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After the drama of World Cup qualifying, attention shifts to the Premier League as the front-runners will look to solidify their positions, while at the bottom, there is already an almighty scramble by teams to avoid being sucked into the relegation black hole.
With some of the top clubs missing important players due to various injuries sustained before and during World Cup qualifying games, some of the less heralded members of these teams will be looking to make positive impacts when they get their chances this weekend.
In what looks to be a promising weekend, here are, in our opinion, the 5 most noteworthy things to look out for:
#1 Can Stoke City stop the blue streak that is Manchester City?
Following the team’s impressive victory over defending champions Chelsea, Pep Guardiola’s men will be licking their lips at the thought of facing a Stoke City side that will be missing two key defenders in Ryan Shawcross and Bruno Martins Indi, as well as influential midfielder -Joe Allen.
The Cityzens have been bolstered by the early return of top striker Sergio Aguero to training after his accident, and the youthful trio of Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane are expected to lead the line and with Manchester City in red-hot goalscoring form (22 goals in 7 games), it promises to be a long day for Stoke goalie Mark Butland.
#2 Liverpool are condemned to win against Manchester United
7 games in, 13 goals scored and 12 conceded, Liverpool, are already showing the inconsistencies that dogged their play last season and face the toughest test at Anfield so far in the shape of Jose Mourinho and his marauding Manchester United side.
Languishing in 7th place, 7 points behind their hated rivals, Jurgen Klopp, and his men will be looking to go all out and get a morale-boosting win against the joint league leaders.
With injuries to central midfield pair Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini and his famed reticence against top sides, Jose Mourinho is expected to deploy a very defensive line up against the Reds, who will be missing star man Sadio Mane and are expected to give a starting berth to either Daniel Sturridge or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
United will not spend all of 90 minutes defending (like they did last season) and with the team’s firepower led by star striker Romelu Lukaku, expect the Red Devils to have a go at the very shaky Liverpool backline.
#3 Watford will provide a stern test for an improving Arsenal
Marco Silva’s men will be relishing the chance to take on one of the Premier League’s big guns again after an excellent start to the season.
The Hornets have been excellent in all games so far, except for the 6-0 humiliation by Manchester City and will look to make a statement about their ability to go head to head with the big boys.
Arsenal has been improving steadily since their 4-0 loss to Liverpool and will be confident of getting a result thanks to the return to form of key players like Alexis Sanchez and captain Laurent Koscielny.
For all of the criticism they have received, Arsenal currently lie in 5th, a point off third-placed Tottenham, and will go into the game at Vicarage Road confident of getting a good result.
#4 Defending champions Chelsea look to compound Crystal Palace woes
No goal scored, 7 games lost, 13 goals conceded and top striker out for an indefinite period; it looks very bleak for Roy Hodgson and his Crystal Palace side.
Defending champions Chelsea will look to bounce back from their insipid performance against Manchester City a fortnight ago and will be mindful of falling behind further to the Manchester sides.
Coach Antonio Conte will be without star striker Alvaro Morata, so Michy Batshuayi should get the nod to lead the attack while Roy Hodgson will be hoping the Blues will be distracted by the upcoming UEFA Champions League match against Italian side AS Roma.
With goalscoring looking even more of a herculean task, given the injuries to star forwards Wilfred Zaha and Christian Benteke, a clean sheet will be as valuable as a win to Palace.
#5 Everton must start delivering with tie at Brighton the first step
After a challenging run of fixtures which included games against four of last season’s top six, Everton and Ronald Koeman are under pressure to put together a good run of results and performances, and a trip to the Amex Stadium, to face newly promoted Brighton & Hove Albion is just what the doctor ordered.
Koeman will be looking for an improvement from the abysmal fare on offer when the Toffees were beaten at home by Burnley in their last Premier League game with record signing Gylfi Sigurdsson expected to start in his favoured Number 10 role.
Coach Chris Houghton will be praying that Pascal Gross’ influence on the Brighton side continues, as the German has been involved in four of Brighton’s five goals this season.
While Brighton have been industrious and committed, their point tally of 7 from 7 games indicates that the Seagulls will have to win as many of their home games as they can, and with two wins from their first three home games, Houghton will be hoping his team can continue to do well at home, especially against an Everton side that is low on confidence.
