Burnley captain Tom Heaton will be on familiar ground at Old Trafford this weekend and the Clarets stopper insists there is a job to do.

Sean Dyche’s side have already upset the applecart in the Premier League this season with wins over high flyers Liverpool and Everton.

And they face a Jose Mourinho side this weekend that have only won one of their last six in the league but did beat Manchester City in the EFL Cup in midweek.

But Heaton – who began his career at the Red Devils under Sir Alex Ferguson – is relishing the chance to get one over his former employers.

“It’s a special game back. I still hold a lot of affection for the football club,” said Heaton, who has also gone on to become an England international.

“I spent 13 years there and almost grew up there. I’m still pleased I made that decision to earn those stripes and get back to the Premier League and be involved in the international set-up.

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“It’s always a nice feeling going back there but, as ever, there will be a job to do and that will be the focus.

“I think it’s been a good start. We’ve got three good wins on the board.

“We know the task and the quality they’ve got but we know the quality we’ve got and how we want to go about things.

“We want to make it uncomfortable and impact on the game how we know we can.

“And if do that then hopefully we will give ourselves a great chance of coming away with a result.”

After watching his side crash out of the EFL Cup at West Ham on Wednesday, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte admitted it was a big blow for the club’s youngsters in particular to be out of the competition.

The Blues went down 2-1 at the London Stadium, with Gary Cahill’s stoppage-time goal no more than a consolation after the hosts scored either side of the break through Cheikhou Kouyate and Edimilson Fernandes.

The game was marred by violent scenes towards the end between fans from either side of London, but Conte preferred to focus on the positives – with young guns Ola Aina and Nathaniel Chalobah deployed in the visitors’ midfield against an almost full-strength West Ham outfit.

But Conte hinted that it might be harder to select his starlets now his side are no longer involved in the EFL Cup, with Chelsea only fighting for silverware now on two fronts in the FA Cup and Premier League.

“I prefer to speak always about the whole team but I think this cup is very important to check the development of these young players,” he said.

“We have good young players and they need to play, and for this reason I am disappointed that we can’t play in the future. I think the youngsters played a good game with the right intensity and concentration.

(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

“When you lose it’s normal to see bad things but tonight I found a lot of positives.

“Usually you learn more after a defeat than a win but we must continue to work. I’m optimistic because I saw the right spirit and that’s very important. You can lose or win but you must have the right spirit. If I see that, I see a clear future.

“Tomorrow we start to work for Sunday’s game. We know we will play a very tough game against Southampton, who are in a good moment.”

This may be Walter Mazzarri’s first year in England but the Watford manager insists he can already tell that the standard in the Premier League has drastically improved this season.

The 2015/16 campaign will go down as one of the greatest – if not the greatest – in Premier League history after 5,000-1 hopefuls Leicester City claimed the most unexpected of titles.

But while last season will be remembered for being one of the most unforgettable, for fans of many of the top clubs they will want to erase it from their memory quickly as their team underperformed.

There is a strong argument to be made that the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea – to name a few – have all improved on last season, not to mention many of the smaller clubs such as Bournemouth and Mazzarri’s own Watford.

Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes makes a save during the Premier League match between Swansea. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

The former Napoli and Inter Milan boss watched on from his native Italy during the 2015/16 campaign and has no doubt the division is tougher this time around – although his side face one of their easier games of the campaign on Saturday when they welcome Hull City.

Mazzarri, who replaced Quique Sanchez Flores in the summer, said: “In this new Premier League season, all the teams have become much stronger and got better compared to last year.

“We don’t tend to really look at the statistics because, for example, we managed to beat Middlesbrough at their ground but the next week they drew at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal.

“We need to be ready [against Hull] and we need to go to play in our best possible way, always respecting the opponent.”

Despite on-going crowd issues at the London Stadium, West Ham’s problems on the field seem to have been allayed and Cheikhou Kouyate has put the improvements down to hard work.

After an impressive season in the first year of Slaven Bilic’s reign, West Ham made a poor start in their new home and found themselves in the bottom three during the last international break.

