AFTER a busy New Year and an FA Cup weekend, the Premier League is back in action.

As Manchester prepares to take on Merseyside in Sunday’s double-header, the focus on Saturday shifts to the big three from London.

Tottenham’s title credentials, Chelsea’s trip to Leicester and Arsenal’s biggest enigma are under the spotlight in the first PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKLY of 2017.

Can Pochettino shed the image of ‘same old Spurs’?

TOTTENHAM rightly claimed the plaudits for their magnificent win over Chelsea nine days ago thanks to those two Dele Alli headers. With their best XI on the field, Mauricio Pochettino’s side showed they are a match for anyone. Victory left them in third place and seven points behind their West London rivals but Spurs showed that night they should not just be aiming for a place in the top four, they should be thinking of chasing for first place.

In Alli, they have the natural heir to Frank Lampard as the best English goalscoring midfielder. Harry Kane is the best English centre-forward. Danny Rose has become the best left-back in the league by some distance in the last 12 months. And it’s no surprise they have the best defensive record with Hugo Lloris in goal sweeping up behind the Belgian pair of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld. With those six players, that is the spine of a team good enough to win the league. Pochettino’s job is to convince them they can hold off Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs.

(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

They now line up at home to West Brom in a match that will bring back some bad memories. In the corresponding game last April, Spurs headed into it needing a win to keep on Leicester’s coat-tails. But they produced a nervy display and only managed a 1-1 draw to give Leicester a comfortable seven-point cushion with three games remaining. It was typical Tottenham. When the pressure was on with something special at stake, they did not deliver. The chance of being English Champions for the first time since 1961 was as good as over.

While the stakes are not that high tomorrow, the scenario is similar and Tony Pulis’ West Brom are natural party poopers. With trips to Manchester City and Liverpool in the weeks ahead, nothing less than a home win will suffice if Spurs are to show they are genuine title challengers.

Will last year’s Champions decide this year’s winner?

LEICESTER CITY surprised the whole world with their incredible title success last May. Sadly it quickly became apparent early on this season that they would not be figuring near the top of the table again. They currently sit in 15^th place, below the likes of Bournemouth, Burnley and Watford and with work to do to make sure they avoid an equally-unlikely relegation.

But they could play a big role in shaping the outcome of this season’s title race. A trip to the King Power Stadium could be one of the yardsticks of who is going to replace them as Champions in May. Games against lesser teams who want to claim a scalp have been difficult, but the Foxes have had no problem raising themselves for when the big boys have come to town.

N'Golo Kante faces his former teammates (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) — N’Golo Kante faces his former teammates (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Arsenal could only manage a goalless draw there in August while Manchester City were swept away by a Jamie Vardy hat-trick last month. Now it’s the turn of leaders Chelsea tomorrow, while Manchester United and Liverpool visit the East Midlands next month. In a season when the top six all still have a chance of winning the league and two of those won’t even make the top four, it will come down to fine margins. All of them will be targeting wins against the sides from seventh down in the table, yet there are bound to be a few slip-ups. It’s what makes these matches in Leicester so appealing as there is little margin for error. But Vardy and Co. love it when a team comes onto them as City did when they were spectacularly picked apart.

Heading into the second half of the season, Chelsea hold a five-point lead at the top but they are still smarting from their defeat to Tottenham last time out. Victory over Claudio Ranieri’s side would be an excellent way to show they have recovered in double quick time. It could even be the start of another long winning run for Antonio Conte’s men. Three points at Leicester would feel like more than a normal win. It would show that the 2016/17 class at Stamford Bridge are very serious about regaining the title.

Player of the Day: Mesut Ozil

FEW players in the Premier League create quite as much debate as Mesut Ozil. Some Arsenal fans think of the German playmaker as being from the same line as Dennis Bergkamp, Liam Brady and other such Gunners legends. Ozil is able to glide through games and past opponents and he has a wonderful eye for a killer pass. Plus his link-up play with Alexis Sanchez gives Arsenal an extra dimension.

But for other fans, Ozil is betrayed by a lack of desire to roll his sleeves up. Too often when the going has got tough in his three-and-a-half seasons at The Emirates, Ozil has gone missing in action. It was an accusation levelled at Robert Pires in his first year in English football, but once the Frenchman became used to what was required, he became a star of the 2002 and 2004 title-winning teams.

(Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Ozil will be available for tomorrow’s match at Swansea having missed the last three games with illness and it’s a match where Arsenal cannot afford to drop more points, lying as they do in fifth place and eight points behind Chelsea. There has been much talk of Ozil and his new contract which has not been sorted. He revealed in a magazine interview in Germany that he wanted to be reassured of Arsene Wenger’s future before deciding his own but it’s hardly the message supporters want to hear.

There are bound to be moments in South Wales when the game becomes a bit scrappy. The weather may not be so great either. But surely it’s time for Ozil to silence the doubters and show that not only can he be a World Cup winner but a Premier League Champion, too.