•Casemiro, Dalot and McTominay were guilty of not putting 100% into their play and they looked tired and frustrated.
•Brighton’s £17million squad cut through the middle of the £347million United midfield.
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Two under-pressure managers have winnable games this weekend but both face considerable challenges. Erik ten Hag takes his struggling Manchester United to bottom club Burnley knowing it will not be an easy match.
Ten Hag’s midfield is his main problem closely followed by the forwards. Brighton outplayed United’s midfield last weekend and in midweek Bayern Munich did the same thing in the Champions League.
Last Monday, Ten Hag assembled his players in the briefing area of the Carrington Training Centre. He looked at Bruno Fernandes and pointed to Brighton’s Joao Pedro running forward from the centre circle closely followed by United’s captain.
Fernandes suddenly stops and simply watches as Pedro runs on into the penalty area and scores. Where, asked Ten Hag, is the concentration and focus? Ten Hag believes his problems start in midfield.
He went back to his marker board and focused on Christian Eriksen, who was playing in the United diamond formation which left Brighton’s full-backs unopposed.
The formation did not suit Eriksen and he was not able to make his incisive passes through to Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford or cut out threatening passes from the opposition.
Brighton’s Joel Velman took advantage and he fired a ball into Danny Welbeck's path from the wing which ended up in the net.
Casemiro, Diogo Dalot and Scott McTominay were guilty of not putting 100 per cent into their play and they looked tired and frustrated.
Brighton’s £17million squad cut through the middle of the £347million United midfield.
Ten Hag claims there is no crisis at United. The fans disagree. Even my colleague and ex-United player Gary Neville has said the problem with United is that the players are just not good enough to challenge for a top-four place.
Ten Hag believes it is more a problem with focus and commitment. He is hoping that Sofyan Amrabat recovers quickly since his energy and physical presence will strengthen the defensive midfield.
McTominay or Victor Lindelof will make way when he returns but Ten Hag will have to change his formation. Casimero needs to find the form that made him one of the world’s finest midfielders. He was easily beaten in the midweek Champions League loss to Bayern Munich.
Ten Hag wants to use Casemiro, Amrabat, Eriksen, Mason Mount and Fernandes as his preferred midfield set-up. United can be strong on the ball but in that briefing room, Ten Hag concentrated on United playing with more commitment when they do not have the ball…chasing, tackling, and closer marking.
This weekend, Ten Hag plays against Burnley coach Vincent Kompany, who also has many problems. But knowing the ex-Man City captain, I can tell you that he has studied the last four games United have played and he is meticulous in spotting the weaknesses and he will attack that midfield with all his firepower.
Kompany has worked specifically with forwards Lyle Foster, Zeki Amdouni and wingers Luca Koleosho and J. Gudmundsson. He set up a number of players who copied United’s midfield and they worked on ways of playing through the middle to expose Casemiro and co.
Chelsea need goals against Aston Villa
Chelsea might be labelled as Billionaire’s Row but the evidence shown so far is that this selection of players are poor in quality. Mauricio Pochettino is a better manager than his current squad are showing but time is running out and fans are very impatient.
Pochettino was without 12 of his first team at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium and Armando Broja has not been available since the World Cup.
Next week, winger and attacking midfielder Benoit Badiashile will be ready to play after recovering from a hamstring injury. Chelsea are hoping that Moises Caicedo (knee injury) and Noni Madueke (muscle issue) will be back to line up against Aston Villa this weekend.
Broja is playing for the Blues’ under-21 team in order to regain fitness. Chelsea’s main worry is that after spending the equivalent of a small country’s annual food budget, they still do not have a striker capable of scoring every week.
Pochettino’s main problem is that waiting for his injured players to return will not satisfy the Chelsea owners. They demand results for their huge investment and his honeymoon period is over. Chelsea owners do not practice patience.
I think we will all be opening our Christmas presents before Mykhailo Mudryk scores his first goal for the Blues. Nicolas Jackson is strong and aggressive but is lacking that final touch in front of goal.
Chelsea have scored only five times so far which is their worst since 1996. Lesley Ugochukwu was the 37th different player to come on for Chelsea this season which demonstrates that so far Pochettino has not put together a workable strategy or organised a settled team to get results.
He blames injuries and, of course, Reece James is still on the sidelines. I am told Caicedo could be available but Romeo Lavia twisted an ankle in training and the medical team says he could be out for a month.
This weekend, Chelsea meet an Against Villa team very high on confidence and strong management under Unai Emery. Emery has been working this week with Ollie Watkins, who has found scoring a problem lately but is still a devastating finisher on his day.
