1 HOWE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

It is presumptive to think that Bournemouth will never fire Eddie Howe after he masterminded their astonishing rise from English football's lower leagues to the top flight.

Yet no manager can feel entirely safe from the sack and it would be unwise for him to ignore the boos from the home fans at the end of the 3-1 defeat by Burnley on Saturday.

While any suggestion of Howe's job being under threat at the moment is ridiculous, this has turned into an underwhelming season and he has to make sure the project is not becoming stale.

2 VARDY INDISPENSABLE TO FOXES

With his brace against relegated Huddersfield, Jamie Vardy (104) took himself a goal above England great Gary Lineker on the all-time Leicester scoring list.

But the former England forward offers so much more than just his prowess in front of goal - his contribution to the Foxes' overall play and that snarling outlook - is what has made him undroppable.

3 PALACE BANK ON ZAHA'S WIZARDRY

Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic has converted 10 out of 11 penalties this season - six of them won by Wilfried Zaha, with his ability to use his audacious dribbling skills to provoke fouls.

The Ivory Coast international is integral to Roy Hodgson's counter-attacking strategy on their travels and Magpies manager Rafael Benitez was suitably dismayed by the naive challenge from DeAndre Yedlin, which handed Palace an arguably undeserved win.

THE GUARDIAN