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From Man Utd’s striking woes to Van Dijk’s excellence: Five things we learned this Premier League weekend

Sport360 staff

06:00 21/11/2016

Do United need a new striker?

It’s United’s defence which supposedly needs surgery in order for them to become title contenders. However, in their last three league games at Old Trafford, they’ve out-shot the opposition 74-19 yet in terms of goals it’s 2-2.

Overall, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is averaging 9.8 shots per goal, Wayne Rooney 16, Anthony Martial 10 and Marcus Rashford 5.0.

Goalless: Marcus Rashford.

VVD is one of the league’s best

Okay, so we didn’t learn it this weekend but Virgil van Dijk put in another colossal display for Southampton to neuter Liverpool. With Chelsea, United and maybe even the Reds themselves likely to be after a centre-back in January, Saints should be ready for a flurry of bids.

The Dutchman has it all: pace, strength, concentration and is a brilliant reader of the game.

Yaya and City’s agreement

Despite Yaya Toure’s brace against Crystal Palace, it’s difficult to see January passing without him pushing for a move as he doesn’t want to be a back-up. But in order to convince buying clubs to commit to what will surely be a sizeable salary, he needs games.

If Pep Guardiola uses him right, Toure will continue to produce his best and City can profit, in both senses.

Foxes’ defence deserts them

It’s been a strange season for Leicester but now they should be worried. Sitting just two points above the bottom three they also now have the sixth-worst defence in the division having conceded 20, already only 16 less than last term.

Without stable foundations at the back, their vibrant, hi-octane attack simply can’t function and Claudio Ranieri’s system breaks down.

Pickford given chance to shine

The Sunderland keeper has been mostly picking the ball out of the net, so bad have the Black Cats been at the back, it’s been almost impossible to properly judge the 22-year-old. Against Hull, though, he was magnificant with two fantastic saves.

With Sunderland now playing as a proper team, hopefully Pickford’s talent will continue to blossom.

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