Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Arne Slot's Liverpool and Ruben Amorim's Manchester United go head-to-head this weekend. Pic: Naomi Baker/Getty Images.
Ange Postecoglou is under increasing pressure at Nottingham Forest having failed to secure a win in his seven games in charge.
Reports suggest Sean Dyche is waiting to take over, but history shows Evangelos Marinakis sways like the wind, and victory against Chelsea could be enough to save Postecoglou’s job for now.
Goals have been a mounting concern for a team that have been beaten in four of their last five league matches and failed to score in any of those defeats.
Failure to find their shooting boots will ensure Forest go three consecutive top-flight games without a goal for the first time since 1999. It will be a tough task against a buoyant Chelsea team, who entered the international break having beaten Liverpool.
Moisés Caicedo was instrumental in the win against the defending champions, scoring the opener, and the 23-year-old leads the league in tackles (28) and interceptions (18).
Elliot Anderson, whose total of 55 turnovers is also a league-high tally, will have his work cut out for him in what may be his toughest midfield battle of the season.
Tony Bloom knows that standing still is not an option in the Premier League. The Brighton owner has established his boyhood club as top-flight regulars since their promotion in 2017 thanks to a shrewd recruitment process that is the envy of most of their contemporaries.
Bloom acknowledged this week that his aim of qualifying for Europe again has become much harder as Fabian Hürzeler’s side prepare to face Newcastle, who have an identical record after seven matches, at the Amex on Saturday.
“Everything about the Premier League every year becomes more difficult,” said Bloom. “Hence we have to always look to improve and innovate because if you stand still, our competitors are fiercely competitive. They are looking to overtake one another and get stronger all the time.
"We have to do likewise and ideally we are going ahead even faster than the other teams.”
This match between two promoted sides could be a defining early-season moment, with Burnley eager to fortify Turf Moor in their push for survival.
Scott Parker’s side have shown flashes of quality and their unique home needs to be a solid foundation. So far, they have taken four points from three games at Turf Moor – including a crucial win against Sunderland – while conceding just two goals.
In contrast, four of their five defeats and 80% of the goals they have shipped have come on the road. Meanwhile, Leeds have generated significant optimism under Daniel Farke, securing eight points from seven games.
Their promising start could have been even better had it not been for small margins. Gabriel Gudmundsson’s own goal at Fulham and the poor defending that allowed Bournemouth a stoppage-time equaliser left crucial points on the table.
The trip to Burnley, where they will be hoping for consecutive Premier League away wins for the first time since 2022, is another high-stakes test.
Crystal Palace may have lost their unbeaten record to their bogey side Everton but Oliver Glasner kept on winning during the international break.
As well as picking up the Premier League’s manager of the month award for September – the first Palace manager to win it since Tony Pulis in 2014 – he was named Austria’s coach of the year title at the 2025 Niki awards in Vienna before attending a special Westminster reception at the Speaker’s House on Wednesday evening that celebrated their FA Cup and Community Shield triumphs, as well as the work of the Palace for Life Foundation.
It’s back to business against Bournemouth on Saturday and Glasner will be hoping that the defender Chris Richards, one of six members of Palace’s squad to have played every minute of the league campaign, will have recovered after featuring in the USA’s friendly win over Australia in Colorado on Wednesday.
Thirteen months after suffering a near-season ending knee injury against Arsenal, Rodri’s medical problems remain a concern for the player and Pep Guardiola.
The midfielder is vital to Manchester City’s cause. After coming off 22 minutes into the 1-0 win at Brentford with a sore hamstring (and withdrawing from Spain’s international commitments in the break), will the 29-year-old be available for Everton’s visit?
If he is, it may be unrealistic to expect him to complete the 90 minutes, something the Spaniard has done just twice this season.
Questions remain over Rodri’s robustness in the long term. Jamie Jackson
As a young coach in France, Régis Le Bris made a detailed study of Arsène Wenger’s methodology and now Sunderland’s manager is working closely with one of his compatriot’s old lieutenants at Arsenal.
Shad Forsythe eventually left his role as head of first-team performance at the Emirates to perform the same job for Borussia Dortmund and it was regarded as quite a coup when Sunderland secured the American’s services late this summer.
As their French striker Wilson Isidor told L’Équipe: “The intensity in training is crazy now, we’re doing a lot more physical work.”
Le Bris’s team have certainly made a robust start to the season, collecting 11 points from seven games, but they could still do with a home win against a Wolves side who are bottom, especially with tricky-looking fixtures at Chelsea and at home to Everton and Arsenal on the horizon.
Time for Arsenal to put their foot on the accelerator. They are in pole position after Liverpool’s wobble but must be ruthless with their advantage. A trip to Fulham on Saturday evening will test them; a draw in this fixture last season was the kind of result that left Mikel Arteta’s side unable to keep up with Liverpool.
Champions have to be single-minded in these games. There will be some weary limbs after the international break. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have played twice for England, Martin Ødegaard is out for six weeks with a knee injury and Arteta has to think about hosting Atlético Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.
But there can be no excuses. Arsenal could be four points clear of Liverpool once the weekend is over.
Expect goals at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday. None of the last 20 league meetings between Spurs and Aston Villa have ended level, a streak that stretches back to a 1-1 draw in 2012.
Back in the present, Spurs sit third in the league after a seven-match unbeaten streak in all competitions but, yet again, Thomas Frank must contend with an extensive injury list. Yves Bissouma is the latest addition, having sustained an ankle injury on international duty with Mali.
Aston Villa have historically troubled Spurs, winning four of their last six league meetings. Unai Emery’s men will rely on their threat from dead balls – 25% of their shots having come from corners – and the playmaking prowess of Morgan Rogers.
The midfielder’s nine assists in 2025 lead the league and his consistency has seen him join an exclusive list: the former captains Gareth Barry and Gareth Southgate are the only other Villa players to feature in 10 or more consecutive England matches.
It is a remarkable feat for Villa and a clear sign of their resurgence at the top level despite their wobbly start to the season.
Arne Slot may be more preoccupied with Ruben Amorim’s approach than Liverpool’s much-debated system as the Dutchman plots a way out of a rare losing streak.
Manchester United’s 2-2 draw at Anfield in January, another false dawn as it turned out, was built on an improved and impressive mentality, according to Amorim.
Slot was less complimentary, claiming a combination of United’s low block and long-ball tactics were responsible for frustrating Liverpool that day.
“In the last 15 minutes you could see, if they play over the ground, how good they are,” was one of his many barbed comments.
United played 61 long passes in the corresponding fixture last season, 15.9% of their overall total of 383, while Liverpool played 47, 10.7% of their 438 total.
Slot has raised the subject of United’s tactics several times since, usually when conceding the champions still have a problem against low blocks and long-ball teams.
The admission invites Amorim to play the same way. The onus is on Liverpool to find the solutions their summer recruitment policy was designed for.
West Ham’s striker shortage is back in the spotlight. Niclas Füllkrug has succumbed to injury again, leaving Callum Wilson as Nuno Espírito Santo’s only specialist option up front.
It is not the best planning. Wilson, 33, has made one start since signing on a free transfer, and has been an unused substitute since Nuno was hired in place of Graham Potter last month. Alternatives, though, are thin on the ground.
Nuno could be forced to ask Jarrod Bowen to shift into the middle against Brentford, but the captain is far more effective on the right. Who else, though? Lucas Paquetá is an uncomfortable fit as a false 9.
Callum Marshall made his Premier League debut by coming on for Füllkrug against Arsenal this month. There could be an opening for the 20-year-old Northern Ireland international.
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