Innovation succeeding, Raheem Sterling improving, Man United struggling

John Walton / PA

Darren Staples / Reuters

Nigel French / PA

With 10 games played in the 2016/17 Premier League season, now is a good time to take stock and look at five talking points.

Innovation succeeding

The 4-5-1 formation has become the industry standard in recent seasons, but this campaign shows that the best managers don’t stand still.

Antonio Conte tried it for a while, switched to his favoured 3-4-3 and has been rewarded with four straight wins at Chelsea; Pep Guardiola has tried 4-3-3, 3-4-3 and 4-5-1 as he searches for formation nirvana at Manchester City.

Jurgen Klopp is effectively playing four creative midfielders in a 4-3-3 formation with no traditional striker. His Liverpool team are setting the league alight.

The battle of wits on the sidelines is as intriguing as the battles taking place on the field.

A season for big-name strikers

Aside from Liverpool, who have four players with four goals and Adam Lallana with three, the top six sides mainly rely on a central striker for their main source of goals.

Diego Costa (Chelsea, 8), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City, 7), Romelu Lukaku (Everton, 7) and Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal, 6) have all been prolific this season. Meanwhile, Harry Kane’s injury at Tottenham Hotspur has coincided with a run of three draws and just two goals.

In an era of false 9s and interchangeable attacking play, it just goes to show that there is still a place for those whose bread and butter is scoring goals.

Sterling the most improved player

It seems an anomaly that a £50 million (Dh224m) player needed to improve, but Raheem Sterling’s first season at Manchester City was underwhelming. In fact he was so poor that you were left wondering whether Liverpool had pulled off the deal of the century in selling him.

But the arrival of Guardiola has transformed the young England forward. He is more threatening when running at defences and delivering more end product: his four goals in 10 league games means he is already two thirds of the way towards his tally for last season.

Sterling looks like the player who excelled at Liverpool and is well on his way to justifying huge price tag.

United will struggle to finish in the top four

Aside from being eight points behind leaders City, Arsenal and Liverpool, the table looks damning for Manchester United.

The top three have at least 23 goals each, United have 13, only one more than they have conceded.

Even after just 10 games it seems clear that United and Jose Mourinho have too many issues to fix to even consider earning a Uefa Champions League spot for next season.

Only one relegation place in doubt

There is nothing bold in saying that Sunderland (two points), and Hull City (seven) are going down – Sunderland have not won all season and Hull have lost six in a row.

Each team lacks the quality to survive in the Premier League. Not enough match winners and not strong enough defensively.

It means the rest of the pack will be fighting to avoid finishing 18th.

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