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Jose Mourinho and Manchester United still have a lot of work to do to bring the Old Trafford side back to the glory days that supporters became accustomed to under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Progress was slow initially, United struggling for form and looking like they may be stuck in their slump for yet another season. But things have been going better recent and Mourinho’s side are now well placed to push on and secure a Champions League place.

That will require a big January transfer window though, with some of United’s squad members not showing the form required to be a part of one of England’s best sides.

What changes are required and where can Mourinho make the biggest improvements? Fortunately for United, the winter window officially opens as soon as Big Ben strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Here are THREE glaring issues that the Old Trafford club must solve in January to continue Mourinho’s revolution…

High earners not performing

Marouane Fellaini is just one of a number of United players whose time is likely up at Old Trafford. One of Mourinho’s main priorities in January will be finding a home for these high-earners so that he can use the resources available to him to really push on with his squad overhaul.

Moving players on allows room for fresh bodies who have no baggage at the club and are willing to buy into Mourinho’s style from the off.

Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay and arguably Anthony Martial could all be on this list. Can the club do good business with these high-earning assets?

No back-up for Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is having an absolutely exceptional season but should he pick up a knock, a more serious injury or even lose form, United have no viable replacement that can step up to his performance levels this year.

Signing a quality striker would not only give cover but provide competition and offer different tactical options for Mourinho.

There’s also an obvious negative with Ibrahimovic – his age. He’s not a long-term solution in the position and United need to start working now to bring in a striker who can play at Old Trafford for years to come.

No prime partner for Pogba

If United can sign another quality midfielder to compliment Paul Pogba, they’d arguably have the strongest first choice midfield in the world.

Paul Pogba has shown he can be worth every bit of the world record transfer fee that brought him back to Manchester and is relishing his role as United’s talismanic force.

Herrera and Carrick offer good options, but not quite equal to the class that Pogba has. With Carrick getting towards the end of his career at the top level, January is a perfect time to push the boat out and sign a replacement who can form a partnership with Pogba.

It wasn’t quite the performance Arsenal fans would have wanted at home against West Brom but the Gunners got what they required in the end, securing all three points and a narrow 1-0 win to get back to winning ways.

After consecutive defeats against Everton and Manchester City, which saw the Gunners slip to nine points behind leaders Chelsea, a win here today was vital to appease the supporters which have grown increasing frustrated with Arsenal’s performances in recent years.

Whilst there’s still a lot of work to do, Arsenal could only beat the opposition in front of them and, whilst the performance left a lot to be desired, the win puts Arsenal six points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur, as things stand, putting the North London outfit in control of their own destiny.

Here’s five things we learned from Arsenal’s hard-fought victory!

Giroud is a crucial asset

Playing second-fiddle this season to an Alexis Sanchez who has found his feet in a central role at the Emirates Stadium, Olivier Giroud provides something different for Arsenal and can be vital in the months ahead- although Arsenal need to get back to his style of play.

A frustrating game for Gooners saw the Gunners struggle to get the ball into the box and take advantage of Giroud’s aerial prowess, although in the end the right thing came about as Mesut Ozil floated a ball in for Giroud to knock home.

Arsenal still need to improve

With three points in the bag, Arsenal can be happy with the result but the performance that went along with it left a lot to be desired. The Gunners struggled to break down an organised defence and need to work on all aspects of their game if they are to be contenders in any competition this season.

Their back-line still looked vulnerable at times and their attack was a long way off full cohesion, lacking the sort of performance required to impress their vast critics.

West Brom have come a long way

Sat ninth in the table, West Brom look to be a much better side this season and have chances of reaching European football if things go their way. Tony Pulis may be criticised by many but he’s led the Baggies valiantly and sitting a comfortable nine points above the drop-zone.

Previously, West Brom have been a yoyo club in the Premier League, enduring a lot of promotions and relegations, before being regulars in the bottom half of the table. Now though, the Midlands-based side have a chance to build upon something better.

Cazorla gap still not filled

Once again, there was a huge Santi Cazorla shaped hole in the Arsenal midfield and the Gunners will have to overcome this issue sooner rather than later. The Spaniard still faces time sidelined through injury, whilst the fact he’s well into the final year of his contract shows Arsenal need to lessen their reliance upon the veteran for the long-term too.

