Football writer Alex Keble analyses where this weekend's fixtures could be won and lost, including:
- Grealish and Ndiaye exposing open Liverpool
- Newly-direct Man City finally beating Arsenal
- Which of Amorim or Maresca will be under the spotlight?
- If Emery will unleash his new forwards to end goal drought
- Will Postecoglou launch Ange-ball against Burnley?
- If Iraola can announce Bournemouth’s ascent into the top tier?
- Wolves taking a golden chance to end their losing streak
- Will Palace’s defensive record continue West Ham’s poor form?
- If Frank can find balance at Brighton after midweek exertions
- Can Andrews’ set-pieces make the difference against Fulham?
Can Grealish and Ndiaye expose open Liverpool?
All the statistics point to a familiar home win in the Merseyside derby.
David Moyes has never won a Premier League match at Anfield in 20 attempts, the joint-most of any manager at one stadium without winning, while Liverpool have lost just one of their last 28 home matches against Everton in all competitions.
But Everton’s strong start to the season has been defined by attributes that seem to correlate exactly with Liverpool’s new weaknesses.
Arne Slot’s 100 per cent record does not tell the whole story. Liverpool have needed late winners in all five of their Premier League and UEFA Champions League matches, and against AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United looked vulnerable to quick counter-attacks funnelled down the wings.
That’s because Slot’s new signings threaten to create an imbalance. Milos Kerkez has struggled on the left, Dominik Szoboszlai isn’t a natural right-back on the other side, and Florian Wirtz’s inclusion has disrupted the counter-press, allowing teams to get behind Liverpool’s midfield on the break and feed the wingers.
Everton’s wingers are in superb form; only three players have completed more take-ons in the Premier League this season than Everton duo Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye (both eight), while only Bruno Fernandes (10) has created more chances from open play than Grealish (nine).
Grealish versus Szoboszlai on one side and Ndiaye versus Kerkez on the other makes for two fascinating key battles.
If Liverpool continue to be as open as they have been then Everton will expect to carve out opportunities on the counter.
Will newly-direct Man City finally beat Arsenal?
There is growing distrust in some quarters about Arsenal’s willingness to go toe-to-toe in the big matches, with Mikel Arteta’s apparent conservatism drawing criticism in the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in Matchweek 3.
Those usual roles might be reversed at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola is likely to feel cautious given that Manchester City are winless in four Premier League matches against Arsenal. He has never gone five in a row against an opponent.
That alone is cause for a change of strategy.
More significantly, the way City broke Manchester United’s high line was in keeping with Guardiola’s newly direct approach, which necessitates having less of the ball and waiting for moments to pounce.
City are attacking far quicker than in years gone by, exemplified by the urgency of Tijjani Reijnders, the use of Phil Foden in central midfield, the speed with which the ball gets into Erling Haaland and the signing of a less possession-sensible goalkeeper in Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The stats also bear this out.
Man City's fast breaks last five seasons
| Season | Fast breaks/match | Through-balls/match | Passes per sequence | % Passes forward |
| 2021/22 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 5.29 | 25.8% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 5.35 | 26.3% |
| 2023/24 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 5.58 | 25.1% |
| 2024/25 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 5.12 | 24.2% |
| 2025/26 | 1.8 | 3.5 | 4.30 | 29.4% |
Scroll across to see the full table
Guardiola may feel this is the best way to beat Arsenal, sitting off more and allowing the hosts to come on to them – before playing through-balls in behind.
Which of Amorim or Maresca will be under Old Trafford spotlight?
There is always attention on Ruben Amorim, far more than on Enzo Maresca, but by full-time at Old Trafford on Saturday evening, it could be the Chelsea head coach in the spotlight for once.
Chelsea have made a decent start to the season although draws at Brentford and at home to Crystal Palace suggest they are not as ready for a title challenge as many pundits thought.
Anything less than victory would mean a lower points tally than at this stage in Maresca’s first season in charge.
Following their FIFA Club World Cup triumph it would be a disappointment for Chelsea, especially after a losing start in the Champions League in midweek.
Although not as much as defeat would be for Man Utd. Like Chelsea, anything less than three points for United would mean fewer points than at the five-game mark in 2024/25.
Will Emery unleash his new forwards to end goal drought?
Aston Villa are the only team in the top seven divisions of English football yet to score a goal in the league.
This weekend they are hoping to avoid becoming only the third team in top-flight history to fail to score in any of their first five matches after Ipswich Town in 1970/71 and Crystal Palace under Frank de Boer in 2017/18.
It won’t be easy. Sunderland have won both of their home matches this season and are aiming to make it three in a row in the Premier League for the first time since February 2012.
A raucous atmosphere at the Stadium of Light threatens to overwhelm a Villa team that appear to be struggling for confidence.
Part of Villa’s issue might be a lack of fresh ideas. Eight of the 11 players who started the 0-0 draw at Everton last weekend played under Dean Smith, the last-but-one Villa manager who was dismissed in November 2021.
Unai Emery started Evann Guessand, Donyell Malen, Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho – all signed in 2025 – on the bench in that match.
All four were starters in the defeat at Brentford in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, which in terms of speed, fluency, and attacking threat was Villa’s best performance of the season.
It is surely time to go with some of these attackers in the hope that it kick-starts Villa’s Premier League campaign.
Will Postecoglou launch Ange-ball against Burnley?
Ange Postecoglou was never likely to change much for his first match as Nottingham Forest head coach. Any club travelling to Emirates Stadium needs to show caution, and having had only two days with his new team, Postecoglou simply didn’t have time to get his ideas across.
