1) Will Rafael Benítez see out his short-term contract at Chelsea?
Chelsea's winless league run has been extended to seven matches, their worst sequence since Glenn Hoddle was in charge in 1995, to leave the hierarchy cursing the team's shortcomings and the focus firmly shifted on to this month's manager in the dug-out. Rafael Benítez has barely had time to hang pictures of that night in Istanbul in his office but a handful of training sessions, three winless games and numerous fans' protests into his stewardship one wonders already if he will see out the season. His seems an impossible brief: revive a team whose confidence is shattered, with senior players either injured, into the last seven months of their own deals or both. Turning this around might represent one of the more impressive triumphs of the Spaniard's career regardless of whether he is ever accepted by the supporters. Saturday's defeat by West Ham has left the hierarchy cursing yet again and it is only a matter of time before the usual sequence of training ground inquests and political mumblings sparks up again. Chelsea will most likely exit the Champions League on Wednesday and Benítez cannot be held responsible for that failure to escape the group. However, a failure to defeat the section's whipping boys, Nordsjaelland, is unthinkable. Slip up there and all bets are off. Dominic Fifield
2) Some things just cannot work
People don't like people and people like not liking people they don't like. Roman Abramovich, in tickling these predilections by forcefeeding Chelsea fans Rafael Benítez, has created a situation likely to result only in the joy and despair of intensified antipathy. There are plenty of examples of football clubs appointing as manager men already disliked by supporters: Howard Wilkinson and Steve Bruce at Sunderland, Sam Allardyce at Newcastle, George Graham at Spurs, Roy Hodgson at Liverpool, Alex McLeish at Aston Villa. The given reasons for the dislike are varied – tribal, philosophical, categorical – but ultimately it is personal because it always is. And because football breeds opinions trenchant enough to cause continental drift, each of the aforementioned failed miserably while enduring much misery. It is possible the fans were right all along and the managers were simply not the right men for the job. But you only have to listen to a few phone-ins, endure a few conversations at work, overhear rantings at the game or just be familiar with the concept of human beings to know how unlikely that is to be true, so the chances are it is something else: supporters can make it impossible for an appointment to work because as well as not liking people and liking not liking people, people also like being right and will go to lengths to ensure that they are. Rightly or wrongly Rafael Benítez has no chance. Daniel Harris
3) Stoke are no over-achievers
Let's cut to the chase. Stoke are not particularly enjoyable to watch. This is their fifth season in the Premier League and across that period they have scored 168 goals in 167 matches. If we measure entertainment by goals, which hardly seems unreasonable, it is not exactly edge-of-your-seat stuff and, for all the talk of how the team's style has evolved over time with the arrival of more talented individuals, the reality is that they are finding it as hard as ever to create chances and score.
They were the Premier League's lowest scorers last season and have managed only 14 in 15 games this term. The other side of the coin, however, is that when Stoke fans look at the league table at the moment, they see their club in ninth place, only four points behind third-placed Chelsea and, to their immense satisfaction, above Arsenal. We can knock Stoke and turn our noses up at them but what is undeniable is that they have a clear method which works and continues to frustrate opponents, as was the case with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. Indeed it is a measure of how far Stoke have come, as well as how far Arsenal have fallen, that nobody batted an eyelid on Saturday night when Zoltan Gera suggested taking on Arsène Wenger's side at the Emirates this weekend would be easier than facing Tony Pulis's team at The Hawthorns. What we shouldn't do, though, is call Stoke overachievers.
