Football writer Alex Keble analyses where this weekend's fixtures could be won and lost, including:
- Can Dyche end Man Utd’s winning streak on home debut?
- Will tactical battle see Spurs lure Chelsea into trouble?
- Emery’s Rogers-Watkins counter-attacks to continue Liverpool’s woes?
- Can Bournemouth capitalise on Man City’s form?
- If Fulham will end their losing streak against winless Wolves?
- If facing Newcastle is a good opportunity for Nuno to get off the mark?
- Can Arsenal begin to pull clear at the top?
- Can Sunderland get another three points before their fixtures turn?
- Does return to Selhurst Park offer Palace the chance to halt decline?
- Will Leeds’ profligate finishing gift Brighton a rare clean sheet?
Can Dyche end Man Utd’s winning streak on home league debut?
Sean Dyche’s first match in charge of Nottingham Forest, a 2-0 UEFA Europa League victory over Porto at the City Ground, was a phenomenal way to start the job and we should not pay too much attention to what happened next.
AFC Bournemouth away is one of the most difficult matches in the Premier League right now, made even harder by the three-day turnaround from Forest’s last match.
Dyche’s Premier League home debut should be a return to something like the Porto performance, with the crowd well up for a battle with Manchester United, whom Forest have beaten in each of their last three league meetings.
It’s a huge match for Ruben Amorim, too. Man Utd are on a three-match winning streak in the Premier League, but an away game against defence-first opposition represents a new challenge for this rejuvenated team.
United’s last match with a similar tactical battle was at Brentford in late September, where Amorim’s side were roundly beaten 3-1.
If United really have turned a corner, then they need to prove it with a confident, assertive, and match-winning performance against sticky opposition.
Will tactical battle see Spurs lure Chelsea into trouble?
Tottenham Hotspur have the best away record in the Premier League (13 points from five matches) and the fourth-worst home record (four points from four matches) because Thomas Frank teams prefer to be the reactive side, attacking quickly after absorbing pressure.
When asked to take the initiative they can struggle, or at least that is the conclusion we are beginning to draw in a season when Spurs have beaten Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium but drawn 1-1 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
But sitting third in the table, it’s only a small problem, especially compared to Chelsea’s. They have lost three of their last five Premier League matches, more than they’d lost in their previous 16 combined.
Enzo Maresca’s concerns are tactically similar. As a head coach who prefers slow possession football, Chelsea are finding it harder to break down low blocks, performing better when forced to speed up and embrace fast breaks, hence beating Liverpool but losing to Sunderland.
That’s why Spurs should be considered favourites here. Frank will happily retreat a little, gifting Maresca the territorial control he craves – and therefore luring him into a trap.
Emery’s Rogers-Watkins counter-attacks to continue Liverpool’s woes?
The theme of Liverpool’s season is alarmingly easy to pick out, and more worrying still, head coach Arne Slot does not appear confident he can fix the club’s defensive issues any time soon.
“Teams have definitely [found] a playing style against us,” he said after the 3-2 defeat to Brentford. “We haven’t found the answer.”
It was a match, that yet again, was defined by quick counter-attacks that took advantage of Liverpool’s brittle-looking midfield getting caught ahead of the play - and of poor form across the back four.
Liverpool’s opponents have played 571 long passes against them in the Premier League this season, the most any side have faced, and Slot’s side have conceded three goals from fast breaks, again more than anyone else.
Aston Villa have the tactical plan to further hurt the champions, as Unai Emery showed in the 1-0 victory over Man City last weekend.
He will again deploy two No 10s – Morgan Rogers and one other, coming in off the left wing – to get behind a porous Liverpool midfield, a strategy that worked perfectly against a Rodri-less City.
From this position, expect Rogers to play Ollie Watkins in behind the defence on Ibrahima Konate’s side.
It isn’t rocket science, but it seems nothing particularly complex is needed at the moment to beat Liverpool.
Can Bournemouth capitalise on Man City’s form?
Bournemouth are already enjoying their best-ever start to a Premier League campaign, winning 18 points from nine matches to sit second in the table.
A win at the Etihad Stadium would probably have Andoni Iraola batting away questions about a title challenge.
Indeed a win is definitely on the cards. Man City have lost three of their opening nine matches for the first time since 2013/14.
And what Villa, Spurs, and Brighton & Hove Albion all have in common is a capacity to counter-attack at breakneck speed following significant pressure applied in the middle third.
Bournemouth are on the longest unbeaten run of any current Premier League side. If they extend it at the Etihad they will surely be confirmed as a serious contender for the UEFA Champions League spots this season.
Man City have already lost back-to-back Premier League matches once this season, while Erling Haaland’s blank at Villa Park could signal a regression towards more human figures from him.
However, it is still possible that what we’re seeing from Bournemouth is a typical purple patch under Iraola that just happens to be at the start of a campaign rather than in the middle.
