It's been a good month for...
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool's Egyptian forward is surely the Player of the Month for November. Salah scored in each of the Reds' four league games, helping them take ten points from a possible twelve. He scored braces against West Ham, Southampton and Stoke, and scored Liverpool's goal in a 1-1 draw against his former employers, Chelsea. Salah is currently the league's top scorer with twelve goals, which is mightily impressive when he is more of a winger than a striker. With two more goals than nearest challenger Harry Kane, Jürgen Klopp will know that he has a real gem on his hands.
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Claude Puel
Leicester City's new manager has helped tighten up the Foxes, and took five points in November. His first away match was a 2-2 draw at Stoke at the beginning of the month which is a traditionally difficult place to visit, and they also faced Manchester City at home, a game which they lost 2-0. Leicester finished the month with a 1-1 draw at West Ham and an excellent 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. Puel has got Jamie Vardy scoring again and has also given Riyad Mahrez and Demarai Gray a real freedom to play. The Foxes are now back in the top half of the table and look to be a force at the King Power Stadium once more.
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Raheem Sterling
Sterling is Manchester City's top scorer in the Premier League this season, and has been popping up with some crucial goals of late. He notched an 84th-minute winner in a 2-1 victory at Huddersfield on the 26th November, and three days later scored in the 96th-minute as City beat Southampton by the same scoreline. Goals aside, Sterling has been in excellent form and also contributed two assists in November as Pep Guardiola's men won all four of their Premier League matches. If Sterling and Co. continue to play as they have been, the league could be won by Christmas!
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But a bad one for...
Slaven Bilic
The Croation was sacked by West Ham in early November after winning just two league games in 2017/18. He departed with the Hammers in 18th following a 4-1 home defeat by Liverpool, which was a second successive home defeat by three goals. I feel a bit sorry for Bilic, as I feel that the move to the London Stadium has been a disaster for West Ham, and he led them to a 7th-placed finish in his first season in charge, and the Irons' last at Upton Park. Bilic will surely feel even harder done by to be replaced by David Moyes, who was Sunderland manager as they finished rock-bottom of the Premier League and were relegated to the Championship last season.
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Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs took just four points from a possible twelve in November, and appear to be struggling at Wembley. They struggled past then-bottom side Crystal Palace, winning 1-0, and later drew 1-1 with struggling West Brom at England's home of football. Between those two matches was a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal in the North London Derby, a game in which Tottenham were poor and deservedly lost. Mauricio Pochettino's men then lost their final league game of the month, 2-1 at Leicester. Spurs' form needs to pick up over the festive period if they want to remain in touching distance of their top four rivals.
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Tony Pulis
The Welsh manager was dismissed as manager of West Bromwich Albion after a poor run of form in which West Brom failed to win in ten league matches. I feel sorry for Pulis, but can also understand why he was sacked. There had been unrest at the Hawthorns, and an alarming stat for the board at WBA is that average attendances at The Hawthorns have fallen for the past two seasons, from 25,064 when Pulis took over in 2015 to 23,876 in 2016-17. Fans of the Baggies had seemingly become bored and frustrated at the style of play implemented by Pulis, and this is supported by the fact that at the time of Pulis' sacking they had the lowest average possession of any side in the division. The final nail in the coffin was a 4-0 home defeat to Chelsea, but Tony Pulis is an expert in keeping teams up and I don't think it will be too long before we see him back in the top flight. I'm sorry to see him go.
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