Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
So many seasons start slowly without the big matches but this weekend sparks are set to fly with a strong lineup of intriguing matches.
We had a vintage Manchester United vs. Liverpool rivalry match right before the dreaded international break dampened momentum for the English Premier League.
Action bursts back into focus this weekend with another classic clash of heated rivals as Spurs host North London neighbours Arsenal on Sunday in the iconic FUBO Game of the Week.
It’s certainly a good thing Spurs are hosting as the table makes interesting reading just three games in.
Tottenham already is five points behind leaders Manchester City and three points behind Arsenal. A loss on Sunday and it’s fair to wonder if the gap is already too large considering the rematch is at Arsenal.
And yet they could not ask for a better scenario at this stage of the season. Arsenal has several key figures unavailable.
The Gunners’ midfield tank Declan Rice is suspended following his red card against Brighton, captain Martin Odegaard and new signing Riccardo Calafiori were both injured on international duty and are unavailable. Though Arsenal may be ready to give Chelsea exile Raheem Sterling, whom they grabbed on loan at the transfer deadline, his Gunners debut.
Tottenham will be hoping to give new striker Dominic Solanke his first showing, but coming off an injury that likely will come from the subs bench instead of a start.
Spurs simply can’t afford to lose here, they won’t have an Arsenal side in such a vulnerable state again this season.
The frontrunners in the Premier League are unforgiving. With Liverpool level with City and Arsenal already ahead of them, Spurs don’t want to be in the scrap for the last Champions League spot they crave.
Chelsea, Brighton, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Manchester United will be in that tier so six teams fighting for one lucrative spot, leaving a razor-thin margin for error and it’s only September.
2. Manchester United is teetering on crisis mode
It’s only September and Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag has already needed the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’ from the chairman.
There’s nothing worse than going into an international break with the sour taste of a bad loss and that’s what United has been chewing on since Liverpool spanked it 3-0 at Old Trafford.
It’s not easy, especially when you have so many key South American players, to play in the early kickoff after an international break. If there’s any mercy for United here it’s with pointless Southampton being the opponent.
It’s an away game, but you’d like to think United have the horses to get this done. Anything less than the full three points will just heap the pressure on Ten Hag.
One of the key features of the games following the early pause in the league is you usually see players who were snagged at the transfer deadline make their debut. United will be counting on key midfield addition Manuel Ugarte to make an impact after his arrival from PSG.
He played well in both Uruguay matches during the internationals last week and his presence is sorely needed in the United engine room after aging Casemiro’s woeful performance against Liverpool saw him humiliated on the pitch and then again by being yanked at halftime.
3. Erling Haaland truly is unstoppable
It was one thing for him to score a hat trick against Ipswich, but to come out the next week and do it again against West Ham, who are quite decent, was stunning.
And now, he’s licking his chops staring at Brentford. At home.
The Bees are no slouches, they actually sit in sixth place with two wins and a loss, but they’ve given up the most goals of any team in the current top six, so the prospect of facing Haaland isn’t an appetizing one.
As is normally the case, Haaland looks thoroughly average playing internationally, but then turns into a Mythical Norse God when he’s in City’s colours.
4. Liverpool keeps it clean
After just three games, Liverpool is behind Manchester City by the slimmest of margins. Both with three wins, both with +7 goal differential, the next tie break is goal scored, and that’s down to Haaland.
But Liverpool is the only team yet to concede a goal this season. While it’s much worse to be Manchester United and head into the International break stewing over a bad loss, it also can halt momentum and Liverpool certainly carried it out of that game.
While the end result in the table has become somewhat predictable, each week there are teams capable of providing the proverbial banana skin to the big teams.
Liverpool has what you may charitably call a favourable schedule in the coming weeks. The Reds come back to action this week with Nottingham Forest at home, then Bournemouth, Wolves and Crystal Place before facing Chelsea on Oct. 20.
There’s a very real possibility they could be still without a loss at that point. The challenge for Liverpool will be new manager Arne Slot’s reliance on the same starting 11 and only a couple of real subs.
Next week the Champions League kicks in and the players that have had to bide their time on the bench will have had very little chance to get their games up to speed, a speed as quick as slipping on a banana skin.
5. The turtle derby towards relegation already is in full swing
There are six winless teams and two, Everton and Southampton, don’t even have a point. Wolves, Ipswich, Crystal Palace and Leicester have only won a single point, then there’s Manchester United and West Ham with just three.
You’d expect that latter two to eventually get results from their expensive lineups and not to be dragged into the fight in the long haul,. So with Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Brentford and Fulham looking decent in their opening matches, Wolves, Everton and Palace must be terrified at the prospect of wrestling in the mire with the three promoted clubs all season.
Ipswich looks like Luton last season — capable of scoring goals, but not of keeping them out. But it’s that approach that can turn a couple of losses into draws and draws into wins.
Everton has the worst defensive record, a goal difference of -8 and it has conceded 10, with the next worst, Wolves, having given up nine and sit at -6.
Those big deficits are like being a point down, so they’ve got to shore up defensively or it’s going to be a nervous season for both clubs.
This week’s matches
Saturday: Southampton v. Manchester United; Brighton v. Ipswich; Crystal Palace v. Leicester; Fulham v. West Ham; Liverpool v. Nottingham Forest; Manchester City v. Brentford; Aston Villa v. Everton; Bournemouth v. Chelsea.
Sunday: Tottenham v. Arsenal; Wolves v. Newcastle.