Here is your Premier League Recap analysis of week 10 in England: Who are the Winners and Losers in week 10 fixture of Premier League ? EPL News

Premier League News / London – Week 10 of the English Premier League resulted in some changes up and down the table. Compared to the thrills, spills and controversies of week 9, this weekend of English top pier football was a relatively calm affair. However, there were quite a few big clashes once again.

Premier League action saw Manchester United returning to the top, as Chelsea and Manchester City were both held. Liverpool is miserable as always

In the most eye-catching fixture, Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-1 to extend their winning streak in the league to four matches. Their immediate title rivals, Chelsea and Manchester City both drew their games against Swansea City and West Ham United respectively. Consequently, this week saw the Red Devils go to the top of the Premier League standings for the first time this season.

Wigan caused the upset of the round by defeating Tottenham by a single goal at White Hart Lane. Norwich City, too, continued their upward motion in the table by beating Stoke by the same 1-0 scoreline.

Meanwhile, Martin O’Neill’s Sunderland suffered a 1-0 loss to his former club, Aston Villa. Elsewhere, high-flying Everton were pegged back by a late Fulham goal, as the two clubs drew 2-2 at Craven Cottage.

On Sunday, QPR and Reading drew 1-1 in a relegation six pointer. The score was against replicated in Liverpool’s clash against Newcastle United at Anfield.

Here is a look at some of the winners and losers in this round of fixtures in the English Premier League where Ashley Westwood is a prospect, Roberto Martínez knows his stuff and Fernando Torres’s time is surely up

Premier League Results from Week 10:

Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal

Fulham 2-2 Everton

Norwich City 1-0 Stoke City

Sunderland 0-1 Aston Villa

Swansea City 1-1 Chelsea

Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Wigan Athletic

West Ham United 0-0 Manchester City

Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Reading

Liverpool 1-1 Newcastle United

The suspicion is that some managers arrange their teams in 4-2-3-1 formations simply because, right now, it is a terribly fashionable system. For Paul Lambert, though, the configuration could prove a godsend. For a start it provides the renascent Stephen Ireland with a supportive framework in which to deploy his improvisational talent. Meanwhile the holding roles look made for young Barry Bannan and Ashley Westwood, the former Crewe midfielder, who is one to keep an eye on. Last but not least, a slightly withdrawn attacking position suits Gabriel Agbonlahor’s pacy counter-attacking instincts and Christian Benteke appears a perfect fit for the lone striker’s job. Louise Taylor

Manchester United 2 Arsenal 1 Oh, Arsène! Ouch Arsene !

A curious game this. For so long the Premier League’s defining rivalry, Manchester United vs Arsenal now seems an uneven contest with goalscorer Robin van Persie’s move north perhaps the most obvious sign of the total power shift in United’s favour.

The concern for Arsenal here must surely be the ease with which United picked up the three points despite being well short of their best. The hosts were profligate in attack – despite repeated gifts from a bumbling Gunners backline – and only sealed the points in the second half when Arsenal dozed off during a short corner routine and allowed the hardly-giant Patrice Evra to head home in a packed penalty box.

As against Schalke in the Champions League recently, Arsenal failed to muster a shot on target until after the fourth official’s board had gone up to signal stoppage time at the end of a match already lost. With chance-creation also a problem in the defeat at Norwich, it is something the Gunners must address. Aaron Ramsey looked uncomfortable and ineffective in the right-wing role he was asked to play, while the less said about the left flank of Andre Santos and Lukas Podolski the better.

The typically busy Jack Wilshere offered the few moments of brightness there were for Arsenal, but he was visibly tiring before picking up his second booking for a tired tackle. It didn’t need 20-20 hindsight to see that Wenger should – as Ferguson did with Tom Cleverley – have withdrawn a player clearly only one transgression away from dismissal after a final warning from the ref.

For United, the main positive will be the increasingly potent understanding being developed by Van Persie and Wayne Rooney. The pair are clearly enjoying the other’s movement and quality and were heavily involved in all of United’s best work. They might need to have a little chat about who takes the spot-kicks, though.

Perhaps the midweek action spoiled us, but this was no classic. But for United the story was a satisfying one, maintaining their dominance over one-time rivals and climbing to the Premier League summit on a weekend when both their current rivals faltered.

