Premier League preview: 11 burning questions ahead of the weekend as Manchester United seek win and Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham chase top spot
Will Man City end their winless run? Which Leicester will turn up at Spurs? Are Chelsea serious title contenders?
Sponsored by
The Premier League has returned after a brief foray into the EFL Cup.
SunSport looks at the 11 burning issues ahead of this weekend's action.
Will Manchester United move on from their 4-0 hammering at Chelsea?
Despite that midweek Manchester derby win, Jose Mourinho's Manchester United have not won a Premier League game in three.
In Mourinho's team were "humiliated" at his former home, Stamford Bridge.
Their match against Burnley, then, comes at the perfect time.
The visitors are yet to pick up a point from their three games on the road.
They've only scored a single goal in that time, conceding nine, and seem to struggle on bigger pitches where teams have more room to operate.
Although it looks like an easy win for United on paper, this is the kind of banana skin that Mourinho knows he must avoid.
Anything but three points and a comfortable, impressive display will be frowned upon.
Keep up to date with ALL the Manchester United news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary
What team will Jose Mourinho play?
That being said, Mourinho absolutely has to get his team selection right.
He needs to pick a bold and attacking XI that can go at the Clarets from the first whistle.
Juan Mata must play and Paul Pogba should play in an advanced role.
Mourinho must decide whether to stick with Michael Carrick and Luke Shaw - both decent in midweek - while he has questions in the heart of his defence.
Eric Bailly may not play again in 2016 and Chris Smalling missed the Manchester derby with a knock.
Does Mourinho continue with Daley Blind, who had a nightmare at Chelsea, and Marcos Rojo, who has not played much football in the last year?
Will Manchester City end their six-game winless run?
Plenty are predicting Pep Guardiola to return to winning ways after this curious month-long wait for a win.
In terms of talent - and price tag - Manchester City should have no trouble breezing past West Brom at The Hawthorns.
But Tony Pulis has always been a master spoiler and will set up with the sole purpose of stopping this City team.
The blueprint on how to stopp Pep Guardiola's team has become clear in the past month - don't give them time to play, get in their faces and put pressure on their vulnerable defence.
City's full-backs are all poor, John Stones, despite the rave reviews, still has an error in him and Nicolas Otamendi can be dominated by physical strikers.
Will Sergio Aguero end his barren spell?
The other curiosity of this City run is Aguero's sudden and horrible loss of form.
After starting the season with 11 goals in six matches, the striker has now failed to score in his last six - with three of those seeing him benched by Guardiola.
Minor injuries and long travel has always been part of Aguero's problems with staying fully fit, but he has not looked sharp in a month.
West Brom will be keeping the beadiest of eyes on the Argentine who will be desperate to get back amongst the goals.
Has Arsenal's title bid stalled?
It may have done... had they not been facing the prospect of the easiest game in the Premier League.
A 0-0 draw at home to Middlesbrough last week was the kind of performance and result that Gunners fans all to often bemoan.
Despite the disparity in talent, Arsenal looked complacent and lazy and were, in the end, lucky to come away with a point.
Sunderland are yet to win this season, and have lost three of their four matches at home.
They look like a team already doomed after just nine matches - David Moyes is already under huge pressure.
Arsenal absolutely should and absolutely must win this game if they are to win the title.
They should have won it last year.
Arsene Wenger's team have as good a chance as any team to win it this year.
Not winning this game shouldn't even be contemplated.
Which Leicester will turn up at Spurs?
Leicester have a real problem away from home, where they are the worst team in the Premier League.
Somehow, the Foxes are unbeaten at home, with 11 points from five matches and only two goals conceded - with another two Champions League wins - while on the road they have lost all four and conceded a staggering 13 goals.
Claudio Ranieri's started the season playing his regular attacking 4-3-3 away from home, but was burnt with poor defeats at Hull, Liverpool and Manchester United.
He then attempted to go conservative at Chelsea, dropping star man Riyad Mahrez, but that didn't work either as defensive mistakes cost them.
A tired, out of form Jamie Vardy as dropped for the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace last week and the Foxes produced one of their best performances this season.