Back-to-back wins in the Premier League against Crystal Palace and Sunderland eased the pressure and last night’s EFL Cup victory over Chelsea stretches their unbeaten run to four games.

And the Senegal midfielder believes it was the time the squad spent on the training field with Bilic which is now paying dividends on the pitch and is targeting a trip to Wembley.

“We have been working hard the last few weeks and are now getting some good results. We will stay humble because we want to continue winning,” he said.

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“The new system is very good and I am enjoying the position. Every player has to work hard in the system and we have been doing that. The spirit has always been there.

“Last season we wanted to reach Wembley so why can’t we do it this season.”

The quality of the Southampton’s academy set-up is well known and new manager Claude Puel is impressed with the young talent he’s had chance to work with.

Former Saints stars Gareth Bale, Adam Lallana and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have all earned international caps after developing on the south coast and five more academy graduates made their debuts on Wednesday.

And while it was the club’s record signing Sofiane Boufal, 22, who clinched the winner in the EFL Cup tie with a stunning strike as Southampton beat Sunderland 1-0, Puel highlighted how the young talent is still coming through.

“I wanted to give the chance, in this game, to players like Boufal and all of the young players,” he said.

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

“The young players had a good spirit. It was difficult because they didn’t have experience and maturity, but with energy and quality, like the goal of Boufal, it was okay.

“We have some injuries, so some players didn’t play in their position too, like (Jack) Stephens for example.

“He played at right-back, but with a good attitude he played a good game, like all of the young players.”

Southampton, who have never won the League Cup, take on Arsenal in the quarter-finals on the week commencing November 28.

Sunderland sunk deeper into the mire after racking up their third loss in a row on Wednesday but attacker Duncan Watmore insists his side can see light at the end of the tunnel.

The Black Cats battled gamely but were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Southampton record signing Sofiane Boufal, who settled the game in the second half with a superb strike.

To compound Sunderland’s woes, boss David Moyes was sent to the stands after an angry exchange with the officials over a Victor Anichebe penalty shout.

(GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

Up next are an in-form Arsenal back at the Stadium of Light and the odds do not look good considering Moyes has presided over just two competitive wins since being appointed manager over the summer.

But the Scot very much still has the dressing room on his side according to Watmore.

“Our team ethic is very important but we have great lads in the dressing room and good backroom staff, so everyone at the club is pulling in the same direction,” said the 22-year-old.

“Now we have to make it count and take it onto the pitch.

“It’s another loss which is frustrating for us but we have to keep going. We could have had a penalty – but losing is frustrating and it’s disappointing to be out of the cup.

“You could say we haven’t had much luck but sometimes you’ve got to earn it, so we will keep working hard for each other and be positive.”

Jose Mourinho turned on the charm offensive post-derby victory over Manchester City by reiterating his appreciation for the support shown by the Manchester United faithful.

Former Chelsea boss Mourinho has experienced an indifferent start to life at Old Trafford since arriving in the summer, with his side seventh in the Premier League table, six points behind leaders City.

At the weekend, he suffered humiliation on his return to his former employers as Chelsea thumped United 4-0.

But the Red Devils bounced back on Wednesday night as Juan Mata’s second-half goal saw them beat Manchester City to reach the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

And a passionate Mourinho – who is reportedly earning more than £10m a year – was quick to flag up the support he had received from the fans.

“It is an important result because this is a knockout competition: if you lose you are out and if you win you are in,” he said.

“It is especially important because it was a way to create a better feeling for the absolutely wonderful fans that I have never seen before in my life.

“After the defeat at Chelsea, to have this support is incredible. The love that these people have for the club is bigger than the result, it is bigger than the success and the trophies. It is real love and it is real passion. I am very happy for them, I don’t care about myself. I am not happy because it is important for me, I am happy for the fans.

“It is easy to be a Man United fan when you win the treble, when you win five titles in seven years. But it is not so easy when you lose 4-0 and this is incredible. The only thing I can say is that I couldn’t be prouder than I am to be Man United manager.