It is hardly revelatory to note that the top four has been something of a closed shop in England in recent years but, with Arsenal frail in the post-Van Persie era

Goals can conceal a multitude of incompetences. Thomas Vermaelen is not a bad defender – in fact, he is quite a good one – but he lacks the single outstanding attribute which identifies the very best. Laurent Koscielny, on the other hand, might just become one. Though he may never fully overcome the narcoleptic inclination, he has recovery pace and timing, but needs regular games alongside a regular partner to turn potential into clean sheets. Instead, Arsène Wenger, who has now backed himself into so many corners as to have defeated the metaphor, made Vermaelen his captain when he need not be in the side, ahead of the team’s apparent on-pitch leader, Mikel Arteta. And then there is Jack Wilshere – an incredible talent but one who has spent the last 17 months being incredible and talented away from the football pitch. Quite how Wenger thought him ready for a game at Old Trafford, 67 minutes into his first-team comeback, is more than puzzling. The man is a genius but like all men, genius or otherwise, he is plenty fallible.

Talking about Van Persie, Jamie Redknapp elucidated that “his right foot’s as good as his left foot, to a certain extent”. Ok, but there is a serious point to be extrapolated here. In the second half of the Manchester United-Arsenal game Antonio Valencia missed the unmissable by needlessly using his right foot for a chance more easily taken with his left, and then Anderson ran round his right to lummox a left-footer somewhere a long way from goal. Perhaps they are linguistic purists, interpreting the word ‘football’ literally: it is cheating to use both left and right until the sport is accorded its rightful title of ‘feetball’. Alternatively, the reliance of so many players on what comes naturally is ridiculous, and does not speak well of how or for how long they practise.

Fulham 2 Everton 2 Everton need that ruthless touch 

Considering the amount of criticism David Moyes has taken for perceived negativity away from home in previous seasons, you have to admire the attacking mentality his Everton side showed at Fulham on Saturday.

After falling behind to a Tim Howard own goal (the 33-year-old American looked a little sluggish in his attempts to get across to Bryan Ruiz’s free-kick), the Toffees bossed the match and would surely have won comfortably if Nikica Jelavic had been able to convert any of the several good chances that came his way.

The Croatian had a bad day up front but Marouane Fellaini was happy to take on the goal burden and came close to grabbing a second-half hat-trick. However, sleepy Seamus Coleman allowed Steve Sidwell to steal in for a late leveller.

Everton aren’t quite the great entertainers, but they have already made significant advances in terms of style and creativity in this campaign. Fixtures against Sunderland, Reading, Norwich and Arsenal this month (three of which are at Goodison) provide ideal opportunities to add to their 17 points – but they may need Jelavic to rediscover his mojo. Perhaps the magical Kevin Mirallas should be scoring more goals; his excellent wing play at the Cottage showed how he has quickly adapted to the Premier League.

Dimitar Berbatov looked more lazy than lively for Fulham, but their spirit – exemplified by the outstanding Sascha Riether – proved enough for a point. With trips to Arsenal, Stoke and Chelsea on the horizon, the Cottagers will surely need more of that determination if they are to stay in the top half in November.

So it would be a terrible shame if Everton, whose football has been so admirable in 2012, were to let the opportunity slip away due to a combination of misfortune, slack finishing and lapses in concentration. David Moyes’s face was a picture after the 2-2 draw at Fulham, and with good reason after watching his side dominate, miss countless chances and then concede a sloppy equaliser in the last minute. It is becoming a recurring theme for Everton, who have now drawn their last four matches, although they were admittedly fortunate not to lose against Liverpool and were clinging on in the end against Queens Park Rangers after being reduced to 10 men. But there are problems at both ends of the pitch. If they cannot rely on their forwards to finish off the numerous chances they create, they need to rely on their back four; yet they have not kept a clean sheet in their last six matches. Everton cannot afford to be so wasteful. To finish fifth, as Newcastle did last season, would be commendable. But now they are struggling to replicate that form alongside those Thursday nights on Channel Five. Ultimately, for this talented Everton side, fifth is nowhere. Been there, done that, got the commemorative Europa League T-shirts.

