1. Mike Dean absolutely right to send off Pablo Zabaleta

REFEREE MIKE DEAN was on the receiving end of some critcism from certain quarters, notably Sky co-commentator Gary Neville, for the manner in which he refereed today’s game between Chelsea and Man City.

The official sent off Pablo Zabaleta for two overzealous challenges, and also booked countless players early on.

The argument, put forward by Neville among others, is that reducing the physicality by being so strict invariably makes matches poorer contests to watch.

However, surely the opposite is the case. The flow of the game was continually broken up by innumerable cynical fouls today, and Zabaleta was a serial offender.

Referees would, therefore, do well to follow Dean’s example and start booking early rather than taking a more lenient approach.

Football would ultimately be a better spectacle as a result of such measures, rather than the tiresome foul-fest it is becoming, as epitomised by the ultra-cynical Brazil-Colombia World Cup clash during the summer.

2. United failure to sign a top centre-half already costing them

Comparing United’s match with the defensive masterclass on show at the Etihad today, Gary Neville aptly described proceedings at the King Power Stadium as a “joke”.

Irrespective of any arguments about the officiating — at least two of Leicester’s five goals were contentious in the extreme — United were simply not strong enough at the back.

Rafael once again showed his defensive vulnerability for the first two goals, while the lack of a commanding centre-back — and to a slightly lesser extent, a commanding midfielder — continues to hurt the Red Devils.

Phil Jones has yet to return from injury of course, yet even he may struggle to rectify the chaos so often on display earlier.

3. Arsenal’s Ozil is an easy scapegoat

Nigel French Nigel French

(Mesut Ozil celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the game against Aston Villa)

There is an all-too-frequent tendency in football, in the media and among supporters, to blame a disappointing defeat on one individual.

Mesut Ozil, with his casual demeanour and defensive susceptibility, fits the bill all too conveniently.

He was poor in midweek against Borussia Dortmund, but the same can be said of more or less every Arsenal player.

The sheer velocity of the criticism aimed squarely at the World Cup winner was unjust, when others were equally, if not more, culpable.

Against Aston Villa yesterday, he silenced his critics with an influential goalscoring display, proving his worth as Arsenal recovered well from their Champions League setback.

4. Liverpool lack of squad depth a bigger problem than ever

Before yesterday, it’s difficult to remember the last time Liverpool suffered back-to-back league defeats, such has been their incredible improvement under Brendan Rodgers.

And following a convincing recent 3-0 victory over Tottenham, it looked as if the Reds were set to more or less pick up where they left off following the departure of key striker Luis Suarez.

Yet subsequent defeats to Aston Villa on Saturday and West Ham before then have exposed significant problems in the team, despite a summer of lavish spending to compensate for the departure of their Uruguayan star.

Without the injured Daniel Sturridge, they look considerably less of a threat going forward, especially now that teams appear more wise to the danger of their rapid-fire counter-attack.

Furthermore new signings Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren have yet to shine, while Steven Gerrad has carried his ineffectual World Cup performances into the new season.

5. Southampton proving doubters wrong

Despite their impressive campaign last year, some people were actually tipping Southampton to go down this time around.

Indeed, the number of player departures from St Mary’s was so worryingly drastic that manager Ronald Koeman at one point tweeted out a picture of an empty training ground ostensibly to emphasise his dwindling resources.

While it’s still too early to give a comprehensive judgement as to how they have coped with the aforementioned losses, early signs appear very promising, with the Saints miraculously sitting in second place following their late win away to Swansea yesterday.

Yet a close look at their team reveals that their current position is surely no accident. Morgan Schneiderlin is the one highly acclaimed player they managed to hang onto during the summer, while the underrated likes of Jose Fonte, Victor Wanyama and Nathaniel Clyne are continuing to prosper following encouraging seasons last year.

Moreover, they have bought well too, seemingly —  Dusan Tadic, Graziano Pelle and even Shane Long are beginning to find their feet on yesterday’s evidence.

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