1) Artful Pearson proves an unlikely renaissance man
The sound of a top-flight stadium reverberating to “We’ve got super Nigel Pearson, he knows exactly what we need” (tune: Bad Moon Rising) can be filed among the things few envisaged in August. But Watford’s win against Liverpool was a measure of the uplift one of the season’s less likely appointments has contrived. “He is always about feet on the floor, he [has] never overreacted and you have to stay focused,” said Abdoulaye Doucouré. “He showed us videos and said we can do it. Nigel is a great, great manager, a great lad, and now he will keep everyone on the floor to make sure we keep our goal to stay up.” Pearson’s tactical acumen can be underrated – as he showed with his setup against the leaders, stretching Liverpool yet managing to stay compact – but his man-management is getting crucial extra percentages out of his players. Nick Ames
2) The future has finally arrived for Foden
Long tipped as the future of Manchester City, Phil Foden has been a largely peripheral figure in their glittering present. A regular in early cup rounds, he had played only one minute across City’s two previous League Cup finals. His selection ahead of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez on Sunday felt significant, and was just reward for a player who has seized the opportunities he has been given. Foden played the full 90 minutes and was the game’s outstanding performer, setting up Sergio Agüero’s opener with an instinctive header back across goal. It is no mean feat to slot into Pep Guardiola’s team, surrounded by big names playing to a metronomic rhythm. To look like he belongs, as he did at Wembley, shows a mental fortitude to match his immense natural ability. Foden has had to balance patience and self-belief to avoid getting lost in the Manchester City machine; now he is set to become a crucial cog. Niall McVeigh
3) Big-screen drama caps a blockbuster at Goodison
The first thing to understand about a frantic finish at Goodison is that it was not merely another VAR controversy. Because Gylfi Sigurdsson was clearly offside the Harry Maguire deflection that beat David de Gea was checked and, though the verdict that the Everton player was interfering aggrieved the home side, it was a reasonable conclusion to draw even if the goalkeeper was never going to reach the ball. The VAR story was moved on a little though, for the reason the whole stadium was booing at the end was not just Carlo Ancelotti’s red card but because the whole incident had just been replayed on the big screen. Spectators do not normally get to view disputed footage, but someone must have decided the paying customers deserved to see what Stockley Park officials and an armchair television audience were seeing. About time, too. This might just be the future. Paul Wilson
4) Lampard left to lament a lax mindset
It did not take long to get to the heart of Frank Lampard’s irritations after Marcos Alonso got Chelsea out of jail at Bournemouth. Lampard criticised his players’ game management after conceding two goals in three second‑half minutes and acknowledged there is significant room for improvement on Tuesday night against Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round after Eddie Howe’s side exposed a recurring soft centre. Ruben Loftus-Cheek could step up his comeback with the under-23s on Monday and Callum Hudson‑Odoi is expected to return against Everton on Sunday but, in the meantime, Chelsea have defensive frailties to remedy. “Every game is different but you have to have a mindset within the group on the pitch,” Lampard said. “Sometimes you have to dig in and concentrate that little bit more as a group – that we have been tested with a lot. We have talked about it a lot. The players have to find that solution on the pitch.” Ben Fisher
5) Leicester’s season hinges on Vardy
Leicester need a fit and firing Jamie Vardy in double-quick time if their season is not to turn from outstanding to merely very good. Vardy missed the flat defeat at Carrow Road with a calf injury and has struggled with a series of niggles since Christmas. “It is a concern,” Brendan Rodgers said. “We’ve spoken about that with him and the medical team.” Rodgers hopes he will be back to face Aston Villa on 9 March, with Kelechi Iheanacho not the most convincing of deputies. In the short term Vardy is required to see Leicester over the line to the Champions League spots but his recent spate of absences may have longer-term implications: his injury record in recent years has been exemplary, but he has just turned 33 and cannot go at full tilt for ever. How Rodgers can address that reality in the summer may depend on where Leicester finish. Nick Ames