Tottenham 0 Wigan 1 Wigan are good  and Roberto Martínez is good , wtf does that Tottenham team do ?

Over the years Roberto Martínez has often seemed comically upbeat, pointing to positives even amid the most pungent performances. This season the reasons for his optimism are much easier to see: Wigan are continuing the slick form they showed towards the end of the last campaign and the manager’s methods and players’ qualities deserve high praise. In midfield they have more creativity than many far more glamorous teams – as Tottenham fans must agree after Saturday – and their attacking trio of Shaun Maloney, Arouna Koné and Franco Di Santo have been strong and inventive. Koné, only 28, is looking like one of the signings of the season and, remarkably, Di Santo is showing the power, intelligence and finishing to make his summons to the Argentina squad understandable.

In 2011 Martínez gave an interview explaining that Wigan were so miserable in the first half of seasons and so good in the second half because of the rapid turnover of players at the club. “It’s a little bit about finding the right partnerships, finding the right context in the way you want to play,” he said. At the time it seemed like a handy excuse. In the second half of last season they beat a Manchester United side which had won eight on the trot – not in the traditional style of relegation strugglers but by out-passing, out-moving and out-thinking them. Next game they won at Arsenal, then two weeks later thumped in-form Newcastle 4-0. Now, after a summer in which of the regulars only Victor Moses departed – to be replaced by the arguably superior and definitely cheaper Koné – we can see that Martínez was right all along. The only surprise is that Liverpool preferred to appoint Brendan Rodgers as manager, rather than the man who preceded him at Swansea.

Tottenham are struggling for consistency, especially at home, there is a chance for a less fancied side to sneak into the Champions League places.

The boos which greeted the final whistle at White Hart Lane on Saturday will still be ringing in Andre Villas-Boas’ ears, with the Portuguese tactician seeing his side continue to waver wildly between the sublime and the ridiculous.

Victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford helped Spurs to continue a run which brought four consecutive successes in the Premier League and fired the capital outfit towards the Champions League places.

Since then, inconsistency has haunted the capital club, with setbacks now suffered in their last two home games.

A derby defeat to cross-city rivals Chelsea was bad enough, but at least they are expected to challenge for the title this season and cause plenty of teams problems on their own patch.

Wigan, meanwhile, arrived in North London at the weekend with just two wins and eight points to their name.

Spurs supporters turned up in expectation rather than hope, with victory over a side that had collected only three points on its travels considered to be a formality.

You can take nothing for granted in the Premier League, though, and a Wigan performance described as ‘perfect’ by boss Roberto Martinez suggests that they will have more than enough to steer clear of trouble if they too can cut out the peaks and troughs.

It is easy to look at the table and suggest that Tottenham supporters have jumped the gun slightly by getting on the back of a side which still sits level on points with fourth-placed Everton and above arch-rivals Arsenal, but fans are a fickle bunch and have every right to expect a return on their ticket purchase.

Villas-Boas knows only too well that patience can be in short supply when it comes to top-flight chairmen, with an ill-fated stint at Chelsea offering him a Premier League baptism of fire.

The fact that the White Hart Lane faithful are already airing their discontent does not bode well, with Spurs able to offer little complaint at the fact that they found themselves on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline against Wigan – a slick passing side that caused plenty of problems in the final third.

Villas-Boas will point to the fact that the season is only 10 games old and that there is ample opportunity to get things right, but a testing November fixture list will pitch Spurs against Manchester City, Arsenal, West Ham and Liverpool before the month is out, and by then the clock could well and truly be ticking.

Swansea 1 Chelsea 1  Come in No9 for Chelsea ,  Swansea’s Laudrup Not just a pretty face 

European champions Chelsea will surely buy a striker in January after Fernando Torres gave another poor performance, lacking in confidence and full of bad first touches. He has lost his pace and always looks top heavy. Chelsea will be thinking seriously about Radamel Falcao.

Swansea were also missing an out-and-out goalscorer. With Chelsea playing a high line, Michu’s lack of pace was evident and, when they did get close to goal, they were guilty of overplaying.

Swansea goalscorer Pablo Hernandez, Ki Sung-Yueng and Ben Davies, who have all been signed or brought into the team by Michael Laudrup, were excellent. Despite only one win in eight Premier League games, the Dane looks like he will get things right at the Liberty Stadium.

