Our wrap-up of the weekend action dissects whether Liverpool can now lay claim to being in it to win it.
Team of the Week
Can Liverpool really win it?
Most people seem fairly convinced that this won't last. This can't last. And with good reason.
Recent history, for one thing, tells us that Liverpool are not serious title contenders, despite being second in the league, five points behind the leaders, level with Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, ahead of Manchester City and some eight points in front of Manchester United.
The size of their squad is another, with Brendan Rodgers himself pointing out that they are not strong enough to cope with the loss of their best players. With Steven Gerrard now out for an indeterminate number of weeks with a hamstring twang, add him to Daniel Sturridge as key players that will probably be missing for the Christmas period, and while Gerrard is not the force and Liverpool's only hope that he once was, observers who were paying closer attention than I to their 4-1 win over West Ham noted that they lost a significant amount of control in midfield after he went off.
And yet, why not? Why not put them down as genuine title contenders? Liverpool are currently a full 11 points better off than they were at this stage last season. On a weekend when Manchester City were dropping points at Southampton and Chelsea were losing to Stoke, Rodgers' side were wiping the floor with West Ham. Sure, their fixtures thus far have been relatively friendly, but blips against Hull and Southampton aside, they have dealt with almost everyone else pretty emphatically. Losing to this iteration of Arsenal is not exactly a sign that Liverpool cannot challenge, and everyone else is so unpredictable that it would be premature to write them off.
Of course, the sizeable fly in Liverpool's title ointment (a vaguely unpleasant image, but I make no apologies for it) is that injuries to Gerrard and Sturridge have come at a bad time, with a very tough run of fixtures coming up. In their next four games they face Spurs, Manchester City and Chelsea, all away, with the brief respite of a home game against Cardiff somewhere in the middle.
The next few weeks will decide whether Liverpool can stay where they are, or whether they will fade back into the pack.
Read Chris Kamara's views on Luis Suarez
here
Berbatov breaks into a trot
Whether it was a sign of a man who wished to underline his commitment to Fulham or whether it was a player seeking to offer a reminder of his talent to potential new employers, the maverick Dimitar Berbatov had a fine game against Aston Villa. The Bulgarian, whose agent recently announced the striker wants out of Craven Cottage, was hugely influential, demonstrating all of his trademark classy control, sublime passing and drifting movement.
His work ethic will always be questioned but his ability on the ball is similarly never in doubt. His volleyed pass with the outside of his boot to set up Alexander Kacaniklic to win the penalty was out of this world while his spot-kick conversion, which maintained his 100 per cent record from eight Premier League penalties, was an audaciously idiosyncratic combination of class and cheek.
Compare Berbatov's performance against Villa to that of his previous appearance in the 2-1 defeat by Swansea City, Jol's last home game in charge, and the contrast is clear.
In 90 minutes against Swansea, Berbatov had one off-target shot, created one goalscoring chance, touched the ball 45 times and played 23 passes in the opposition half at a success rate of 60.9 per cent. In just an hour against Villa, Berbatov had four shots, of which three were on target - including his penalty goal - created one chance, touched the ball 40 times and played 27 passes in the opposition half at a success rate of 70.4%.
Berbatov was given the chance to drop off and influence play as opposed to being pushed into the lone striker role which Darren Bent played against Swansea. Kacaniklic and Ashkan Dejagah were the men detailed to push further forward by Rene Meulensteen versus Villa to give Fulham some attacking pace and variety in wider areas. This was not the case against Swansea when Bent was isolated and did not have the speed to take advantage of Berbatov's play-making. Dejagah, in particular, was impressive in playing 55 passes at an 87.3% success rate.
To read our full match analysis of Fulham's defeat of Aston Villa
click here
Canaries singing again
Quite a way to bounce back from a 5-1 humping by Luis Suarez.
Indeed, it should speak well of Chris Hughton's side that this is the second time they have responded to a sound thrashing, six-of-the-best, by winning the next game. After the 7-0 hiding at Manchester City in November, they responded by beating West Ham a week later. It might be considered a bad thing that they apparently require a rather sound boot in the trousers to stumble into action, but it is at least better than the alternative.
While they are still a mere four points from the bottom three and most definitely have the capacity to be profoundly rubbish, this resilience should ensure that they stay clear of the most serious mischief this season.
