Ten KEY questions for the weekend's matches

Football writer Alex Keble analyses where this weekend's fixtures could be won and lost, including:

- Will Brentford's tactics allow Man Utd to look coherent?
- Will Emery change to a much-needed new approach?
- If Maresca can tame Brighton’s chaos?
- Can Newcastle launch their season and put Arsenal in trouble?
- If Guardiola will get a simple win to set things right?
- If Calvert-Lewin can breach one of the league’s best defences?
- If Liverpool can beat Palace to make it six straight wins?
- Will Postecoglou’s home debut see "Ange-ball" in full flow?
- Will Kudus and Richarlison continue Wolves’ difficult start?
- If Grealish’s crosses will be a nuisance for Potter?

Will Brentford’s tactics allow Man Utd to look coherent as they did against Chelsea?

Brentford have won two of their last three Premier League home games against Manchester United, scoring nine goals in the process. United don’t like going to the Gtech Community Stadium – but it’s a very different stadium these days.

Keith Andrews’ side have conceded 10 goals in five matches this season, their most at this stage of a league campaign since 2003/04, and only Burnley (95) have conceded more shots in 2025/26 than Brentford’s 70.

That defensive record is despite a tendency to sit deep this season, hence 34 per cent possession in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea and 22 per cent possession in the 1-0 victory over Aston Villa.

Both matches saw some swift counter-attacks come good for Brentford, but following Man Utd’s morale-boosting win against Chelsea last weekend, Ruben Amorim will expect to control the game and stop those breaks.

The main reason Man Utd looked so much more coherent last Sunday wasn’t the result of Chelsea going down to 10 men, but rather how Enzo Maresca reacted to it.

By sitting so deep, he allowed Man Utd to hold their 3-4-3 shape entirely in the opposition half.

Amorim’s formation is built for exactly that situation, one Sporting found themselves in almost every week in Portugal, where the gap between the top three clubs and the rest is as pronounced as the gap between the Old Firm teams (Celtic and Rangers) and the rest in Scotland.

So, a team as defensive as Brentford should play into Man Utd’s hands, especially if United have found a bit of confidence. If Amorim’s system doesn’t work for this kind of fixture – if Brentford’s Dango Ouattara and Kevin Schade break though – then maybe the 3-4-3 might not be the right system for this United side.

Will Emery change to a much-needed new approach?

In a sticky 1-0 win for Aston Villa in May, when Fulham’s usual compressed midblock was tough to play through, Unai Emery was unhappy that his team “started to play a bit [too many] back passes,” and “weren’t progressing like we needed and how we planned before.”

That’s a familiar complaint these days. There is growing concern that Villa are growing stale, their reliance on luring the opposition press and then whipping the ball quickly into the No 10s becoming too easy to read.

Fulham don’t even need to change their usual approach to stump Villa in that regard. Emery, a fastidious researcher of the opposition, is likely to appreciate that – and finally make some big changes to how his team plays.

Villa are averaging just 2.4 shots on target per match in the Premier League this season, a drop from 4.5 per game in 2024/25 and their lowest average since 1997/98.

Change is definitely needed. Perhaps this will be the game we see Jadon Sancho and Ian Maatsen start together following an intriguing cameo jointly on the left against Sunderland last weekend, and maybe Emery will instruct his players to funnel the ball out wide more often.

Can Maresca tame Brighton’s chaos – or will Chelsea look behind the times?

Opta have produced an interesting stat in the build-up to this one: 91.8 per cent of Chelsea’s passes in the Premier League this season have been short passes, the highest ratio of any side in the division, while Brighton & Hove Albion have played 13.2 per cent of their passes long, their highest in a season since 2018/19 (18.6 per cent).

Put another way, Brighton are moving with the times, becoming more direct as the league transitions towards longer passes, longer throws, and direct counter-attacks as the antidote to the possession football of the long Guardiola decade.

Fabian Hurzeler’s side are pretty chaotic at the best of times, and that’s something Enzo Maresca’s short and slow passing – with those rigid positional limits – wants to avoid at all costs, hence why he responded to an early red card at Old Trafford by hunkering down in a back five.

It’s all about minimising risk, controlling the variables. Brighton don’t tend to let you do that.

Then again Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 12 home Premier League games (W9 D3), keeping seven clean sheets in their last nine. What’s more, Moises Caicedo tops the Premier League charts for tackles (21) and interceptions (15): Maresca has the midfield to deal with Brighton’s fast transitions.

The winner on Saturday will help define whether Maresca’s football still fits the modern landscape, or if Hurzeler is the future.

Can Newcastle launch their season and put Arsenal in trouble?

Newcastle United have won each of their last three home games against Arsenal in all competitions without conceding a single goal. Supporters will be feeling confident. Players on both sides might subconsciously think they already know what the outcome will be.

A similar result does feel on the cards. Newcastle have kept clean sheets in four of their five Premier League games this season while Arsenal continue to face criticism for being too slow, and too conservative, in their approach.

Victory for the hosts would help relaunch a slightly faltering season so far, with Newcastle having failed to score in three of their matches and managing just a solitary win. There is nothing to be particularly concerned about, although things are less fluid than they would like.

A statement win, in front of a raucous home crowd, would shake off their sleepy start and get the campaign up and running.

Arsenal cannot afford to drop points. As dramatic as that sounds for such an early stage in the season, even a draw at St James' Park could see Liverpool pull seven points clear with six matches played.