With Granit Xhaka, Francis Coquelin, Aaron Ramsey, Mohamed Elneny and Aaron Ramsey in their ranks, as well as Jack Wilshere on-loan at Bournemouth, Arsenal should have the right sort of player in their squad and it’s just a case of finding who can be the key-man going forward.

Arsenal prepared for Palace

Arsenal’s clash with West Brom today was the ideal dress rehearsal for the Gunners final match of 2016, as they host Crystal Palace later this week. Under Sam Allardyce, Palace will likely adopt a similar defensive approach to the match and Arsenal need to prepare to break down that set-up.

Giroud is certainly a key-part to overcoming the Eagles, if Arsenal can get the ball into the box more regularly, but Arsene Wenger needs to ensure his side work on this aspect of their game in training.

They say the cream rises to the top, and in the Premier League this season, that’s what’s happening.

After the Leicester fairytale of last year, the elite have tightened their grip on power, effecting repercussion upon last year’s champions, who now sit dangerously close to the relegation places.

The top six teams are nine points ahead of the rest, while Chelsea at the top are further 10 points clear. The gaps are quite something. And it creates an interesting paradox: the Premier League is, at the moment, both the most predictable it’s ever been, and the least predictable too.

Usually big gaps are a bad sign. It means that those at the bottom aren’t making the relegation battle interesting (we knew that Aston Villa would be relegated for most of the season), or that the team at the top are running away with the title – Leicester won the league by 10 points last season, and if it weren’t for the fact that they were such underdogs we probably wouldn’t have had much intrigue. It was only the fact that most people still expected a collapse right up until the end that made it interesting. If you only looked at the table over the last few weeks, you wouldn’t have said it was close.

This weekend we’re seeing exactly the sort of game that this season’s bunched up top six has created: Manchester United and Liverpool meet in a title battle – though Liverpool have more title ambition to lose than United – even though Jose Mourinho’s side find themselves in 6th place.

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Around this time of year, when transfer stories begin to emerge, you hear of players from other leagues linked to Premier League clubs. When that happens, you can be sure to see comments on how overrated he is, and how he only looks good because he plays in an uncompetitive league.

Even though the Premier League usually has some sort of title race, and even though the gap between the haves and the have nots is big this season, we still have the most interesting and competitive title race in years. Six teams in contention is not something we’re used to in 21st Century Premier League action.

What’s more, when Liverpool travel to Manchester this weekend, we’ll get to see what will surely be a better game than the one they served up last time. ‘Red Monday’ was a let down, but with Liverpool desperate to get back on track and record their first win of 2017, and with Manchester United suddenly right back in contention after an unbeaten run in all competitions stretching back 15 games to the 3rd November, we’re bound to see two of the country’s best teams. So long as the game lives up to its billing.

Big gaps reveal big gulfs in class. That’s the point of the league table, after all. But in the Premier League this year, even though we have a clear fracture between the best and the rest, the fact that the top six are all in some sort of contention means that there’s no gulf in class between them. And that makes this the most competitive Premier League in history.

It may be that Chelsea pull clear and run away with the league, such is the relentlessness of their manager and the fact that their squad is roughly similar to the one that won the league only two seasons ago. There’s a level of continuity and know-how there that none of the other clubs can claim to have for themselves.

But this weekend’s North West derby shows just how quickly things can change when teams are so close together: after the drab 0-0 between these two in October, the gap was three points. It got wider, of course, but victory for United this weekend would cut it back to two points.

And that should serve as a reminder to each and every member of the top six.

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Deadline Day may have come and gone, but the lack of activity in the Premier League throughout the transfer window has only heightened gossip and expectations ahead of the summer.

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Indeed, it seems the majority of Premier League clubs are waiting until the end of the season to complete considerable squad overhauls and we already know one top-flight star in Everton’s transfer thoughts for the next window.

Ronald Koeman openly discussed his interest in Burnley defender Michael Keane earlier this week and after a late January deal fails to materialise, it seems likely the Toffees will pursue the in-form Englishman this summer instead.

“Yes, he is one of that list, like some more defenders. But I heard he is on more lists, in different teams.”

And a potential swoop for Keane inevitably ties into Phil Jagielka’s uncertain future at the club. Koeman ruled out a Deadline Day sale yesterday, but also hinted the Everton captain could move on at the end of the campaign.

