A relatively uninspiring weekend of fixtures – highlighted by the fact Match of the Day opened with back-to-back 1-0 wins – saw few changes at the top or bottom end of the Premier League table.

However, Manchester United's 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley was a monumental result for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that moves him up the shortlist to get the job full-time.

Here are three things we learnt from the weekend action:

1) Wolves' 5-3-2 and Danilo's unusual role allow Man City to ease to victory

The pattern of Monday night's game at the Etihad was set in the opening 20 minutes when an onslaught of Man City attacks led not only to the first goal but a rash lunging tackle from Willy Boly. In that period of the match City consistently overwhelmed the Wolves midfield thanks to an unexpected shape deployed by both managers.

First Wolves moved from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2, a switch that – on paper – looks like it adds an extra body to midfield but in reality loses one. In matches when the wing-backs are pinned these two formations become 5-4-1 (the inside forwards dropping back) and 5-3-2 (the two forwards staying central). Consequently Wolves had a flat five and then a narrow three in midfield on Monday, which left huge pockets of space on the outside of the central midfielders. These gaps directly correlated with the half-spaces in which David Silva and Bernardo Silva chiefly operate.

That proved to be a vital mistake, made worse by Pep Guardiola's decision to instruct Kyle Walker and Danilo to alternate moving into central midfield; they were extremely inverted full-backs, overwhelming the Wolves midfield and sucking them further inwards. This distraction opened the line of space that Aymeric Laporte hit for the first goal, as shown below.

2) Man Utd performance suggests Solskjaer has greater tactical acumen than we think

Although ultimately Man Utd were under the cosh for the final 30 minutes at Wembley they showed organisation and discipline in the first hour, suggesting Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can offer the club more than just a psychological boost. They sat high up the pitch to confront the Spurs defence and disrupt their passing, most notably using Jesse Lingard as a false nine to provide energetic closing down when Tottenham's centre-backs had the ball.

But more impressive was the vertical compression between the lines of defence and attack, with United's high block consistently squeezing out space for Christian Eriksen or Dele Alli. It was yet another attacking line-up from the visitors and yet clearly the approach was more conservative, with Luke Shaw and Ashley Young sitting deeper while the block itself remained resolutely far away from David de Gea's goal.

This changed as legs tired in the second half, but nevertheless there was enough tactical intelligence on display here to suggest Solskjaer can change Man Utd's tactics depending on the opposition. Champions League qualification suddenly seems possible.

3) Southampton's deep-lying strategy suggests Puel's flaws have been spotted

Ralph Hasenhuttl's Southampton abandoned their usual high-pressing strategy for the trip to Leicester City on Saturday, sitting deep and waiting for counter-attacking opportunities long before Yan Valery's red card made this the only plausible strategy.

"The first half showed we had a very good match plan, with our counter-attacks and deep-ball wins," Hasenhuttl told reporters after the match, and indeed Saints held the minority of possession (47%) before they went down to ten men. Presumably his plan was to expose Leicester's bluntness in attack when allowed to dominate the ball as Claude Puel would like.

Leicester have excelled in the last few weeks when forced to revert to their old counter-attacking methods (such as in victories over Chelsea, Man City, and Everton) but remain prosaic and easily countered when playing on the front foot. Southampton's decision to let Leicester have the ball suggests Premier League bosses are wise to this trend; Puel's time in the midlands looks to be coming to an end.

Best of the Week – Declan Rice

West Ham fully deserved their win at the London Stadium and although Arsenal's Ozil-shaped hole certainly helped it was thanks primarily to a determined defensive performance from the hosts.

The standout performer was match-winner Declan Rice, who completed 11 ball recoveries (more than any other player) as part of his mopping-up job from the base of midfield.

Rice's intelligent defending prevented the searching Matteo Guendouzi from successfully feeding the three Arsenal forwards, although it certainly would have helped had Mesut Ozil or Aaron Ramsey started the match.

For West Ham, Samir Nasri was also excellent on his debut, linking neatly with Felipe Anderson and Marko Arnautovic to cause the Gunners numerous problems.

Worst of the Week – Fulham's confusion

Fulham's defensive mishaps are getting worse by the week. Two own goals in the space of three minutes at Burnley suggest Claudio Ranieri is no closer to finding a solution to his team's problems, and indeed Fulham look certain to go down unless they sign a couple of defenders in the January window.

Ranieri's 3-4-3 just isn't balanced properly in the wide areas, a consistent route to goal for opponents and the source of both of Jeff Hendrick's assists on Saturday. Then again, it is perfectly understandable why Ranieri chooses to pack three centre-backs into the team; not one of them looks good enough for this level.