Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League as title rivals Manchester City and Aston Villa slipped up.

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank could be facing the sack after another dismal loss, while Liverpool’s spluttering form continued.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points from the weekend’s action:

Arsenal retain upper hand

As Arsenal digested their 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, the over-riding emotion was frustration at failing to take full advantage of Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat at Manchester United earlier in the afternoon.

But just 24 hours later, Mikel Arteta’s side were feeling a lot more upbeat about their title charge thanks to Aston Villa’s surprise 1-0 home loss against Everton.

Third-placed Villa could have closed to within four points of Arsenal with a victory but instead they sit seven points adrift.

Successive goalless stalemates against Liverpool and Forest in the league have underlined Arsenal’s occasional Achilles heel in attack.

But Gunners winger Noni Madueke is not concerned.

“We weren’t clinical enough in front of goal. There is a long way to go. We know that we’ve been very consistent and we’ll continue to do so,” he said.

City, in second place following four league games without a win, are also seven points behind the leaders after losing to United in Michael Carrick’s first game as boss.

“We dropped many points in the last games but we are going to fight until the end,” City midfielder Rodri said.

Frank on the brink

Barraged by calls for his sacking from furious fans, Thomas Frank insisted he feels “trust from everyone”, but the Tottenham manager’s faith may prove misguided.

Reports on Sunday said that Tottenham’s hierarchy had met to discuss Frank’s future in the aftermath of Saturday’s dismal 2-1 home defeat against struggling West Ham.

Tottenham’s third successive defeat and eighth loss in 14 matches left them languishing in 14th place.

Already out of both domestic cups, the north Londoners are in crisis just months after Frank was hired to replace the sacked Ange Postecoglou.

The former Brentford boss has irritated Tottenham supporters with his prosaic tactics and their miserable results have pushed him to the brink.

Tottenham captain Cristian Romero called for unity after giving an acerbic verdict on the turmoil.

“It is difficult and also a disaster moment for us, but especially in this moment, we need silence. Back in training, work hard every day and stay together,” he said.

Van Dijk ready for Liverpool summit

Virgil van Dijk plans to hold a players’ meeting on Monday to address the issues that threaten to derail Liverpool’s bid for Champions League qualification.

Van Dijk was angry at the sloppiness which allowed lowly Burnley to equalise in the 1-1 draw at Anfield on Saturday.

It was the first time that Liverpool had drawn four successive league matches since 2008.

And for the second time this season, Reds captain Van Dijk is asking questions of the players, as he did after defeat to Manchester United in October in the middle of a run of nine defeats in 12 matches.

“I’m frustrated that after 60 minutes we started to become sloppy and it’s not the first time,” he said.

“It’s been spoken about already but we have to address it again apparently and Monday will be a big one for it.

“It’s not about me addressing it, it is about how can we solve it because we all want to win games.”

Liverpool were jeered by fans after a result that left them in fourth place and Van Dijk added: “I don’t like boos from my own fans.”