“I spoke to Phil and he accepts it — we spoke about his position and the need to fight like everybody who is not involved or starting because we need competition. We have a squad and those not starting need to fight. We need competition. I understand it’s difficult, he’s the captain, but we like to keep him because he can play an important role to the end of the season.”

With that in mind, we posed an interesting question to the Goodison fan base yesterday – would Keane be the perfect replacement for the potentially departing Jagielka?

Well, the results are now in and FootballFanCast can exclusively reveal that a staggering 92% of those who voted view Keane as Jagielka’s ideal successor. Does Koeman agree? We’ll have to wait and see.

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Sadio Mane has told Liverpool fans that they have “lifted” his spirits since he returned from the Africa Cup of Nations.

The 24-year-old winger was sorely missed during a miserable run for the Reds which saw them pick up just one win in January.

The supporters were excited to welcome him back, but the player himself would not have wanted to return to Merseyside until a few days later.

Mane flew back to England 24 hours before Liverpool’s clash against Chelsea, which ended in a 1-1 draw, after Senegal were knocked out of the AFCON quarter-finals by Cameroon.

It was even worse for the former Southampton man as he missed a crucial penalty in the final-eight clash.

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Mane’s positivity swiftly returned when he felt the support of the Liverpool fans, and he rewarded them with two goals in a 2-0 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur last Saturday.

He told the Liverpool Echo:

“I want to thank all the supporters for what they have done for me. I was very happy to hear that when I came off against Tottenham. Having that support means so much. It has really lifted me since I came back.

“They give the team so much. I know that sometimes it hasn’t been easy for them but they are always behind us and always pushing us. We try to give our best for them.”

So far this season, Mane has scored 11 Premier League goals in 22 appearances.

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After suffering a humiliating defeat away to struggling Leicester City, Liverpool returned to Anfield and put on a show for their home supporters with a massive victory over top four rivals Arsenal on Saturday evening.Goals from Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum provided the goals in a 3-1 win. The Gunners never really looked like winning the match and despite a spirited attempt to make a comeback in the second half with a Danny Welbeck goal left it too little, too late.The win moved them up to third, leapfrogging Arsenal in the table and giving them a huge boost to their ambitions of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.The Reds have been remarkably consistent against the top six sides in the league this season, unbeaten in nine matches and winning five of them.As this stat from Squawka shows, that’s form well ahead of the other teams around them.

If only they could sort out their form against the so-called weaker sides, they may actually be title challengers next season. What’s certain is that Jurgen Klopp’s side know how to get the job done on the biggest occasions and that could be the defining factor in making it into those top four positions.

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Arsene Wenger’s future at Arsenal is looking decidedly uncertain at present.

With just a few months remaining on his current deal, the Frenchman is going to have to perform a miracle if he is to secure a new deal at the club, with a potential FA Cup victory possibly not enough for the Frenchman to secure his long-term future in London.

There is still more than enough time for Wenger to come to a decision, though, but could the Frenchman actually decide to move on?

Certainly, there are a few attractive job opportunities popping up this summer, and if Wenger does decide to leave – he likely wouldn’t be short of options.

Barcelona is one such job opening, and whilst Spanish journalist Guillem Balague has recently suggested that the Frenchman isn’t in the running, if Wenger was to openly admit his interest – perhaps the Catalan giants would reconsider.

It is a deal that Arsenal fans seemingly think would be a good one for Wenger, too, with a recent poll returning particularly one-sided results. Interestingly, a whopping 81% of fans think that the move would be a good one for Arsene, with just 19% suggesting otherwise.

Certainly, it won’t be an easy job for Wenger to land, but clearly the Arsenal faithful are on board.

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They say the best football teams in the world have a telepathic understanding, knowing the games of their team-mates so well they can anticipate when and where they’ll arrive in space to punish the opposition.

Even those not challenging for domestic and European titles need a touch of telepathy, but how well does that psychic bond hold up when they’re not on the pitch? Can footballers still read each other’s minds, or are they as clueless as the rest of us?

Putting that question to the test are four West Ham stars, taking part in Betway’s horse-name challenge ahead of the 2017 Cheltenham Festival. It’s a simple, traditional game of name-what’s-written-on-your-forehead with a Cheltenham-based twist – all the answers are also the names of famous horses.

