1. David Moyes is here to stay
This was the sort of performance Manchester United probably had in mind when they appointed Moyes as Alex Ferguson's successor. A win against title rivals built on an energetic start, hard work throughout and stout defending. Nothing flashy, just a well-executed game plan and three points in the bag. It's too early to say Moyes' United have fully turned the corner, but the Scot has been blessed by this most topsy-turvy of seasons which sees his side above City, a point behind Chelsea and firmly in the title shake-up.
2. Arsenal shouldn't panic
But a narrow defeat at Old Trafford does not mean Arsenal have been 'found out'. Yes, they could do with some genuine wide players and a pacy striker, but it's not like we didn't know that before yesterday. This Arsenal team can still improve - this much we know. But it's not going to take perfection to win the Premier League season - just the team with the least flaws. Still top, there's no reason why Arsenal shouldn't still believe that is them.
3. Penalties have masked major flaws at Tottenham
Oh, Tottenham. We thought you were title contenders? Well it turns out three soft penalties have hidden the problems at White Hart Lane, where Spurs still cannot score from open play. Their Champions League dreams look increasingly unlikely with Andre Villas-Boas continuing to insist on playing a striker who feeds off crosses, Roberto Soldado, with wingers who like nothing more than cutting inside, including Andros Townsend who appears to have one setting: beat three players with ease and smash the ball into the fourth. A reluctance to pick Sandro, who was instrumental in upping the tempo in the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle after joining the action as a substitute, does make you wonder about the boss' selection policy. And what about the crowd? Murmurings of discontent started in the third minute... Hardly the atmosphere to foster positive performances. It may pain the Tottenham faithful to admit it, but they are really missing Gareth Bale.
4. Mourinho is kidding no one
Chelsea are in remission. They have flickered at times this season but are a pale shadow of the team that dominated the league in his first stint as boss and he knows it. They were more than fortunate to escape Stamford Bridge with Mourinho’s proud unbeaten home record extended by the most dubious of penalties decisions in the dying moments. Mourinho claimed that it was a penalty but again he is kidding no one. Chelsea were lucky – and that luck could soon run out.
5. Luis Suarez is rather good
A handicap in golf allows players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms. This is, in effect, what Suarez is doing at the moment - having sat out the first five games through suspension, he has been playing catch-up ever since. And how. For all his myriad faults, he is a player of utter genius playing a different game to the rest of the Premier League mortals. He is top of the goalscoring charts alongside Sergio Aguero and Daniel Sturridge despite starting the season with a five-game handicap. In six games he has netted eight goals. Remarkable.
6. Adam Lallana is better than Tom Cleverley
Successive managers have promoted the idea of an England meritocracy but the delay in Adam Lallana gaining an England cap serves as a fatal blow to this fallacy. While players from bigger clubs than Southampton get called up almost by default, Lallana's great form - summed up by a wondrous solo effort against Hull - has been rewarded by a tokenistic inclusion only after England had qualified. If he was at a top four club you can pretty much guarantee that he would be playing regularly for England.
7. Nobody knows anything
Sure, columns like this might try to draw great overarching conclusions every week. We might even claim it's possible to 'learn' things from a single round of matches. But honestly, all this weekend proved is that none of us have the first idea what's going on. Crisis club United ahead of City? Mourinho's Chelsea a defensive disaster? Southampton THIRD? And Liverpool looking like the best team in the division? There comes a point when we should probably stop pretending we know what's going to happen next and enjoy the most unpredictable season in over a decade.
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