10 big questions from this weekend's Premier League action

theScore examines the most important Premier League developments by answering 10 key questions that arose from this weekend's slate of action.

Why does VAR hate Chelsea?

With Chelsea sitting on the wrong side of three questionable VAR calls in six days, the Blues have reason to feel aggrieved.

During Monday's 2-0 home defeat to Manchester United, Red Devils defender Harry Maguire impaled Michy Batshuayi's unmentionables on his boot, something VAR deemed not worthy of a red card. Then, Chelsea had Kurt Zouma's equalizer ruled out when Cesar Azpilicueta, who was adjudged to have committed a foul, was clearly shoved on the play. Again, VAR bottled it.

Saturday's win over Tottenham capped it all off when VAR determined that Spurs whiz Giovani Lo Celso didn't even merit a booking for a violent stamp on Azpilicueta. How absurd was that non-call? The league's arbiters of video review admitted their mistake mid-match.

And to think, VAR was introduced to help curb the consequences of human error. VAR doesn't just hate Chelsea, it hates football. What a mess.

Should Giroud get more minutes?

World Cup winner Olivier Giroud started against Spurs as first-choice striker Tammy Abraham fought an ankle issue, and the Frenchman bagged the opener 15 minutes into a pivotal 2-1 victory.

It was Giroud's first league goal of the season from a scant 285 minutes played, not dissimilar to Batshuayi's one tally in 208 minutes. Batshuayi is averaging 13.8 minutes per appearance, a laughable return for a player Frank Lampard clearly doesn't rate.

With Abraham likely to assume first-choice duties following his 19-minute substitute's bow versus Spurs, Chelsea would profit from handing additional time to a player who should be motivated to fight for a spot in France's Euro 2020 squad. His elite hold-up play and deft passing skills will only help Chelsea's top-four push.

Can Spurs compete without Kane, Son?

"It's like going to a gunfight without bullets, so we did what we could do," Jose Mourinho complained following Tottenham's defeat to RB Leipzig on Wednesday. Long-term injuries to Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son have left Spurs short on attacking options.

If only they could have prepared for this, with Kane amounting to the lone traditional striker in the first team. Alas, they have not, and without 45% of their league goals this season, Spurs face a fight to secure a Champions League spot.

With Kane in the team, Spurs boast a 57.2% winning percentage and a 45.8% rate without him, dropping from 1.91 goals per match to 1.29. Son's fractured arm compounds this, and the alternatives haven't been great. Dele Alli and Lucas Moura formed a two-man attack against Leipzig, and the former was utterly atrocious. In the defeat to Chelsea, newcomer Steven Bergwijn started up top and didn't manage a shot in an outing where Mourinho's side mustered five efforts total.

In fairness to the Dutchman, Mourinho's system Saturday wasn't exactly designed to offer him much support:

Spurs have 11 matches left in the league, and with many of their direct competitors picking up wins this weekend, it doesn't look great. The Europa League beckons.

Van Aanholt, Palace's danger man?

Crystal Palace haven't exactly set the league ablaze this season with a joint-worst 24 goals scored.

Christian Benteke - one goal in 18 matches - and his inexplicable new contract have been awful, and wingers Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend have combined for four goals, or one every 777 minutes played.

Roy Hodgson can thank the heavens for full-back Patrick van Aanholt, whose pinpoint free-kick in Saturday's 1-0 win over Newcastle was the difference. The Dutchman now has three goals on the season, good enough for joint-second on the Eagles with Zaha. Van Aanholt also has 13 career league goals, surpassing Scott Dann for most by a Palace defender.

Time for Ederson to take penalties?

"(Ederson), believe me, is the best taker we have in the penalties," Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said in January. As a refresher, Ederson is City's first-choice 'keeper.

And, apparently, he's also their best penalty taker after Sergio Aguero was thwarted from the spot against Leicester City on Saturday. City have now missed each of their last four penalties in the league. Perhaps it's a Manchester-wide issue, with City (four) and United (four) missing eight total spot-kicks, more than the other 18 clubs combined (seven).

Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, and Raheem Sterling - who missed both an attempt and a retake versus Wolves - have all been futile. Could it be time for Rogerio Ceni 2.0 at the Etihad?

Is Laporte Manchester City's MVP?

It's no coincidence that Manchester City have once again looked defensively stable since the long-awaited return of Aymeric Laporte.