You have only to look at Robin van Persie’s finishing this week to see what Chelsea are missing. Saturday’s draw at Swansea, a difficult game in which they were without key men and did not play particularly well, was precisely the kind of predicament from which they are entitled to expect Fernando Torres to rescue them. Quite simply it no longer matters how good his movement is meant to be or how hard we are told he works or the space he is deemed to create for others: strikers who do not strike are on the exceptionally useless side of useless.Is 4-2-3-1 the path to salvation for Lambert and Villa?

The majority of teams who win titles do so with one striker scoring at least 20 league goals – in the period since Sky invented football, the lowest top-scorer in any such side is Eric Cantona with 14 for Manchester United in 1995-96 – a title sneaked on the back of 1-0 victories. Given the state of Chelsea’s defence and defensive midfield, that is hardly going to happen to them, so it is time for a rethink. Either Daniel Sturridge must be given the chance to prove he is as good as he absolutely knows he is, or Eden Hazard, scorer of 20 league goals for Lille last season, needs to move inside. Neither option is the remotest solution but, if Roberto Di Matteo waits until January to find one, given Chelsea’s fixtures in the meantime he might find that the season has already departed.

If there was a criticism of Swansea last season it was that they lacked edge, their passing precise but prosaic. The imaginative appointment of Michael Laudrup has changed that. By snaffling Michu, Pablo Hernández and Chico Flores, along with Jonathan De Guzman on loan, he has not only shamed the carelessness of flusher managers in both England and Spain but amended his side’s style without losing what made them good in the first place. It may be that Swansea do not get as many points as they did last season but that would not necessarily mean they were not better – and they are certainly better to watch. Daniel Harris

Sunderland 0 Aston Villa 1

Black Cats’ supporters should start worrying about where they’re heading under Martin O’Neill.

Although he may have been at the Stadium of Light for just under a year now, the home faithful don’t believe they’ve seen much progression and you would have to agree judging on this display.

Sunderland have only one win and six draws from their opening nine fixtures and players’ confidence seems to be at an all-time low after what can only be regarded as an inept performance on home soil.

O’Neill’s out-of-form side are on a nightmare run that’s seen them win just once in 17 Premier League games now and creativity seems to be the key area which they’re lacking the most.

The Northern Irishman openly admitted after the game that his creative players are lacking “a bit of confidence” albeit Steven Fletcher has been the club’s one shining light so far, although they still remain the lowest scorers in the top four divisions in England.

Villa cleverly nullified them with a solid display in the middle of the park from Barry Bannan and former Crewe skipper Ashley Westwood, with the latter receiving special praise from Paul Lambert after the game when the Scot said “you’d think he’s played at this level for five years”.

The Midlanders are clearly a confidence side because they picked up straight from where they left off after their victory in the League Cup at Swindon in midweek. Christian Benteke was a handful in the air and always looked a threat, while the backline looked much more of a solid unit than in previous games. The combination of Ciaran Clark and Ron Vlaar is clearly the mainstay for future success and with the two Manchester clubs and Arsenal to come this month, they’ll need more performances like this one, and some luck, to pick up points from those games.

West Ham 0 Manchester City 0

Manchester City missed a chance to go joint top of the table after failing to break down a stubborn West Ham side at Upton Park.

Despite fielding Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko in the same starting line-up for the first time, the champions failed to score for the first time since March.

City missed the trickery of David Silva to unlock a well-organised Hammers defence, but still blew chances, the best seeing Balotelli shooting over from close range when in acres of space.

But, on the positive side, City’s unbeaten run in the league remains, with the top three opening up a healthy five points gap on the chasing pack, and it could have been a lot worse – with Kevin Nolan’s legitimate early goal disallowed for offside, while Yossi Benayoun hit the crossbar.

For the Hammers, Sam Allardyce’s side put the disappointment of their recent 2-0 loss to Wigan firmly behind them with his hard-working team display.

They held firm in the face of unrelenting pressure from the champions, while also showing threat on the break, with Andy Carroll proving a handful upfront, despite drawing another blank.

The Hammers now sit in eighth in the table – with a creditable 15 points from their opening ten games – in their bid to secure their top flight status.