The scrutiny on their performances is already nearing fever pitch. Mikel Arteta needs calm, needs a routine win, needs a few goals. None of those things feel likely in this fixture.

Will Guardiola get a simple win to set things right?

Just like Arsenal, Manchester City could do with a simple win to relax the shoulders a bit and get them back on the right path.

The 4-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers on the opening weekend – one of just two wins so far – feels like a very long time ago.

Their record of seven points from five matches is Man City’s lowest tally at this stage since 2006/07, when Stuart Pearce was in charge.

Burnley at home is just the fixture Pep Guardiola will have wanted. City have won each of their last 13 meetings with Burnley in all competitions by an aggregate score of 46-2.

Better still, although Burnley have started well they have faced more shots (95), more shots on target (25) and had a higher Expected Goals Against (xGA) of 10.5 than any other Premier League club.

Man City face Brentford, Everton, and Aston Villa in their next three after Saturday. They have a golden opportunity to win four in a row, close the gap a little to Liverpool, and show the old steel is still there.

Can Calvert-Lewin breach one of the Premier League’s best defences?

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has endured a tough few years. Hampered by injuries, he has scored 18 Premier League goals in the last four years.

The 28-year-old is hoping for a career reset at Leeds United and he got off to a great start last weekend, scoring a superb header before winning the free-kick for Leeds’ second goal in a 3-1 win against Wolves.

Watch: Calvert-Lewin's first goal for Leeds

Calvert-Lewin needs momentum, but he faces a formidable defence this weekend.

AFC Bournemouth have made their joint-best ever start to a Premier League campaign. They have also faced the second-fewest shots, with 40, and since their opener against Liverpool they haven’t allowed more than six shots in a game.

Can Liverpool make it six wins in a row to become the only unbeaten club left?

The two unbeaten teams facing off at Selhurst Park provides a serious test of both club’s progress. Defeat for either could burst their respective bubbles.

Crystal Palace are unbeaten in 11 Premier League matches and 17 in all competitions, a sequence that includes triumphs in the FA Cup and Community Shield, which was against Liverpool.

Defeat against the champions and league leaders would hardly be a disaster, but if they kept the run going it would certainly raise hopes of more silverware this season.

A win for Liverpool would be pretty significant. Only two reigning Premier League champions have started with six wins and both went on to retain the title.

The prospect of that happening would go up if Liverpool win on Saturday and Arsenal, at Newcastle on Sunday, drop points.

Looking at recent history, an away win is the most likely result. Palace have won just one of their last 16 Premier League meetings with Liverpool (D3 L12), while Liverpool have won nine and lost none of their last 10 away league games against Palace (D1).

But nobody would be surprised if such a fast counter-attacking team would find a way of getting at Liverpool’s vulnerable full-backs.

Will Postecoglou’s home debut see 'Ange-ball' in full flow?

The first Premier League meeting between Nottingham Forest and Sunderland since 1996/97 will look completely different to what we expected when the fixture list came out.

Ange Postecoglou’s home debut promises to follow the Real Betis game in providing full "Ange-ball", while Sunderland, having started brilliantly, will arrive at the City Ground confident they can go toe-to-toe with Forest and take the points.

Postecoglou comes with highs and lows. Forest will be all-out attack and very entertaining to watch, and they might just blow away a promoted side that is yet to face an expansive team since their return to the top flight – and who are yet to score an away goal.

But Forest are just as likely to get caught, their high line proving too much too fast as Simon Adingra and Wilson Isidor (who has scored three of Sunderland’s six goals) burst forward on the break.

Postecoglou couldn’t ask for a better home debut match, in theory. But Sunderland have been explosive and have already caused a few surprises.

Will Kudus-Richarlison partnership continue Wolves’ difficult start?

Tottenham Hotspur have lost four of their last five games against Wolves, conceding at least two in each of the last four. It will be a relief to Spurs fans that they face Wolves at a real low, with five league defeats in five matches.

Better still for the hosts, Wolves have conceded three goals from crosses already this season and four goals built down their left side, showing a vulnerability that matches up with Spurs' new lethal combination between right-winger Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison.

Kudus has assisted Richarlison for three goals this season, the most fruitful connection in the Premier League so far. Richarlison has also scored six goals in 12 matches against Wolves, the joint-most goals he has scored against a single opponent.

Watch: Kudus' assists for Richarlison v Burnley

All the signs point to a Spurs win, which would make Wolves just the fourth Premier League team ever to lose their first six in a single campaign after Portsmouth 2009/10, Crystal Palace 2017/18, and Norwich City 2021/22.

Will Grealish’s crosses be a nuisance for under-pressure Potter?

This is a huge game for Graham Potter and West Ham United, but they face Everton at an unfortunate time.

Everton are yet to concede a Premier League goal at Hill Dickinson Stadium and are hoping to keep a clean sheet in their opening three matches at home for the first time since 1987/88.

The star player in their strong start has of course been August's EA SPORTS Player of the Month, Jack Grealish, who tops the Premier League charts for assists, with four, and has created more chances (13) than any other player bar Man Utd's Bruno Fernandes (15).

Meanwhile, West Ham have conceded seven goals from corners already this season, suggesting a vulnerability to the kind of crosses that have become a prominent feature of Grealish’s game again.

Kyle Walker-Peters will need to win his battle with Grealish if Potter is to avoid another damaging defeat. West Ham have lost 52 per cent of their Premier League games under Potter (12/23), the highest loss rate of any permanent Hammers manager in the Premier League era.