The French center-back, who's gradually been worked into the squad since recovering from the serious right knee injury he suffered in August, made his third appearance of the calendar year Saturday, playing 58 minutes in the 1-0 win over Leicester. That came on the back of 65 minutes against West Ham earlier this week, and a 78-minute showing in a victory over Sheffield United in January. City didn't concede a goal in any of those games.

It's not the largest sample size, but aside from the woeful Hammers, this wasn't a matter of playing against middling opposition. Clean sheets against the Blades and Foxes, both Champions League contenders this season, aren't something to scoff at.

There were obvious concerns when Laporte was substituted early in the second half at King Power Stadium on Saturday, but Guardiola allayed fears that the club's best defender wouldn't be fit for the impending Champions League clash with Real Madrid.

"He asked me to be subbed," Guardiola said. "He's not injured. We cannot forget he has been out for four or five months injured. ... It was quite different against West Ham (on Wednesday), where there was only one striker, so it was easier to control, but he's OK."

Music to the ears of City fans, no doubt.

Why isn't McNeil getting more love?

Burnley winger Dwight McNeil put forth another exemplary performance this weekend, setting up a goal and scoring one of his own in Saturday's 3-0 win over Bournemouth. The assist, which teed up Matej Vydra's tally, was the 10th of McNeil's young Premier League career, making the 20-year-old the youngest player to hit double-digit helpers since Raheem Sterling accomplished the feat as a 19-year-old in 2014.

And yet, McNeil, the most consistent player on a team in the top half of the Premier League table, never seems to garner the same plaudits as some of the game's other exciting youngsters. It's weird. On the surface, he checks most of the boxes. He's English, for starters, which has often been the only precursor necessary for the local media to anoint someone as the world's next great star. Crucially, he also plays in an attacking role, primarily as a wide midfielder in Sean Dyche's 4-4-2 formation.

The only variable contributing to his anonymity appears to be the shirt he wears: Burnley, as even Dyche will surely attest, aren't exactly the sexiest team around. A defensive-minded side that values rigidity over free-flowing football, it's easy to overlook the Clarets.

But in McNeil, it appears as though Dyche and Co. have a player capable of changing that perception.

How long can Wolves hold on to Jota?

Just about everything Diogo Jota touches right now is turning to gold.

Over Wolverhampton's last two matches - wins over Espanyol and Norwich City in the Europa League and Premier League, respectively - the Portuguese forward has taken seven shots. Five of them have found the net.

Unsurprisingly, the energetic attacker, who's fashioned an impressive understanding with Raul Jimenez up front for Wolves, is now being tipped as a transfer target for the likes of Manchester United.

The transfer window may be closed, but that's never stopped rumors from spreading before. If Jota keeps up anything close to this torrid scoring pace for the remainder of the campaign, the 23-year-old will be on the wish list of Europe's biggest clubs this summer.

Can Martial deliver every week?

The best goal of the weekend came courtesy of Anthony Martial, whose combination of patience, nifty footwork, and nonchalant confidence bamboozled Watford during Manchester United's 3-0 win at Old Trafford.

The Frenchman, who has goals in three consecutive appearances across all club competitions for the first time since 2017, now has 10 league markers on the campaign. He's one short of his career-best tally, established during his first season in the Premier League.

Martial's upward trajectory has somewhat tapered off since his big-money move from Monaco, but in the absence of the injured Marcus Rashford, the 24-year-old is showing he can be the consistent performer we've all been desperately waiting for him to become.

Can Arsenal stay out of their own way?

The defensive frailties remain - starting Shkodran Mustafi and David Luiz at center-back has that effect - but Arsenal showed Sunday they can outscore their issues at the back. That quality, an attribute of the late-era Arsene Wenger teams, disappeared when Unai Emery assumed the reins. But it seems to be gradually reemerging under Mikel Arteta, who's a proponent of the open, incisive, attacking football that fans at the Emirates have longed for since Wenger's departure.

Playing against Everton certainly helps. Despite their improvement under Carlo Ancelotti, the Toffees remain a susceptible team that will concede chances in bunches when put under pressure.

Regardless, Arsenal deserve credit for recovering from an early setback at the Emirates, as Dominic Calvert-Lewin's acrobatic effort inside the opening minute was quickly brushed off. Led by Golden Boot chaser Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Gunners secured an eventful 3-2 win to remain very much alive in the Champions League race.

To stay in the hunt, they'll need to throw caution to the wind and play the gung-ho style their squad dictates. As evidenced by the latter stages of Sunday's victory, Arsenal simply don't have the makeup to sit back and defend.