The battling point was particularly welcome ahead of a testing run of games in the league, with ties against Newcastle, Tottenham, Manchester United and Arsenal before the turn of the year.

Norwich 1 Stoke 0

It was a game that lacked enough quality to make it enthralling, but Stoke’s reliance on the direct ball to Peter Crouch was without invention, and the striker was a consistently isolated figure. The same could be said of Grant Holt at times, but the difference was that Snodgrass, Hoolahan and Pilkington were trusted to run with ball at feet rather that aiming for their forward’s chest and head.

Foul on Adam in the move for the goal? Maybe, but the fact that Andy Wilkinson then took the ball for Stoke and lost it seconds later mean that advantage may have been played. More frustrating for Tony Pulis should be Adam’s reluctance to track back, forcing Wilkinson to concede the foul from which the winner was scored.

Adam was also booked for diving, although he did receive a shove, and later was awarded a free kick for a carbon copy incident. The issue seems to be that it is so hard to spot whether a dive has indeed occurred that a referee is forced to decide on instinct over evidence.

QPR 1 Reading 1 Bottomdwellers 

It is harsh to read too much into one game, but on the evidence of QPR-Reading it is clear to see why both are languishing in the bottom three.

Whilst Reading tried their hardest they clearly lack quality in final third, but their heart – especially in midfield – will give Brian McDermott some hope.

Mark Hughes will still be scratching his head as to why a side full of perceived quality can produce so little. If they do not turn this around and soon – then both could be in big trouble. Indeed it is not inconceivable that both could go into 2013 without a league win to their name.

Liverpool 1 Newcastle United 1 Video Watch Suarez finises this time as a Liverpool struggles continue

[media id=701 width=610 height=340]

It might not be up there with the classics that these two teams have produced in the Premier League era, but it did provide two outrageously good goals, with one from Luis Suarez that is surely an early favourite for Goal of the Season.

Cissé struggles with position or second-season syndrome Newscastle attackers live 2nd season syndrome

The potent threat that maintained Newcastle’s push for Champions League qualification until the final games of last season has been dulled this term. Sunday at Anfield was no exception for Papiss Cissé. The Senegal international scored 13 goals from February to the end of last season but has only three to date in his second campaign in English football, and only one in the Premier League. Cissé had no opportunity to improve on that tally against Liverpool and struggled to make any impact from the left of the Newcastle attack. Clearly, as with Demba Ba, a central role suits Cissé but, even with his compatriot off injured, the striker remained anonymous as Liverpool pressed. He may have to wait for a recall to centre-forward with Alan Pardew hopeful that Ba will be available next weekend.

It’s hard to imagine a successful Liverpool side without Suarez these days, and his performance today really exemplified how crucial he is to the Reds. It was also quite ironic that his wonderful goal came from a long ball, something you probably wouldn’t have seen at Swansea under boss Brendan Rodgers.Liverpool would get more from Steven Gerrard if they absolved him of defensive duties

For Rodgers, another home game goes by without victory, and one has to imagine that had Liverpool lost this game, the fans would be starting to bay for his blood. His young guns pressured for the majority of the game, but they are not the side they were a few years ago, and even with reinforcements in January, one can’t envisage them finishing anywhere other than mid-table this season.

Despite Coloccini’s incredibly reckless challenge on Suarez which earned the Newcastle captain a red card, manager Alan Pardew will be more than satisfied at claiming a draw despite a limited attacking presence that saw an anonymous performance from Demba Ba.

For Liverpool, they need new players quickly, but will Brendan Rodgers be given the chance to get his own men in come January if the results continue to leave the Reds fans unsatisfied?

Something that Rafael Benítez sussed in his time as Liverpool manager was how to get the best from Steven Gerrard: give him no defensive responsibility and let him frolic as he fancies. Though a brilliant player, Gerrard is a soloist not the conductor, and asking him to be what he is not compromises the consistency of his interventions. So, particularly given the short-passing game that Brendan Rodgers likes his teams to play, it is surprising that Gerrard’s notional position is not to the right of Suárez, allowing Suso – a clever, creative technician – to swap into the centre, where his skills would meld better with those of Nuri Sahin and Joe Allen.

[adrotate banner=”57″]