But after a week on the training field, and for the trip to a defensively-minded Burnley, he might give us the first glimpse of what a full-strength Postecoglou Nott'm Forest will really look like (the team was rotated heavily for the EFL Cup defeat to Swansea City).
Burnley have the highest Expected Goals Against (xGA) total of any Premier League side this season (9.4).
They are potentially open to aggressive, expansive attacking football of the sort historically associated with Postecoglou teams.
That might mean debuts for Oleksandr Zinchenko – a player with experience inverting from full-back – and for Douglas Luiz, as well as a high defensive line and gung-ho pressure in the final third.
If we don’t see evidence of this we can begin to consider that Postecoglou has learnt from his experience at Tottenham Hotspur - and is willing to show greater flexibility in his second Premier League job.
Can Iraola announce Bournemouth’s ascent into the top tier?
Since the 4-2 opening day defeat to Liverpool, which could so easily have ended in a heroic 2-2 comeback draw, Bournemouth have won their last three Premier League matches.
They are on the verge of becoming media darlings and dark horses; this season’s equivalent of Nott'm Forest.
A victory against Newcastle would be enough to signal their arrival and hint at a possible challenge for the Champions League places. The timing of the fixture is fortunate, too.
Newcastle might be mentally or physically shattered from their match against Barcelona in midweek, raising the possibility Eddie Howe’s side extend their sequence of away Premier League matches without a goal to four.
What’s more, Howe hasn’t beaten his former side Bournemouth in six Premier League attempts, having drawn four and losing twice.
Bournemouth fans will be feeling optimistic of recording what could be a season-making victory.
Can Wolves take golden chance to end their losing streak?
Wolverhampton Wanderers have lost each of their first four matches in a league season for the first time in their history. Only five teams have ever lost their first five in a Premier League season.
Encouragingly three of those five teams avoided relegation. But the other two finished rock bottom.
Vitor Pereira will know Saturday’s visit of promoted Leeds United is an ideal chance to get Wolves’ campaign up and running.
Leeds have now gone three Premier League matches without scoring, which isn’t surprising.
They have taken the fewest shots on target of any team in the competition (eight) and have the second-worst conversion rate at 2.27 per cent, behind only goalless Villa.
Wolves haven’t been much better so far, scoring just twice, and they will again be without the injured Jorgen Strand Larsen.
In his absence last week, Pereira tried a new 3-5-2 two system with two strikers, but to no avail.
New signing Tolu Arokodare may play alone up top. A goal on his home debut could be transformative for the club.
Will Palace’s defensive record continue West Ham’s poor form?
West Ham United have lost their first two home matches of the season by an aggregate of 8-1, and although Chelsea and Spurs are tough opening opponents that doesn’t account for Graham Potter’s side being winless in their last seven at the London Stadium, with three draws and four defeats.
In direct contrast Crystal Palace have lost just two of their last 17 away Premier League matches, having won eight and drawn seven, keeping nine clean sheets in their previous 15.
The visitors are also one of just two sides, along with Liverpool, yet to be behind this campaign, reflecting a superb defensive record under Oliver Glasner; since his first fixture in charge in February 2024, only Arsenal and Man City, with 24 and 21 respectively, have kept more clean sheets than Palace (19).
Palace aren’t big scorers, mind. Leaving aside a 3-0 win at Villa – a team Glasner always knows how to beat – they have scored two goals in five matches in all competitions, a run that might continue with Adam Wharton and Ismaila Sarr on the sidelines.
This one probably won’t be a classic then. But Palace’s defensive strength is likely to stump West Ham, whose leaky defence might not be looking forward to facing the pace of Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Will Frank find balance at Brighton after midweek exertions?
Last season, matches between Brighton & Hove Albion and Postecoglou’s Spurs were, as you might expect, end-to-end, with Fabian Hurzeler’s side winning 3-2 at home and 4-1 away.
Thomas Frank probably won’t let that happen again. In fact, the two teams now have contrasting styles.
Frank is sure to do his best to shut down Brighton by allowing them to hold aimless possession and by going long, refusing to let Hurzeler’s press be effective.
He won’t fall into the trap as Postecoglou’s side did, playing dangerously out from the back.
Brighton have the lowest Passes Allowed Per Defensive Action (PPDA) in the Premier League this season (9.5) while their eight shots following high turnovers is the most. Frank will be wary of that.
However, Frank has never managed in Europe before, and although he has experience dealing with 46-match Championship campaigns, it remains to be seen if his highly-flexible, ultra-detailed game-plans will be possible in these two-game weeks.
Spurs may also be exhausted from their 1-0 victory over Villarreal in the Champions League, giving Brighton the chance to set the tempo at the Amex Stadium.
Can Andrews’ set-pieces make the difference against Fulham?
Keith Andrews was Brentford’s set-piece coach up until his summer promotion, so it’s no surprise long throws have already become a major weapon.
Brentford‘s equaliser against Villa in the EFL Cup on Wednesday was from a long throw, following a similar goal late on against Chelsea last Saturday.
All four of the goals Fulham have conceded have been set-plays: two penalties and two corners.
Certainly Brentford will be relying on their set-pieces.
Only Burnley (30) have had fewer shots than Brentford (33) in the Premier League this season, and their current average of 8.3 shots per game is their lowest in any of their five campaigns in the competition.
Fulham are vulnerable to good deliveries. This is surely Brentford's best route to a first away win of the season.