The Premier League returns from the international break with a bang this weekend and Liverpool host Manchester United in one of the standout fixtures. We take a look at some of the HUGE matches in the schedule over the next four weeks.
It has been a tough start to 2025/26 for Scott Parker's Burnley who, in their opening seven Premier League matches, have already conceded 15 goals — one fewer than the total scored against them in 46 Championship games last season. Only West Ham United (16) have conceded more.
The Clarets, who were pipped to the Championship title on goal difference by Leeds United on the final day of last season, are yet to beat the Yorkshire side in four previous Premier League encounters (L3 D1). Leeds are looking to win consecutive top-flight away games for the first time since April 2022 under Jesse Marsch.
Two of the surprise early season pacesetters meet at Selhurst Park with an opportunity to lay down a marker of intent.
Oliver Glasner was named September's Barclays Manager of the Month as Palace stretched their unbeaten run to a club record 19 matches before losing 2-1 at Everton last time out.
The sixth-placed Eagles host an AFC Bournemouth team two places and two points above them in the table, and who arguably boast the division's standout performer of the season so far, Antoine Semenyo, with six goals scored and a further three assisted already.
If you're looking for late drama, then Anfield is the place to be this weekend, given Liverpool’s seven Premier League matches this season have produced four 90th-minute (or later) winning goals.
Arne Slot's side will be looking for a response after their second league defeat on the bounce cost them top spot, when Estevao's stoppage-time winner secured a 2-1 win for Chelsea in Matchweek 7.
Manchester United have won only one of their last 14 Premier League meetings with Liverpool, a 2-1 success at Old Trafford in August 2022, but a first victory at Anfield since 2016 for the Red Devils would move Ruben Amorim's team to within two points of the champions.
West Ham have endured a difficult start to the campaign and are only one of two top-flight teams without a win at home so far. Head coach Graham Potter was replaced by Nuno Espirito Santo last month in a bid to change their fortunes.
The Portuguese has taken one point from a possible six so far, in a 1-1 draw at Everton, and could secure a personal "double" over the Bees, having already beaten them 3-1 with former club Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend of the 2025/26 campaign.
It's been an impressive start for promoted Sunderland after collecting 11 points from their opening seven top-flight matches to sit just behind Chelsea on goal difference.
Regis Le Bris' side have navigated the early weeks of the season with supreme confidence, with the addition of former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka proving an inspired signing. Sunderland have not conceded a goal in their last two away matches, taking four points from Palace (0-0) and Forest (1-0), so will have no fear visiting Stamford Bridge.
Brighton & Hove Albion became only the second team to record three consecutive Premier League away wins at Old Trafford when they beat Man Utd 3-1 in January last season, following on from their victories in 2022/23 (2-1) and 2023/24 (3-1).
Kaoru Mitoma wrote himself into the record books on his last visit to the Theatre of Dreams, becoming the highest-scoring Japanese player in Premier League history with 15 goals, moving one clear of former Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki.
Mitoma's goal v Man Utd
Kaoru giving us the lead at Old Trafford! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/vIJQBmKTe7
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) January 19, 2025
Man Utd have not won back-to-back home matches since Amorim took charge on 1 November 2024, but could this be the time they put that right?
Arsenal's testing period continues with their second London derby either side of a titanic UEFA Champions League encounter with Atletico Madrid.
Mikel Arteta's men will be in the middle of a run of six matches in 18 days that also includes tricky fixtures against Fulham, Brighton, Burnley and Slavia Prague.
Expect squad rotation at its fullest, but also Gunners star Eberechi Eze to potentially face his former club Palace for the first time following his summer move from south to north London.
Think chaos. Think goals. Think epic comebacks. This London derby may be one of the fiercest, but it also has history as one of the most mouthwateringly mayhem-filled fixtures in recent history.
Chelsea have scored four goals on each of their last two visits to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with last season's seven-goal see-saw classic settled by Cole Palmer’s Panenka penalty. That gave the Blues their eighth win in the last 11 Premier League meetings between the two rivals.
Watch highlights of Chelsea's thrilling win at Spurs
It will be exactly one year to the day that Bournemouth ended the 32-match unbeaten run of then-champions Manchester City with a 2-1 win at Vitality Stadium on 2 November 2024.
The defeat dropped Pep Guardiola's side, who had not lost in the league since a 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa on 6 December 2023, to second in the table behind Liverpool, and they were never ahead of Slot's side again in the rest of the 2024/25 season.
This fixture could prove a real litmus test of Bournemouth's European ambitions — that memorable victory last November was the only blemish on Man City's perfect Premier League record against the Cherries, having won all of their other 15 encounters, scoring 49 goals to Bournemouth's 10.
A rerun of last season's UEFA Europa League final will have a very different feel about it, not least because Thomas Frank is now in charge of Spurs, having replaced former head coach Ange Postecoglou in the summer.
While Frank has made an instant impact at Spurs, moving away from Postecoglou's intense high-pressing tactics, he faces a Man Utd side drilled to perform in a 3-4-3 formation at all times.
Man Utd will have the benefit of a kinder schedule as this will be their fourth fixture after the Premier League's return this Saturday, while Spurs have seven matches to play across the same period.
The Stadium of Light is proving a fortress for Sunderland and they will be targeting another three points to maintain their perfect home record against London clubs this season.
The Black Cats have already beaten Brentford 2-1 and West Ham 3-0, respectively, and star midfielder Xhaka will relish the opportunity to face his former Arsenal team-mates for the first time since leaving the club for Bayer Leverkusen in 2023.
Xhaka spent seven years at Emirates Stadium, winning two FA Cups and briefly captaining the side before moving to the Bundesliga.
Watch Xhaka's best Premier League goals
It may not be classified as a typical local derby, but there is still a huge rivalry between London-based Palace and Sussex side Brighton, who are separated by the M23 motorway.
There is little love lost between the teams - last season's Selhurst Park encounter finished with only 19 players on the pitch following red cards for Palace's Marc Guehi and Eddie Nketiah, plus Brighton's Jan Paul van Hecke.
This fixture may come four days after 5 November, but history suggests there could be fireworks on the pitch once again!
The Premier League table will be really starting to take shape by the time title contenders Man City and Liverpool face each other at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday 9 November.
Twelve months ago, Liverpool finished Matchweek 11 five points clear of City, an advantage they never let slip as they went on to be crowned champions.
Liverpool head into this Etihad Stadium encounter straight off the back of a Champions League home tie against Real Madrid, a day before City host Borussia Dortmund in the same competition.
Last season, the Reds beat Man City 2-0 both home and away during a disjointed season for Guardiola's side, who had an unprecedented amount of key players — including Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and John Stones — absent through injury. Liverpool are unlikely to find it that easy this time around.