The weekend kicks off on Friday with Nottingham Forest hosting Sheffield United, with Steve Cooper’s team seeking to replicate some of their best performances from last weekend’s loss to Arsenal.
When Sheffield returned to the top division, Crystal Palace completely outplayed them at home, but the midweek signings of Tom Davis and Gus Hamer could give the team more bite, according to Xinhua.
Manchester City, the freshly crowned European Supercup champions, will play Newcastle at home in Saturday’s major match, yet City coach Pep Guardiola has already voiced his displeasure about the lack of recovery time following Wednesday’s final.
Aymeric Laporte appears to be leaving the club, Kevin de Bruyne is injured, and Guardiola tried to rotate his squad on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Newcastle impressed with a 5-1 thrashing of Aston Villa last week, and their strong midfield will make life difficult for Guardiola’s team.
Both Tottenham and Manchester United drew their season-opening matches, but Tottenham was likely the happier of the two teams as James Maddison, a new player, turned on the style and Yves Bissouma, a player the club purchased, finally shown why he was worth the money.
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In contrast, Manchester United appeared lifeless, and only a mistake by the referee prevented them from giving up a late penalty to Wolves. Rasmus Hojlund is still not match-fit, thus Lisandro Martinez is out for the United team.
In their league debut, Liverpool and Chelsea drew 1-1, but manager Jurgen Klopp will be concerned about the weakness of his midfield and defence and angry that he missed out on Moises Caicedo and Romero Lavia, who both chose to sign with the Blues rather than travel to Anfield.
Wataru Endo, the captain of the Japanese national team, has been acquired by Liverpool from Stuttgart, and he may be registered in time for Bournemouth’s match against Klopp’s club due to their aggressive pressing style.
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A southwest London derby between Fulham and Brentford, who looked dangerous last week despite Ivan Toney’s absence due to suspension, will also take place on Saturday.
Coach Gary O’Neil will turn to Matheus Cunha to add a goal to the outstanding performance he produced a week ago as Wolves strive to vent their displeasure after being denied a penalty at Old Trafford last week.
Aston Villa hosts Everton on Sunday in an effort to bounce back from their terrible 5-1 loss to Newcastle, which also resulted in the season-ending knee injury to defender Tyrone Mings.
In order to defend Villa against a rival that last week fell to Fulham 1-0, Diego Carlos or Pau Torres will enter the game. This rival is known for their chronic inability to convert chances into goals.
Record-signing The London Stadium match between Chelsea and West Ham could include Moises Caicedo making his debut, but the draw against Liverpool last Saturday made it apparent that wingers Ben Chilwell and Reece James are essential to Manuel Pochettino’s ambitions for Chelsea.
Newcomers James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez may also make their West Ham debuts. Despite Man City’s approaches, West Ham has so far managed to hold onto Lucas Paqueta.
Another London derby will take place on Monday, this time involving Crystal Palace at home against Arsenal, who lost new acquisition Jurien Timber to a catastrophic knee injury last weekend. Palace are encouraged by Michael Olise’s decision to reject a move to Chelsea and sign a new deal.
-IANS
