Mourinho’s Dier doubts, Chelsea’s Kante question and West Ham hit the wall - weekend talking points

The Standard Sport football team look back at the weekend's action in London...

Dier facing tough road back to form

How many lives has Eric Dier already used up under Jose Mourinho? For the second time in three matches, the England defender was seemingly dropped for Tottenham’s win over West Brom following a costly mistake against Chelsea. Dier was quickly welcomed back to the team for the Blues’ visit having lost his place for the defeat at Brighton but his road back to Mourinho’s favour may be a harder this time, which could have implications for his England place.

He is simply making too many errors. Mourinho’s thinking at centre-half should become clearer in midweek, with Toby Alderweireld likely to need a rest for Wednesday’s cup tie at Everton. It will be intriguing to see if Dier comes back in, with Joe Rodon and Davinson Sanchez both putting him under pressure. Dan Kilpatrick

The Kante question

Thomas Tuchel had barely been in the job 24 hours when he declared N’Golo Kante as a player he had long-desired to manage. It was notable as it was claimed the France international would need to be convinced he was in the new Chelsea manager’s plans upon his appointment. Kante may well be wondering where he fits in after failing to start a single game under Tuchel.

He may have been recovering from a hamstring injury when the German took over. But he has been named on the bench for three games in succession, with Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic forming an impressive partnership as ‘double sixes’ in Tuchel’s preferred formation. These are still early days, but Kante is not used to sitting on the sidelines. James Robson

Ryan takes chance to impress on Arsenal debut

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Given Arsenal are already out of the FA Cup, Mat Ryan was never going to get many moments to shine during his six-month loan from Brighton. The Australian, however, seized the opportunity on Saturday to impress against Aston Villa in the absence of the suspended Bernd Leno.

Despite conceding inside 90 seconds, Ryan had a solid game and that will surely have been noted by Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard has not ruled out signing the Australian permanently in the summer and the goalkeeper's performance on Saturday will have done his chances no harm. Even in defeat, Ryan caught the eye. Simon Collings

Flying run catches up with West Ham

David Moyes and his West Ham side have made a flying start to 2021. Their performance at Aston Villa on Wednesday last week was perhaps their best of the season, but the blistering run appeared to catch up with the Hammers at Fulham. All of Moyes's key men looked tired and off the pace at Craven Cottage.

Jarrod Bowen was brought back in having been rested at Villa Park but made little impact. Michail Antonio, who Moyes admitted he was concerned about, was running on empty and the Hammers boss will have a task to get everyone fit and firing before Manchester United in the Cup on Tuesday. "Michail felt a bit fatigued. I always had a feeling this might be a problem for him," said Moyes. "The amount of games we've had, I was concerned." Jack Rosser

Brentford displaying hallmarks of champions

Brentford are now unbeaten in 20 matches in the Championship, a run stretching back to October 24 that leaves them one point behind leaders Norwich with a game in hand. Ivan Toney scored twice as the Bees won 4-1 at Middlesbrough on Saturday to move up to second and they look primed for promotion to the Premier League. Toney has now scored 22 goals in the Championship this season, while David Raya was described as "possibly the best goalkeeper in the division" at the weekend. Their was a second-half display at Boro had all the hallmarks of a Championship-winning team. Jack Rosser

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