The Premier League table showing net spending over the past five years has Manchester City top on £407.2m, Chelsea second on £231.7m and Stoke third on £75.2m. Peter Coates, the Stoke chairman, is entitled to expect to see his club in the top half on the back of that investment. Stuart James
4) Ferguson has a goalkeeping derby dilemma
What will Sir Alex Ferguson do about his No1 position for Sunday's Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium? On Friday the Scot said that Anders Lindegaard had done nothing wrong and so he was retained in the XI at Reading. By 7.15pm on Saturday Lindegaard had played his part in a harum-scarum 4-3 win, the Dane appearing unsure and presenting an excuse for Ferguson to turn back to David De Gea. A hunch says that, if the Spaniard plays and performs against CFR Cluj in the midweek dead Champions League rubber, he will keep the jersey for the trip to City. Jamie Jackson
5) No excuses this time Arsène - it's time to buy in January
First and foremost, Swansea's win at the Emirates was at least as much down to them playing well as Arsenal playing badly. But Arsenal are currently looking a worse side than last season, which is no surprise really, given they sold their captain and top goalscorer and also arguably their best midfielder for the past two years, Alex Song, in August. Nobody could replace Robin van Persie's 37 goals – and Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud are worthy signings – but it is the lack of another combative midfielder that was really glaring against Swansea. Arsène Wenger admitted he gambled on the fitness of Abou Diaby and the potential of Francis Coquelin and, to a lesser extent, Emmanuel Frimpong, as reasons not to replace Song. However, Diaby is injured, Coquelin in and out of the side and Frimpong on loan at Charlton. Meanwhile Mikel Arteta is asked to play twice a week, every week, and is no spring chicken, Jack Wilshere is not 100 per cent fit yet and Santi Cazorla looks as if he needs a breather too. The midfield are knackered, and there aren't enough options up front with the hapless Gervinho the only alternative to Giroud. Conclusion: Arsenal need to buy a striker and a defensive midfielder, at the very least, in the January transfer window. Paul Chronnell
6) Fouls and dives are not mutually exclusive
Is it not about time that we have that watershed moment in the Premier League when a referee awards a free-kick against the defending team but then also books the attacking player for diving? Gareth Bale's tumble at Craven Cottage provided the perfect opportunity for a referee, in this case Chris Foy, to break that ground. Instead the referee simply booked Bale for diving, the second time in a week he has been shown a yellow card for the offence. Yes, Bale was tripped, or least taking evasive action to avoid getting tripped, by Steve Sidwell and yes, he made the most of it, his arms outstretched and leg flicking up behind him as if he was attempting some sort of horizontal Charleston. It was a foul and – whatever the rights and wrongs of Bale's perceived reputation (deserved or undeserved) as a diver (and it was hard not to have some sympathy with André Villas-Boas's defence of his player on Saturday evening) – it was also simulation. Referees, and players for that matter, need to realise that the two eventualities are not necessarily mutually exclusive. John Ashdown
7) Dzeko may not like it but his best place is on the bench
Edin Dzeko keeps saying he needs starts and does not want to gain a reputation as Manchester City's super-sub, yet when given a full game he often fails to deliver. He was particularly underwhelming against Everton, failing to make any impression on Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin in the air and having one of his clumsier days on the ground, where he inevitably looks awkward when trying to link with the close, intricate passing of David Silva and Samir Nasri.
City fans were making their dissatisfaction audible well before the first attacking substitution was made, and when it turned out to be Carlos Tevez instead of Dzeko boos rang around the ground. Neither Sergio Agüero nor Mario Balotelli, when they came on, had time or opportunity to alter the course of the game. Better to start with those players, surely, and use the muscular Dzeko as an impact substitute against tiring defenders, although City's main problem at the moment is that Silva is not getting enough practical assistance from Nasri and Yaya Touré. Paul Wilson
8) Who should play up front for Liverpool?
Luis Suárez is suspended, Fabio Borini sidelined, Andy Carroll both out on loan and injured, so Liverpool will face West Ham on Sunday without a first-team striker. Dani Pacheco, Samed Yesil and Adam Morgan have all figured in the Europa League or the Capital One Cup but two are teenagers and none has a Liverpool goal to his name. Midfielder Jonjo Shelvey played as deep-lying striker against Young Boys and hit the bar while operating as a winger against Southampton, so he could be the favourite to stand in for Suárez. A left-field idea might be to use Steven Gerrard, scorer of 151 Liverpool goals, in attack; presumably Stewart Downing, still yet to record either a league goal or assist since his £20m move from Aston Villa, can be ruled out of the reckoning. Richard Jolly
9) Norwich are in safe hands
The news that John Ruddy, Norwich City's No1 goalkeeper, will be out for three months while he recovers from thigh surgery may be a blow for Chris Hughton. However, Mark Bunn has performed as an admirable deputy in his stead and kept his side ahead against Sunderland on Sunday. First saving low to deny Danny Rose before denying Stéphane Sessègnon and stretching to tip Craig Gardner's free-kick on to a post, he probably prevented Norwich from squandering their lead. For as long as Ruddy is out Bunn can be a first-rate replacement. James Riach
10) History offers QPR no comfort
Only one team has previously failed to win in the opening 15 games of a Premier League season – Swindon Town in 1993-94. They were characterised by sound performances undermined by defensive uselessness. They brought in more firepower (in the shape of Keith Scott) in the autumn of 1993 in an attempt to score their way out of trouble. It must all sound pretty familiar to QPR fans. Harry Redknapp has hinted that he wants to increase his attacking options but, while his team are not exactly freescoring, they have scored only three fewer goals than Stoke. With Andrew Johnson, Djibril Cissé, Jamie Mackie, David Hoilett, Bobby Zamora and Adel Taarabt already at the club – some of them admittedly injured – Redknapp has plenty of attacking options and he may be better off strengthening at the back. Swindon's attacking additions helped – they won their 16th game and in the 27 games after that early winless run, they earned only one point fewer than Tottenham and Everton. They still went down. John Ashdown
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