It was a great weekend for Jose Mourinho.
A confident victory at Burnley on Sunday boosted Manchester United's chances of a top-four finish this season, which was further strengthened when Liverpool lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace in the later kick-off.
At the other end, wins for both Swansea City and Hull City increased the pressure on Burnley in the fight against the drop. With so many teams near the bottom winning games again, it looks increasingly likely that someone will go down this year with 40 points or more.
Here are three things we learnt from the Premier League action:
1) Mourinho's tactics point to a bright future of counter-attacking football
Man Utd's 2-0 victory at Burnley was precisely the kind of comfortable result we had expected Jose Mourinho to achieve throughout his debut season in Manchester.
Mourinho's tactical intelligence in defence (Marouane Fellaini expertly man-marked Ashley Barnes), coupled with the pace of Anthony Martial, highlighted why United will be a considerably stronger force in 2017/18.
Building upon the high-tempo Marcus Rashford/Jesse Lingard partnership discovered against Chelsea last weekend, Mourinho got a response out of Martial by playing him through the middle for the first time this season.
His powerful runs stretched the Burnley defence and provided United with an early long-ball option, thus allowing them to get into the final third before Burnley could fall back into a tight defensive shell – as they did so successfully in the 0-0 draw at Old Trafford in October.
United attempted 82 long balls at Turf Moor, up from a season average of 64.5. Their counter-attacking style - prioritising quick exploitation of the flanks – was classic Mourinho, and surely a template for next season. Together with Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford, Mourinho has a trio of exciting young forwards around which to build an explosive counter-attacking outfit.
2) Klopp fails to counter Palace's straight-forward tactics, suggesting he still has a lot to learn about English football
Crystal Palace's two goals were textbook Big Sam: the first resulted from a long pass down the right flank and a simple cross, while the second came via a set-piece. Jurgen Klopp's inability to spot the danger – or closely track Christian Benteke – was a serious tactical failure, and one that leaves us further questioning his ability to prepare for gritty battles against bottom-half teams.
As Joel Ward launched a pass down the right in the 42nd minute, both Andros Townsend and Yohan Cabaye were already ahead of Dejan Lovren and James Milner.
Consequently, Cabaye had plenty of space to drive into and provide the assist for an unmarked Benteke. This shambolic defending is not entirely a tactical error, but such a scenario would not have developed had Klopp instructed his players to drop deeper and show caution in their pressing. Against such a quick counter-attacking team, the Liverpool manager should have known better.
The second goal could also have been avoided had Klopp prepared more effectively. Liverpool should have marked Benteke man-to-man from set-pieces, even if every other player adopted a zonal marking system. The Belgian was completely unmarked when he headed home the winner; Klopp needs to start adapting his 'gegenpressing' tactics against deep-lying and powerful opposition.
3) Ten-man Hull City prove that Marco Silva's biggest strength is coaching positional discipline
Hull have won 19 points from a possible 21 at the KCOM since Silva's arrival, a record that became even more remarkable on Saturday after Oumar Niasse was harshly dismissed in the 25th minute.
The resulting win was courtesy of some resilient defending and a highly disciplined, very narrow midfield.
Sam Clucas and Alfred N'Diaye remained compact throughout, sticking rigidly to the task at hand and easily controlling midfield (eight tackles, two interceptions). Snapping at the heels of Etienne Capoue, these two forced Watford to move down the flanks and cross into the box. The ever-brilliant Andrea Ranocchia and Harry Maguire easily dealt with Watford's deliveries (19 clearances between them), which is reflected in the statistics: the visitors failed to create a single chance inside the box from open play.
All of this was thanks to the manager's brilliant positional work on the training field; Silva's tactical coaching is so good his two midfielders can now competently perform the tasks of three.
Best of the Week – Paul Clement's tactics
The Swansea City manager deserves credit for simplifying his team's strategy on Saturday.
Recognising that Mark Hughes' wingers rarely track back, he encouraged his team to play almost exclusively down the flanks.
Gylfi Sigurdsson attempted 16 crosses and the Swans completed a mere six passes in the central attacking midfield area of the pitch. By staying wide and hurling balls into the box, Clement successfully bypassed Joe Allen.
Worst of the Week – Middlesbrough's defending
Middlesbrough were truly appalling on Saturday.
Their back five rarely pressed the ball, instead standing in straight lines and allowing Bournemouth to simply walk through the team. It was a great example of what happens to overall team cohesiveness when confidence is low – and when a club has already given up the fight for survival.