His team tend to have bursts of good form and bad, going 11 Premier League matches unbeaten at one point in 2024/25 and seven unbeaten in the middle of 2023/24.
The challenge is to use their fast start as a springboard to more consistent form.
Can Fulham end their losing streak against winless Wolves?
This is Fulham’s biggest match of the season so far.
They are on a four-match losing streak and, just three points above the relegation zone, are in danger of falling away following a quiet summer window.
Naturally, a home game against winless Wolves is about as good a chance as they could ask for to end their run and start moving back up the table.
But Wolves will be thinking the same thing. Fulham haven’t won any of their last five home Premier League matches against sides starting the day in the relegation zone (D3 L2), which includes losing 4-1 to Wolves in November last season.
Wolves are now one match short of failing to win their opening 10 Premier League games for a second successive season.
That should help supporters feel a little better about their club’s chances, although if they cannot get a win at Craven Cottage then they might start to panic.
Their next three league fixtures are Chelsea (A), Crystal Palace (H), and Villa (A).
Is this a surprisingly good opportunity for Nuno to get off the mark?
On paper, Newcastle United – buoyed by a dramatic late winner against Fulham – are not the ideal opponents for Nuno Espirito Santo to try and get his first win as West Ham United head coach.
The Hammers have made their worst-ever start to a Premier League season after nine matches, taking just four points, and Nuno has been in charge for a not insignificant portion of that, losing three of his first four in charge – including the last three in a row.
But the fixtures haven’t been kind to him and, in a strange way, that changes this weekend.
Nuno’s main strategy when arriving at a new club is to simplify things; to compress space between the lines, get bodies behind the ball, and give players easy-to-follow instructions to help them gradually build confidence.
That kind of defensive approach is more difficult to achieve when the opponents are fellow conservative teams like Brentford, Leeds United and Everton.
By contrast, Newcastle will take the game to West Ham, in turn allowing Nuno’s tactical ideas to fall into place – in theory, at least.
Can Arsenal begin to pull clear at the top?
Arsenal have won 23 of their last 24 Premier League matches against promoted sides, including the last 13 in a row, making this - and their trip to Burnley this weekend - a match fans will be confident their side will win.
It does feel as though this is Arsenal’s big chance to build a head of steam and move further ahead over the next couple of months.
If they can take advantage of their title rivals’ issues, they could open up a big-enough gap to avoid the kind of tight race that so often favours the club with recent championship-winning experience.
Liverpool in 2019/20, Leicester City in 2015/16 and Chelsea in 2004/05 all overcame their decades-long period without a league title by avoiding the nerves of a close title race altogether.
That might be what Mikel Arteta needs to take that final step, and with Liverpool and Man City facing tough opponents in Villa and Bournemouth respectively, Saturday could be the moment the Gunners begin to pull away.
Can Sunderland get another three points before their fixtures turn?
Sunderland’s brilliant start to the season could certainly continue at home to Everton, who have won just one of their last six matches and travel to the Stadium of Light at a particularly low ebb.
That follows a pattern. Sunderland have had kind fixtures so far this season, and while that does not take anything away from an outstanding points record it does suggest their fortunes might soon change.
Indeed, after this weekend Sunderland’s matches start to get a lot harder. Their next five reads: Arsenal (H), Fulham (A), Bournemouth (H), Liverpool (A) and Man City (A).
Given their performances so far, Regis Le Bris’ side may well rise to the challenge. But a regression to the mean is likely to come at some point.
Does return to Selhurst Park offer Palace the chance to halt decline?
After a phenomenal start to the season it is beginning to look as though Palace are about to fade a little.
They are winless in their last three Premier League matches, losing twice, as many as in their previous 19 games combined. Going back further, they have won just eight points from their last six matches.
Returning to Selhurst Park is a chance to put that right. Oliver Glasner’s side are unbeaten in 10 Premier League matches at home, drawing 3-3 with high-flying Bournemouth most recently and beating Liverpool 2-1 before that.
Brentford are in brilliant form, mind. Their 5-0 win at Grimsby in the EFL Cup made it four wins from five in all competitions for Keith Andrews. They will be stubborn opponents for Palace.
Will Leeds’ profligate finishing gift Brighton a rare clean sheet?
If Brighton are to take a step forward under Fabian Hurzeler they need to start keeping more clean sheets.
The have kept just one in their last 21 Premier League matches, and eight in of their 47 games under Hurzeler, or 17 per cent, is the lowest ratio of any of the four head coaches to take charge of the Seagulls in the Premier League.
Leeds might help them change that. Their conversion rate of 7.7 per cent is the third-lowest in the division, and that has only got worse in October, when they have scored just three goals and converted six per cent of their attempts.
They have also conceded nine goals in four away matches this season, averaging more than two concessions per game, and their only victory on the road was against bottom club Wolves.