And whilst James Collins and Darren Randolph were quick to impress, the same can’t be said for Mark Noble and Aaron Cresswell, who quite simply made a hash of it. Don’t believe two grown men could struggle at such a simple game? Here’s the evidence to prove it…

Width has been an issue for Spurs at times this season, just as it was last year, too. Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen prefer operating centrally, Moussa Sissoko’s signing has been a disaster, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou rarely gets first team minutes and Erik Lamela has disappeared for much of the campaign.

Heung-Min Son has had an excellent campaign and occasionally operated from the flank, but he is primarily a shadow striker who will drift into the channels when given the opportunity.

As good as Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier have been at providing the width in the final third – from both wing and full-back positions – Spurs are sometimes found wanting in this department. Mauricio Pochettino currently has no reliable, natural wide players in his squad.

With season ticket renewal well underway, the rumours of summer signings are in overdrive. Spurs will be linked with tonnes of players between now and the opening of the spending floodgates, but few will make quite as much sense as Wilfried Zaha.

Unlike some of Spurs’ disappointing recent signings, Zaha has lengthy experience in the Premier League and of English football. He has, although overdue, come of age in the last couple of seasons after a potentially confidence-crippling spell with Manchester United. The majority of Spurs’ best additions of late have been from fellow English clubs. Toby Alderweireld was not bought directly from a fellow Premier League side, admittedly, but he had been on loan at Southampton previously, while Victor Wanyama and Mousa Dembele have become the heartbeat of the side since being signed from Southampton and Fulham respectively. Dele Alli was brought to the club from MK Dons, Eric Dier had been in England as a youngster before joining Sporting Lisbon, and Trippier and Davies were signed from Burnley and Swansea.

That is a tenuous argument to make Zaha a good addition, but it is proof of where many of Spurs’ best scouting trips have been. There’s a better argument, though: his stats. The Ivory Coast international will not be an immediate starter for Pochettino, which can make adaptation tricky, but as an impact player and vibrant option from the bench, the quick-footed Crystal Palace winger would be ideal. There is no reason he could not carry over his impressive form to White Hart Lane, despite the obvious change in managerial regime between Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce to Pochettino.

Decision-making in the final third had become an almost cliched issue for Zaha. Those problems are now all but behind him as is proven by his five goals and six assists in a largely struggling Crystal Palace side. The irrepressible talent has always been evident with the Ivorian, now he has shown he can produce the goods on a regular basis and is routinely tormenting his full-back with sharp changes of direction, exceptional close control and frightening pace.

Only two players – Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Middlesbrough’s Adama Traore – are completing more dribbles than Zaha this season, and no player is being fouled as often as he is (with many of those fouls in dangerous positions in the opposition’s half, perfect for a dead ball specialist like Eriksen). While still being dispossessed more often than anyone else in the league too, Zaha has taken greater offensive responsibility for Palace this season and his vast improvement in end product – having scored twice and assisted only once in the league last season – show a player ready for another shot at one of the league’s top clubs.

Spurs will surely be looking at lots of players in their one problem position throughout the summer, but Wilfried Zaha is a name that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Though the international break may prove rather dull indeed for football fans up and down the country, such is the standing of the English national side in the global game, there was no sign of that at Anfield last weekend.

NIVEA Men partnered up with Liverpool to help put on a spectacle in front of a packed crowd as legends of the iconic Real Madrid made the trip to Merseyside to put on a thrilling exhibition encounter.

In the build-up to the game, NIVEA Men went behind the scenes to talk to some of the Reds’ legends, asking them a series of question that ranged from asking who was the vainest player some of them shared a dressing room with, as well as enquiring as to whether any of them had pre-match grooming rituals during their playing careers.

The likes of Jason McAteer, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and even John Aldridge pop up with some interesting answers indeed, vital knowledge for Reds fans all around the world.

NIVEA MEN were an Official Partner of the LFC Foundation Legends Charity Match between Liverpool FC & Real Madrid. By supporting the event NIVEA MEN are proudly helping the LFC Foundation create life-changing opportunities for children and young people in Liverpool & beyond. For more information visit www.facebook.com/niveamenuk