since Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of 2012/13 – including interim bosses Ralf Rangnick and Ryan Giggs.
Even Michael Carrick and Ruud van Nistelrooy, the only two interim managers not to be given four league games in charge (two each), are level with Amorim on four points.
Man Utd managers' points from first four PL matches since 2013/14
| Manager (chronological order) | Total |
| David Moyes | 7 |
|---|---|
| Ryan Giggs | 7 |
| Louis van Gaal | 5 |
| Jose Mourinho | 9 |
| Ole Gunnar Solskjaer | 12 |
| Michael Carrick | 4* |
| Ralf Rangnick | 10 |
| Erik ten Hag | 6 |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy | 4* |
| Ruben Amorim | 4 |
*From only two PL matches in charge
"We had not a lot of quality but a lot of heart," was Amorim’s analysis of the defeat to Nottingham Forest, suggesting he is seeing a reaction, even if results are worsening.
Nevertheless, the hesitancy in attack and the errors at the back are more reminiscent of a team with rock-bottom morale; of a team at the end of a cycle, not the beginning of one.
This is by no means meant as a criticism of Amorim, but rather to highlight a very strange and unexpected situation – and to highlight just how difficult things have become in the week of sporting director Dan Ashworth’s shock departure only five months into the job.
Amorim keeps saying he knew what he was in for. But surely he hoped for a slightly better start than this.
Fulham have Arsenal's number once again
Just when things looked back on track for Arsenal, Fulham came along and did it again.
Failing to beat Fulham in either league match last season was the difference between being runners-up and champions for Arsenal, and on Sunday the curse continued.
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The Gunners have now gone three matches against the Cottagers without a win, and all three have been pretty similar. Clearly Marco Silva knows how to stump Mikel Arteta’s attack.
The foundation was a stubborn 5-4-1 formation with Alex Iwobi dropping into the defence once Arsenal entered the Fulham half, allowing left centre-back Calvin Bassey to shuffle across and close down the spaces where Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard interact.
Fulham defensive actions and areas v Arsenal
It forced Arsenal into endless and aimless possession, putting focus back onto their attacking patterns after a winning sequence that has been largely defined by set-piece prowess.
They lacked energy, a familiar story away from home.
Arsenal have won just one of their last six away matches in the Premier League, and with stubborn opponents coming up - Crystal Palace, Brentford and Brighton in their next three away from the Emirates Stadium – Arteta needs to find new solutions.
Glasner gives tactical explanation for Man City’s problems
"We knew we could play a higher intensity [than Manchester City], all the data showed this," Oliver Glasner said, after Saturday's draw at Selhurst Park.
"We knew when we get into the transitions we'd get in behind. When we get them running maybe they'd struggle a bit."
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It’s rare for a Premier League manager to divulge so many tactical details about a performance - and so willing to point out the opposition flaws they targeted.
"There was so much space on the opposite side next to [Ilkay] Gundogan," Glasner said.
"When you play with one No 6, [in a] 4-1-4-1 [formation], like City is playing, there is a lot of space on the left and right of the No 6. Then it's [about] how you find this space."
Fast transitions, playing with intensity in midfield, and targeting the holes around Rodri's replacement at No 6: this is the tactical template used by most teams during Man City’s difficult run.
There is no suggestion the run will end soon.
Man City have conceded the joint-second most big chances in the Premier League (37) since 22 September, when Rodri got injured, and they are now without a win in their last four away matches.
Increasingly it looks like City’s form isn’t just a blip, and that far from a reset, last weekend’s 3-0 win against Forest was the real anomaly.
Last-gasp agony means Ipswich now reliant on away form
It’s been a difficult few days for Ipswich Town.
Home matches against Palace and AFC Bournemouth offered the chance to finally get a Premier League victory at Portman Road, but two defeats from two, and a very tough run of home fixtures to come, means Ipswich are unlikely to get a first home win until February.
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There is now extra pressure heaped onto this weekend’s trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers, a fellow relegation candidate who have won just a single match at Molineux this season.
Lose that and Ipswich are in serious trouble. The mood has darkened considerably in the weeks since their solitary win at Spurs and if Kieran McKenna cannot halt the slide soon, heads may drop.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, are enjoying their best-ever campaign in the top flight.
Their third consecutive Premier League victory takes Andoni Iraola’s side to within three points of the top four, and with West Ham, Palace, and Everton to play over the Christmas period, Bournemouth could emerge in January as genuine European contenders.
Newcastle’s hesitant defending a symptom of poor form
From a Newcastle perspective, all four goals conceded at Brentford were avoidable.
Bryan Mbeumo danced too easily past three players in the box for the first goal; Harvey Barnes passed the ball straight to Yoane Wissa for the second; a Mark Flekken free-kick was allowed to bounce in the penalty area for the third; and Tino Livramento missed a tackle for the fourth.
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"They were dreadful defensively," Newcastle legend Alan Shearer said on Match of the Day.
"Two years ago, we were praising Newcastle all the time for their energy and pressing. There was none of it.
"There's no point in pressing in ones and twos. Nobody got within five yards of any Brentford player."
Newcastle’s defensive performance was a classic sign of low confidence and the hesitancy it can create.
They are now winless in four league matches – and closer to Leicester City in 16th than to Man City in fourth.
Villa back on track while Saints' problems mount
Unai Emery’s side have now won back-to-back Premier League matches for just the second time this season and – just as significantly – kept their first clean sheet at Villa Park since March.
After a winless run of eight matches in all competitions, they are now well and truly back on track: sixth in the league, two points off fourth, and with Boubacar Kamara back to give Villa control of midfield again.
Southampton, on the other hand, are in a perilous position.
They have become just the fourth side to have five or fewer points after 15 matches of a Premier League season.
The previous three – Sunderland in 2005/06 and Sheffield United in 2020/21 and 2023/24 – all finished rock bottom, collecting final points totals of 15, 23, and 16 respectively.
