10 talking point in premier league this weekend

1) Title beckons for relentless United "We have a winning mentality," said Patrice Evra. "This is the Manchester United spirit, the strength of the boss. It is what he instils in us every year." All of which pretty much summed up the leaders' victory on the banks of the Thames . United have been more ruthless at times this season, running up cricket scores against cowed opponents, but this was the type of win that suggests the title is en route back to Old Trafford: a tight contest, marked by some fine saves from David de Gea and timely interventions by everyone from Rio Ferdinand to Rafael da Silva, and a winning goal plucked from the ether. Their forward line boasts such depth – far more so than either of the clubs closest to them – that they seem relentless. Indeed, if Manchester City or Chelsea boasted either a Robin van Persie or a Wayne Rooney, or even a Javier Hernández, the competition at the top might be far tighter. As it is, it would take an implosion more spectacular than last season's for United's campaign to end in domestic disappointment. Dominic Fifield 2) Benteke is too good to go down Paul Lambert believes his young players will be better next season. He is surely right but whether they are all in a Villa shirt then depends upon the next three months. Christian Benteke's two-goal performance at Goodison Park showed that he is already a formidable Premier League player. There are few more dominant target men around and, with 18 goals for his clubs and country this season, the Belgian is proving prolific. It is inconceivable he will be playing in the Championship in 12 months' time. Other players Lambert has promoted or unearthed, like Andreas Weimann, Ashley Westwood and Matthew Lowton, could also be targets for top-flight clubs if Villa go down. Richard Jolly 3) Pulis must set his sights higher It is about time Tony Pulis aspired to being more than a mere MOT tester in the luxury showroom of the Premier League. Stoke have now been in the top flight for five seasons and spent plenty of money but their manager's approach to most away matches still boils down to checking whether others' fancy fleets meet minimum requirements. Can opponents run, jump, jostle and scrap? If so, they will win at home to Stoke, who under Pulis have never taken so much as a point from the Emirates, Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge or the Etihad. Of course, the very top clubs have more resources than Stoke but others have proved that does not make them unbeatable. It is not about a style of play but a mindset and since ultra- negativity has not worked, how about committing a tad more to attack to make Stoke roadworthy? Paul Doyle 4) Value is a virtue of La Liga Have you heard of this thing called La Liga? It's a league in Spain and it's got teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid, who have players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. You really should check it out. That's what Michael Laudrup did in the summer, when he signed Michu for a staggering £2m from Rayo Vallecano. Michu has since grabbed the headlines with his 16 goals for Swansea but he is not the only bargain Laudrup picked up. He also managed to get Pablo Hernández for £5.5m from Valencia, a cracking Spanish winger who was playing in the Champions League last season. He was wonderful at Upton Park on Saturday, even if Swansea left empty-handed, and it was remarkable to think that Matt Jarvis cost West Ham almost twice as much last summer. Jacob Steinberg 5) Depth charge remains worry for resurgent Royal Reading's revival over the last seven games has been impressive , and in the relatively brief amount of time they have been on the field there have been signs that the transfer window signings, Hope Akpan, Stephen Kelly, Daniel Carrico and Nick Blackman, could be useful acquisitions, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder Akpan in particular. That the Royals failed with bids for Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Ince, and also spoke to Yossi Benayoun, indicates where Brian McDermott considers their greatest weakness lies, and it is asking an awful lot of Akpan, a young player whom Everton released and whose only real experience has come with Crawley Town, to consistently provide the creative influence they need. There can be no doubting Reading's spirit, but questions over depth of quality remain. Richard Rae 6) Newcastle's bygone ways ease path to French connections The 22-year-old France midfielder Moussa Sissoko was likened to a young Patrick Vieira during Newcastle's 3-2 home win over Chelsea. Deployed in an attacking midfield role he scored twice, skinned Ashley Cole and terrorised John Terry. Alan Pardew signed Sissoko for a bargain £1.8m from Toulouse last month because there were only six months left on his contract but the real mystery is why the big Manchester and London clubs were not jostling for the signature of an ultra-fast, ultra-powerful, technically accomplished player Chelsea simply could not contain? Newcastle did face some competition for Sissoko, from QPR for instance, but their policy of wining, dining and generally showing excellent hospitality to French contacts has clearly paid dividends. Sometimes the old-fashioned, humanised ways of doing business really are the best. Louise Taylor 7) Striker-less Spurs When asked about his striking dilemma after Tottenham's only recognised striker Jermain Defoe picked up an ankle injury during their game at the Hawthorns, André Villas-Boas cooly replied "the world champions don't always play with a striker". Grinding out a narrow 1-0 victory at a 10-man West Brom doesn't exactly conjure up Iberian superlatives but in Gareth Bale, they do have somebody world-class. As at Norwich, Bale played and scored from a more central role behind Clint Dempsey, not so much as a false-nine to link midfield and attack, more as a desperate attempt to get him on the ball as much as possible. Work it did, but Spurs can't expect the Welshman to pull a rabbit out the hat every week, and will hope that Emmanuel Adebayor, who returns to Spurs following Togo's Sunday night exit, will give Spurs a much-needed focal point this coming weekend against Newcastle. Michael Butler 8) Redknapp joins the ABC club The QPR manager may have lost Loic Rémy to a groin injury, have failed to sign Peter Crouch and Peter Odemwingie on transfer deadline day and can only rely on Bobby Zamora for 20-minute cameos due to the striker's ongoing hip problem, but there is no question of him lamenting the decision to let Djibril Cissé leave on loan to Al- Gharafa in Qatar in January. "No, I had no intention of keeping him. I had to wait for the window to open to get rid of him." Redknapp is clearly a paid-up member of the Anyone But Cissé club. James Callow 9) Yes, City can still do it. But, no, they probably won't After Manchester City's 2-2 draw with Liverpool the question is: can they win the title from nine points back from Manchester United with 13 games remaining? Mathematically the answer is yes, so the more pertinent question is: will they? To which the response is surely no, unless Sir Alex Ferguson's men crumble for a second successive season during the run-in. If United allow this to happen then fans might be advised to empty their half of the city. Last season's final-day Sergio Agüero strike to win a first crown in 44 years might be trumped. Forget noisy neighbours – the glee of the Blues congregation would fill the pubs and workplaces of Manchester in a deafening summer of sound. Jamie Jackson 10) Like dog owners, Saints must learn not to let go of the lead "I'm frustrated about conceding in the last minute, it was a very bad goal to give away," said Southampton's Rickie Lambert after his side's 2-2 draw at Wigan. "When the dust settles and you have time to think about it then we're going to think of it being a good point but right now it doesn't feel like that, it's a bitter pill to swallow." Lambert should not be too hard on himself or his team-mates, though. They have come a long way since facing the same opposition back in August when they were sloppy in possession and bereft of ideas. Back then, and indeed for much of the early part of the season, they looked like relegation fodder but recent performances have shown that they have the necessary fight and talent to stay in the Premier League. But they will need to cut out those sloppy defensive errors that repeatedly rob them off points – they have now conceded 24 points from leading positions this season, more than any other side. Do that and they should be comfortable despite their difficult run- in. Ian McCourt