Emery is banking on Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz to work forward through the middle and take on Ugochukwu and Conor Gallagher as he sees them as the most vulnerable.
Only the Blues' Raheem Sterling is performing at the top level and Villa’s Luiz, Lucas Digne and John McGinn will work a three-man partnership to shackle his speed and control down the right.
Leon Bailey pressed home his case to start instead of Nicolo Zaniolo and he too has been concentrating on stopping Sterling. Chelsea are at home but it could be a tough afternoon.
Derby bragging right at stake as Arsenal face Tottenham
When the Premier League fixtures are announced before each season, both Arsenal and Tottenham fans always check first to see when their local derby is taking place.
This year it comes early and on Sunday, Mikel Arteta’s high-flying Arsenal take on Ange Postecoglou’s equally high-flying Tottenham.
The Tottenham coach has turned his team into an attacking force compared with the old Spurs who were more defensive-minded under Antonio Conte. However, he will be looking to play more defensively given the quality Arsenal have.
He has several decisions to make before then. Pedro Porro has started every Premier League game, except the opener, under the new coach and it is between him as an attacking force and Emerson Royal, who is more defensive.
Who starts between Heung-min Son and Richarlison is interesting. The Korean scored a hat-trick against Burnley but was replaced by Richarlison after failing to break down the Sheffield defence.
Richarlison replaced him and scored and made the assist which won the game. Postecoglou has riches upfront and he also must choose between Manor Solomon and Dejan Kulusevski on the right.
If Richarlison is picked, I am hearing the starting line-up will include Son on the left and Kulusevski on the right but Brennan Johnson will play a part because of his superb strike at Sheffield, which was unfortunately ruled offside. He, however, showed just what he can do in the right circumstances.
Mikel Arteta’s first name on the teamsheet these days is Bukayo Saka and he will definitely play out on the right wing. Martin Odegaard is always dangerous as he prowls around the centre going forward and Arteta has trained this group to be strong on counter-attacking football.
Tottenham’s James Maddison and Yves Bissouma will battle with Declan Rice and Odegaard and all four will try to control the attacking midfield roles which is where both coaches believe the match will be won or lost and each is confident of victory.
It was confirmed midweek that Tottenham’s Ivan Perisic will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury which I am told will need surgery.
Arsenal keepers fight out
It is a bitter pill to swallow after playing for England to be dropped by your home club but that is what Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale suffered against Everton.
New signing David Raya took his place between the posts for his debut. Mikel Arteta would not be drawn on declaring who is the No1 and said it would be decided week by week, based on training.
Astonishingly, he also said that it might be an idea to change goalkeepers at half-time in a Premier League match. I don’t remember that ever being tried by any club coach before and I was looking for the hint of a smile as if it was a joke.
The problem is that you never know with Arteta. Odegaard was quick to defend Ramsdale.
The captain said: “I think Aaron will respond and keep working hard just like he always does. Against Everton, he was there cheering us and helping us. He is a great character and he showed a very good response. We have two good goalkeepers and a big competition. They have different qualities and both are so good on the ball and in goal.”
More injury problems for Man City
Bernado Silva had to leave the field with an injury during Manchester City's Champions League win over Crvena Zvezda in midweek.
Pep Guardiola said back in Manchester on Wednesday that Silva will not play against Nottingham Forest at home this weekend and joins Kevin De Bruyne (long-term absentee), Mateo Kovacic, John Stones and Jack Grealish on the injured list.
Only Kovacic has a chance of playing this weekend. Pep added: “It happens, John is still a bit longer out, maybe Kova comes back and Jack maybe in one week or ten days.”
Alexander-Arnold angling for return
The sight of Trent Alexander-Arnold training alone this week warmed the hearts of the Kop faithful. Trent has a hip issue but I have learned the Liverpool medical team put his chances of a return in this weekend’s game against West Ham at 50/50.
Trent worked out his own training schedule and he looked good as he fights for fitness. Jarell Quansah made his full debut at the weekend playing alongside Joel Matip but was forced off with a minor injury.
Ibrahima Konate is also set to make a start against the Hammers. Ryan Gravenberch and Stefan Bajcetic were also involved in the training session at the AXA Training Centre and both are looking for a starting place in Jurgen Klopp’s lineup this weekend.
Hodgson back but Olise out at Palace
Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson will be back in the dugout for the game against Fulham on Saturday.
Hodgson has recovered after being taken ill last Saturday but regrettably, he does not return to good news regarding crucial winger and attacking midfielder Michael Olise after a recurrence of his hamstring problem.
Palace told me he is likely to be out until mid-October’s international break. The 21-year-old recently signed a four-year new contract.