Last week, this column suggested that Arsenal had gained a backbone strong enough to compete with the biggest and best. After proving that wrong against United, they must do better at Chelsea...
John Terry
Well, obviously.
Wayne Bridge
See here.
Arsenal
Firstly, an apology. If this column's promise last week of a newly sturdy Arsenal - with a backbone strong enough to hold off the biggest of big dogs - planted false hope in the hearts of Gooners, I am sorry.
Of course, if you're relying on this column for prophetic reassurances then you're bang in trouble, as a series of very grateful bookmakers will confirm.
Despite hints to the contrary over recent weeks, Arsenal were as limp against Manchester United as they were the first time they played Chelsea this season, and received a similar schooling.
United proved last season that you don't have to necessarily beat your immediate rivals to win the league, but Arsenal have now failed to beat either Chelsea or United since November 2008. That's eight games without success, for those who can't be bothered to check.
At six points behind leaders Chelsea, one cannot confidently count Arsenal out of the title race even if they lose at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. However, one suspects that they will always fall short when it really matters.
Liverpool
Quietly (or as quietly as they can do things), Liverpool are doing rather well for themselves at the moment. No losses in the last six in the league, and an impressive five clean sheets kept in that spell.
Sure, that run has seen some decidedly rotten performances (the pathetic FA Cup exit has been ignored for the moment), some curious team selections and few goals, but Rafa Benitez has taken his side to a mere point behind Spurs in fourth.
And it's not even as if one could argue those six games have all been pushovers either. The run has included defeats of Spurs and Aston Villa, and the workmanlike nature of the performances have perhaps been due to a necessary 'back to basics' spirit, shorn of their three most creative players for much of the time.
However, the Merseyside derby is a different matter. Even without the various unpredictable extras a derby brings, Everton's form has been excellent, winning four of their last five and being almost as miserly as their neighbours in defence.
The chances are this is not going to be a classic of free-flowing attacking football, with goals flying in all over the shop, but it could well be absorbing in a very different way.
Brian Laws
Since Laws was appointed Burnley manager, he has taken charge of four games, all of which Burnley have lost, only scoring once in the process.
Laws or his apologists might quite reasonably argue that the four games included encounters with Chelsea and Manchester United, but one might also quite reasonably argue that the run also featured a defeat at Reading.
Whichever side you fall on in that particular argument, you would have trouble denying that Burnley absolutely must win this weekend at home to West Ham, given that they haven't picked up three points since October, when they beat the team whose 2008/9 season they seem to be keen on repeating - Hull.
The two campaigns are similar, with both clubs starting like trains, surprising the rest of the league with attacking football and pulling down the pants of some illustrious opponents, then stalling and beginning an inexorable slide down the table.
The big difference is that Hull's slide began at the start of December and they still only finished a point above relegation. If Burnley don't arrest this run bloody sharpish, they will be in real trouble.
Amr Zaki
Said Phil Brown after signing Zaki: "The lad seems determined to put right the wrongs that have been said about him. He seems like a man on a mission. You get the impression that he wants to prove a point to people."
With Zaki in with a good chance of starting this weekend, now's the time to prove his manager right.
Tony Pulis
As Gary Megson will tell you, playing butt-ugly football is fine when you're winning, but people turn pretty quickly when results start going south.
Even by Stoke's standards, the style of football on offer has been fairly grim of late. They have just the one win to show for their efforts in the last nine, and did their best to throw that one away (against Fulham).
Their position isn't that precarious at the moment, sitting five points above the relegation zone with two games in hand on most of their immediate rivals, but another win or two will go some way to calming everyone a little.
Sunderland
Steve Bruce's boys are becoming something of a staple in this column, largely because they resolutely refuse to win.
For those keeping track, their tepid draw with Stoke on Monday was their tenth game without success, a run that has sent them tripping and stumbling and tumbling further towards the relegation zone. The bottom half of the table is now so contracted that, even though Sunderland are in a respectable-sounding 13th place, they are only three points off the relegation zone.
It would take a relatively unlikely combination of results, but should Sunderland lose to Wigan at the Stadium of Light and at Portsmouth in midweek, then they could find themselves in the bottom three by Wednesday.
It's still odd that there is very little being said about Bruce's position. Sure, he was only appointed in the summer and took over a side that narrowly avoided relegation last season, but since then he has spent in the region of £30million and has not sold anyone of note.
The voices of dissent might be silent for now, but if they don't start winning very, very soon, then they will not be quiet for long.
Birmingham and Wolves
Even though Birmingham's terrific unbeaten run has come to an end, to emerge from three games against Manchester United, Chelsea and Spurs with two points is a perfectly respectable achievement for a team many assumed would struggle badly this season.
Now, having come through that tough run, they have a slightly easier task at home to Wolves, who themselves could really do with some points to lift them clear of trouble.
At present only goal difference is keeping them away from the relegation zone and after Mick McCarthy suffered a frustrating transfer window, they will have to struggle on with what they have for the rest of the season.
Every point is precious in that gaggle towards the bottom, but a point gained in a derby is extra-specially so.
Nick Miller