On a weekend which suggested that Manchester City and Arsenal may end up battling for the title alone and that Chelsea's symptoms shows no sign of improvement, here are a few things that jumped out to me in the Premier League.
Oscar's work-rate for Chelsea
The Blues endured another sorry day all round as it looks increasingly palpable that Jose Mourinho is running out of ideas and unable to inspire the squad in a way that he had been previously.
One nominally attacking player who needs little invitation when it comes to digging in is Oscar and although he was part of a side that slumped to a 3-1 loss to Liverpool, watching him on the pitch, you could see him tracking back diligently - particularly one instance where he tracked back near his left-back zone to cover space.
The stats do show he put a defensive shift in at Stamford Bridge, with his nine attempted tackles (success rate of 67 per cent) meaning he made the joint-most for Chelsea alongside the defensive-minded John Obi Mikel.
Deulofeu and Coleman (Richard Sellers / EMPICS Sport)
Everton get it right
While the irresistible understanding between Romelu Lukaku and Arouna Kone resulted in a hat-trick, the most interesting part of the pitch at times was the running battle down up and down Everton's right flank.
Given that winger Gerard Deulofeu was being played in front of the attack-minded Seamus Coleman, there was plenty of potential for fireworks and so it proved against a Sunderland side playing a back-three and wing-backs.
During the match, Everton created 14 chances (which resulted in six goals) but the space and focus down the right saw many chances come down that side and 15 of their 19 crosses coming from that side of the pitch, with Deulofeu attempting six on his own - not counting his cross which resulted in an own goal from Sebastian Coates.
However, Sunderland also enjoyed some joy down that Everton right with eight of their 13 chances during the game being sent in from the right side of the Everton box, and much of that took place on the break which the Black Cats got some joy from at times in the game.
Cazorla the magician from deep
Critics are really starting to purr about Mesut Ozil now, as a man formerly nicknamed Nemo after the Pixar character, is able to find team-mates almost at will.
Two more assists for Olivier Giroud and Joel Campbell against Swansea on Satuday has lifted his tally to nine for the season and given that nine out of 10 of his general passes make it to their intended target, makes it all the more impressive.
However, Santi Cazorla is one player who does capture the imagination, playing as the deep-lying playmaker alongside Francis Coquelin in a loosely familiar manner to an Andrea Pirlo or a Xavi - albeit in a different system and with his own unique characteristics.
It just adds to greater angles of attack for Arsenal along with the threat from the inside-left of Alexis Sanchez, the roving of Ozil and the overlapping of Hector Bellerin from right full-back.
Interestingly, the joint-most passes from the boot of Cazorla reached Ozil and Sanchez which is a healthy situation to be in, while the same two players made the Top 2 number of passes to their deep-lying playmaker which the highlights Arsenal axis of creation.
All stats from Squawka and Four Four Two Stats Zone app
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