Arsenal eye future, Manchester United have '90s look, Liverpool lost without Sadio Mane and Roy Hodgson's struggle

Seven things we learned: A look at the talking points from this weekend's Premier League fixtures

Romelu Lukaku continued his bright start to the season (Getty)

This weekend was one where the title picture may have become a little clearer, as four of the ‘Big Six’ dropped points while both Manchester clubs flexed their muscles.

Chelsea and Arsenal played out a goalless draw after Liverpool and Spurs dropped points at home to pre-season relegation candidates Burnley and Spurs respectively, while United hit four past Everton and City slogged six at Watford.

At the other end of the table Crystal Palace remain pointless while Everton dropped into the relegation zone after a poor start to the season, although Bournemouth earned their first points of the season against Brighton.

But what were the main talking points from the Premier League’s fifth round of fixtures?

Here’s seven things we learned…

Arsenal glimpse at the future

By the end of play at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Arsenal fans found themselves pleasantly surprised, but also angry that a 0-0 draw against a title rival is now considered a pleasant surprise. But rather than a surprise, it should be seen as encouraging that the Gunners managed to supress Chelsea without Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil – two players who have carried the burden for so long.

Ramsey impressing in midfield against Fabregas and Kante (Getty Images)

Without them, two players who want to leave, Arsene Wenger’s side looked hungry, energetic and managed to get the better of N’Golo Kante’s midfield – not something easily achieved. Aaron Ramsey put in a man-of-the-match display alongside Granit Xhaka, with Danny Welbeck impressing again. Maybe it is time to look to the future with the players who want to stay and fight rather than cling on to the past with players who are crossing off the days until 1 July.

Chelsea missing mean streak

Alvaro Morata has made a blistering start at Chelsea with three goals and two assists – all with his head – in four games, but in his fifth game, against Arsenal, he looked fairly toothless and failed to get under the skin of Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi as the Blues looked laboured.

Morata doesn't have Costa's mean streak (AFP/Getty Images)

It reminds people that for all his good work, he is still not Diego Costa, who so often tore Arsenal apart with his mastery of the dark arts unsettling defenders. It is still early days and Morata could find that side of him but it does show why he was considered little more than a second striker for so long. Despite his perceived attitude problems, Antonio Conte was wrong to dispose of Costa in the way he did and Sunday was an example of what he can add to this side.

Familiar trend emerging for United

This season Manchester United are redeveloping a knack which was synonymous with Sir Alex Ferguson’s title-winning sides and it was in full force again on Sunday against Everton. When Anthony Martial slotted home United’s fourth (and third in nine minutes) it was the ninth goal they had scored in the last 10 minutes of the game this season – compared to only six in the other 80 minutes.

Romelu Lukaku scored United's third with a well-taken finish from close quarters (Getty)

Jose Mourinho’s management of Martial and Marcus Rashford is partly responsible for this but also the players’ ability to manage their matches more professionally having learned not to panic if the ball isn’t going in. Romelu Lukaku also looks key to this as, despite missing an early one-on-one, he was undeterred and finally got his goal, his seventh in seven games.

No Mane, no party?

Liverpool’s failure to sign a centre back this summer was always going to cause them problems defensively, but they’ve started the season with the mentality of the Brazil teams of old – ‘you score three and we will score four’. But they seem unable to do that without Sadio Mane, who is serving a three-match ban for nearly decapitating Ederson.

Jurgen Klopp could only watch on with frustration as his side played out a 1-1 draw (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

It his absence during the Africa Cup of Nations which derailed Liverpool’s title challenge last season and since his red, they conceded four more goals against City and have drawn at home to Burnley. Even Philippe Coutinho’s return couldn’t fill the void. Jurgen Klopp’s side have seemingly become over-reliant on Mane and with Leicester away on Saturday it could get worse before it gets better.

Aguero is still number one

Pep Guardiola has put a lot of emphasis on Gabriel Jesus since the Brazilian joined Manchester City in January, with Sergio Aguero often pushed out of the team when he wants to play just the one up top. However this season Guardiola has tried to fit both strikers in his side and Aguero reminded everyone just why against Watford.

Aguero's hat-trick sunk Watford (Getty)

A brilliant hat-trick was rounded off with a stunning run and finish in a comprehensive 6-0 win as Aguero and Jesus continue to improve their understanding of one another. The six goals brought City’s goal tally to 15 in three games and their rapid rate of improvement is sure to alert their rivals. Who else is frantically looking up the date of the first Manchester derby of the season after this weekend? (It’s not until 9 December by the way…)

Pochettino makes rare error

Since stepping into the Tottenham hotseat, Mauricio Pochettino has rarely made a mistake after establishing Spurs as a top-four side, but one of those errors crept in on Saturday. Pocehettino was guilty of becoming complacent as he decided to rest Ben Davies, one of Spurs’ best players this season, and Mousa Dembele, against Swansea.

Pochettino was at a loss to explain Spurs' home form (Getty)

Did he take playing relegation-tipped Swansea for granted? Or was he so convinced by Spurs’ win over Borussia Dortmund that he believed that Wembley was no longer an issue? Either way it was yet more dropped points against a side they shouldn’t be dropping points against, leaving them already five off the pace.

Roy’s auspicious start

The mood around Selhurst Park has improved since Roy Hodgson replaced Frank de Boer last week, but their place in the table has not. In fact it’s worse than it was. Since De Boer received his marching orders, West Ham have picked up four points and Bournemouth have three while Palace remain on zero, despite all three being pointless one week ago.

Roy Hodgson failed to lead Palace back to winning ways (Getty)

And if Steve Parish is giving Hodgson a four-game trial like he did to De Boer then the former England manager may not even want to bother planning past October, with Palace away at Manchester City and United before Chelsea’s visit to south London. After eight games there is a real possibility that the game could already be up.