“We are going to fight and the players did that for the fans. The fans did that for the fans too because they also played this game.

“This was not the Champions League final. It is just the League Cup last 16, but it was against City and it was after a big defeat so it was very important for us.”

Manchester City have not won one of their last six games in all competitions but Gael Clichy insists there is absolutely no need for anyone to panic.

Wednesday night’s 1-0 defeat to bitter rivals Manchester United ended their defence of the EFL Cup before the quarter-final stage.

After a storming start to life under Pep Guardiola, the wheels have come off somewhat in the last month but Clichy insists their luck is about to change.

“Lately, the results and the points are not on board. We have to keep working and we’re sure we’re going to get there,” he said.

“We did quite a lot of things right. Sometimes, you have times where you give 100% but you need to give 110% because luck is not on your side.

“If we are a bit more clinical playing forward and more compact as a team, maybe we can do better.”

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Skipper Vincent Kompany went off in the second half but Clichy was quick to allay fears that their centre back had suffered yet another injury setback.

“Vinnie is a massive player for us,” he added. “There’s nothing to be worried about.

“He’s been out for quite some time and he played 80 minutes three days ago. He was sensible in not getting injured again.

“When you lose a player like this, you have to adjust but we have enough quality to still play a good game.

“He did okay and he is not injured so that is the main thing.

“Like I said, we’re doing well apart from the results but we just need to work a little bit and I’m sure we’ll get there.”

He was singled out for praise by manager Arsene Wenger after making his first home start for Arsenal in Tuesday night’s 2-0 EFL Cup victory over Reading and now Ainsley Maitland-Niles plans to kick on.

The teenager, who played alongside Mohamed Elneny in the centre of Arsenal’s midfield, has been at the club since the age of nine and spent last season on loan at Ipswich Town in the Championship.

At just 17 years and 102 days, Maitland-Niles became Arsenal’s second-youngest Champions League player,behind Jack Wilshere, following his substitute appearance against Galatasaray in December 2014, and made his Premier League debut against Newcastle United four days later.

Maitland-Niles is well aware of the fierce competition that exists in Arsenal’s midfield at present but the utility man is determined to catch his manager’s eye and follow in the footsteps of Alex Iwobi and force his way into the first team picture.

“I was nervous at first, but I just got on with the game and tried to do what I do best,” he said.

“Everyone wants to score, so I tried a few times in the first half. I wasn’t too far off with some of them; some of them were a bit wayward.

(Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

“I’m just full of confidence right now and I’m trying to push on to cement a first team place.

“It just gives you a lot of confidence and you just need to take it into the games and keep speaking to him (Arsene Wenger) and seeing where you need to improve on. So that’s what I try to do.

“It was difficult [at Ipswich] but at the same time it gave me a lot of experience and showed me how different men’s football is from playing with a bunch of kids.

“But it’s like when you come back from those sorts of experiences, you learn a lot and you’ve just got to take it into the season ahead of you.”

Manager Pep Guardiola can barely contain his excitement at the arrival of Brazilian Gabriel Jesus who Manchester City signed in the summer.

Jesus moved to the Etihad ahead of other European clubs after a personal call from Guardiola, but has yet to arrive in Manchester due to the Brazilian league not concluding until December.

But his current side Palmeiras are top of the league with Jesus netting 11 times in 22 appearances so far in this campaign.

The Brazilian will join up with his team mates in the New Year but he has already broadcast his ability with the national team scoring four goals, including two on his debut in September against Ecuador.

(Photo by Nelson Pulido/LatinContent/Getty Images)

“The club decided to buy him and we are so happy, the guy is 19, 20 years old playing number nine for Brazil, it means a lot,” Guardiola said.

“We are so happy he is here, I am sure he is going to help us, not just this season but in the future of this club. From my point of view, I just want to help him, to build him.

“He will arrive with Fernandinho and Fernando and the other Brazilian players to help him to adjust and adapt as soon as possible. We are looking forward to him coming and being with us.”