Five things we learned from the Premier League

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Liverpool underlined their determination to win the Premier League title as they blew away bitter rivals Manchester United 3-1 on Sunday.

Manchester City also won 3-1 against Everton on Saturday, but the champions remained in second.

Arsenal’s long unbeaten run came to a shock end, while Eden Hazard thrived as a ‘false nine’ for Chelsea.

Here are five things we learned from the Premier League this weekend:

Mourinho’s United embarrassed again

A month on from losing 3-1 at City, United went down by the same scoreline to their historical rivals with barely a whimper to fall 19 points behind the leaders.

Never after 17 games of a league season have Liverpool enjoyed such an advantage over United and it showed as only an uncharacteristic handling error from Alisson Becker handed the visitors any chance of escaping Anfield with a point.

Xherdan Shaqiri’s two deflected efforts won a game in which United manager Jose Mourinho claimed both sides “played in relation to their qualities”.

It seems the Portuguese believes his players simply are not good enough to compete with the league leaders despite splashing more money on transfers in recent seasons.

To sum up the waste at the heart of United’s troubles, Mourinho left club-record signing Paul Pogba on the bench for the full 90 minutes.

Guardiola spoiled for choice

Gabriel Jesus waited four months for a Premier League goal, then got two in 28 minutes as City temporarily moved back to the top of the table.

The Brazilian’s return to form eased concerns over the champions’ lack of a penalty-box predator in the absence of the injured Sergio Aguero, but the Argentine was back on the bench ahead of a busy fortnight with a League Cup quarter-final and four more Premier League games to come, culminating in a top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool on January 3.

Kevin De Bruyne also made his return from a six-week injury layoff, while Guardiola could afford the luxury of starting Raheem Sterling on the bench before he came on to score with his first touch.

At the most physically demanding time of the year in the Premier League, City should reap the rewards of the vast amounts spent in strengthening their squad.

Nothing false about sublime Hazard

Eden Hazard might not be convinced about his new role as the spearhead of Chelsea’s attack, but the early indications are the Belgian’s positional switch is here to stay.

With Chelsea’s senior strikers Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud both struggling for goals this season, Blues boss Maurizio Sarri has deployed Hazard, usually a winger, in a more central role of late.