Something for the Weekend: Dangerous Danny and moody Mourinho

The league's most in-form scorer and a mid-January six-pointer make Jamie Pacheco's things to look out for this weekend in the Premier League...

Danny, the boy who can't stop scoring

Sergio Aguero may have scored a hat-trick last week and Jamie Vardy may be leading the scoring charts overall but no-one can match Danny Ings' form at the moment. He's scored in nine of his last 11 matches in the league and in one of those, he scored two. And in one of the two where he didn't score, he started the match on the bench, in order to have a breather.

His influence on the side is a mammoth one. His 14 goals in total for the season are more than half of Southampton's (27) as a whole.

And it's certainly no coincidence that the Saints' results have coincided with his remarkable scoring run. They were matched at even money for the drop a couple of months' ago but all those Ings goals have seen them climb up the table in style to the extent that they're now out to 27.00 for the drop.

And yes, it's mostly about the goals with Ings but he's a hard worker when he wants to be, making runs off the ball and closing down defenders when in the mood.

One man who's been particularly impressed is Ian Wright, who knows a thing or two about being a Premier League goalscorer. Wright has said this week that Gareth Southgate can't keep on ignoring him with a view to an England call-up.

The best thing Ings can do is just carry on scoring. He's 6/5 to add to his tally against Wolves.

Some tired Wolves out there

If Ings' Southampton are one of the in-form teams, the same can't be said of their Saturday opponents Wolves. After an excellent start to the season, they're currently on a poor run that hasn't seen them win since that shock 3-2 victory over Man City just after Christmas.

The problem may be fatigue. Europa League pre-qualifying meant they started their season three weeks' earlier than anyone else and it's starting to show.

Nuno Espirito-Santo has two or three favorites like Raul Jimenez, Conor Coady and Joao Moutinho, who he rarely likes to be without and the miles in their legs are beginning to affect performances, especially towards the end of games.

It will be interesting to see what happens when they meet the aforementioned in-form Southampton. Wolves are higher up in the table but the Saints' momentum makes them the pick at 6/4.

Pep's defence keeps on getting peppered

Pep Guardiola has certainly been mixing it up when it comes to his defence.

On Sunday Fernandinho retained his place at the heart of it and not for the first time, he was joined by yet another holding midfielder in Rodri, with John Stones returning to action to complete the back-three.

That meant no starting place for Nicolas Otamendi after a slight injury, with Joao Cancelo and Bernard Mendy fielded as the wing-backs.

One wonders whether Guardiola should start playing specialist central defenders rather than trying to adapt his midfielders to the role.

After all, Villa's late goal meant it was the seventh time in their last eight in all competitions they failed to keep a clean sheet. It's worth looking at both teams to score at 11/10, when Palace come calling.

A proper six-pointer at Carrow Road

It's never too early in the season to talk about a six-pointer, is it? And if ever there was one, it's Saturday's clash between the bottom two: Norwich host Bournemouth.

Anything but a win and the Canaries will feel their chances of staying up have probably gone. A draw and they'd still be at least six points off 19th, a defeat would leave them a minimum of seven points off Villa in 18th, if Villa were to lose.

But a win would change everything, not least the confidence levels. It's 6/5 that Norwich get it but they haven't exactly been doing much in recent weeks to suggest they should be that price against anyone in this division.

All starting to fall apart for Mourinho

Those early days of high-scoring wins under Jose Mourinho against West Ham, Olympiakos and Bournemouth are looking like a distant memory for Spurs fans.

Admittedly the suspension of Heung-Min Son and subsequent injuries to Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko haven't helped matters but they don't fully explain a run of just two wins in eight games across three competitions, prior to the Middlesbrough FA Cup replay. And perhaps more worryingly, they've kept just one clean sheet in their last 10 if you do include that Boro match.

And whereas he promised to be a changed man a few weeks' ago, some of the old Mourinho is already starting to come out. That includes a pretty unnecessary visit to the Southampton bench - and a subsequent yellow card - because someone on their staff apparently said something or wrote down something about Kane's injury in the match, and a few of the old moody Mourinho remarks in press conferences.

Given the manner of what happened in his last few jobs, you have to wonder even at this early stage what Daniel Levy was thinking. From a low of 1.40, it's now 6.60 Spurs finish in the Top 4.