Ranieri played almost with four attackers. Will he go in guns blazing at White Hart Lane or tinker with his team again to try and nullify Spurs?
Do Bournemouth have a chance of European qualification?
Very much so, but they must start winning games away from the South Coast.
This week they take the very long drive north to Middlesbrough - where the game has a draw written all over it with Boro winless at home and the Cherries winless on the road.
Bournemouth currently sit 10th in the division and will have ambitions to move higher, even if that could be a stretch.
The main obstacle could be themselves.
Eddie Howe is working with a very small squad, where eight of their players have started every game this season.
That kind of continuity is not usually sustainable over the rigours of a Premier League season (although that durability was a major factor in Leicester winning the title last season) despite the excellence of Bournemouth's play.
Howe is in a bit of a conundrum with how to approach this game.
Middlesbrough are poor when teams sit back and allow them to attack as they haven't got the quality to break opponents down.
But Bournemouth aren't really built for that defensive game, they like to go out and play.
Will Everton return to their early season form?
Ronald Koeman's Everton have now quietly gone five games without a win.
They've definitely deserved more luck than that during the dry spell, last week at Burnley they somehow managed to lose despite dominating possession and chances.
They face a revitalised West Ham team who have suddenly become very hard to break down.
Since switching to a back three/five, the only goal Slaven Bilic's team have conceded was the late one against Chelsea when the game was already won.
West Ham will go to Goodison with a simple but effective game plan that sees them defend in numbers and hit quickly on the break.
It could leave Everton waiting a little bit longer for that win.
Will Christian Benteke prove Jurgen Klopp wrong?
The Belgian striker flits from the sublime to the ridiculous in the course of 90 minutes with alarming consistency.
When he's on form he's among the best in Europe, but it all too rarely happens, as Liverpool fans and Crystal Palace fans are finding out.
After powerhouse performances at Sunderland and Everton, Benteke has been virtually anonymous in the last two matches - save for two crucial moments.
He missed a penalty against West Ham that would have handed the Eagles a draw and hit the bar with a header at the King Power Stadium that could have changed the course of the game.
The return of Jason Puncheon should see Benteke given the service and support that will see him at his best - and you can be sure he is desperate to show Jurgen Klopp that is a top level striker.
Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha must do more to give the striker consistent service from the wings, all too often Benteke is double-teamed when a cross fails to beat the first man or flies over his head.
These two have been engaged in some classics in recent seasons and this one should be no different.
Liverpool are playing the best football in the division and Palace always like to attack at home.
Are Chelsea serious title contenders?
Since switching to his favoured back three, Antonio Conte's Chelsea have won all three games in the Premier League and kept three clean sheets.
That sequence included the signature 4-0 win over Manchester United.
The Blues lost against West Ham in midweek, although Conte did make seven changes to his team.
Those three games were against three out of sorts teams - Hull, Leicester and United.
Chelsea must now prove they are for real against a Southampton side who have found their feet under Claude Peul.
The Saints were excellent in their draw with Manchester City last week to make it five games unbeaten.
They are unbeaten at St Mary's and have the second best defence in the Premier League.
Chelsea will not find this game easy, but if they win it will be a real signal to the rest of the league that this team is for real.
However, title contention seems to be one step too far.
The West Ham defeat showed that while Chelsea have a first XI capable of mixing with the best, their squad is very low on depth and quality.
Ola Aina and Nathaniel Chalobah showed flashes of promise but were out of their depth in east London.
Michy Batshuayi proved he does not have the ability to play as a lone striker in this system.
David Luiz and John Terry never could play together, and the Chelsea skipper would not appear to suit a back three.
Is Stoke vs Swansea the worst Monday night game ever?
Improbably, no.
While the game is not likely to get the pulses racing outside of Staffordshire and South Wales, the recent Monday Night Football offerings have been dismal.
Liverpool vs Manchester United promised to be a thriller but was anything but.
Before that was Burnley's 2-0 win over Watford.
Up next on a Monday? West Brom host Burnley and then Middlesbrough play Hull.
It's not until the Merseyside derby on December 19 that we have a Monday night game to look forward to.