Manchester Metropolis are aiming to keep away from a 3rd straight Premier League defeat for the primary time in seven years once they host Brighton on Saturday, whereas Arsenal will present a stiff check for resurgent Chelsea. 4 sides are within the operating to prime the desk at some stage this weekend, beginning with Liverpool once they tackle Everton within the Merseyside derby. AFP Sport appears to be like on the choose of the motion.
Can Metropolis halt slide?
Metropolis’s defeats by Wolves and Arsenal earlier than the worldwide break had been the primary back-to-back losses within the league for Pep Guardiola’s males since 2018.
It’s a must to return to the times of Manuel Pellegrini in early 2016 for the final time the champions misplaced three in a row, however Brighton pose a major menace to Metropolis, who’re on a run of 20 straight residence wins in all competitions.
Guardiola has hailed Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi as “some of the influential managers within the final 20 years”.
Metropolis have even appeared to repeat the Seagulls’ trait of attempting to bait sides into urgent earlier than shortly shifting the ball into area this season.
Nonetheless, Brighton have struggled to deal with the calls for of the membership’s first-ever European marketing campaign on prime of their Premier League commitments.
De Zerbi’s males are with no win of their previous 4 video games in all competitions, although they’re nonetheless sixth within the desk.
Chelsea’s true check
Arsenal’s late winner in opposition to Metropolis two weeks in the past has fuelled the Gunners’ perception that they will finish a 20-year wait to win the title.
Mikel Arteta‘s males are second, behind north London rivals Tottenham solely on objectives scored, and can finish Saturday prime of the desk in the event that they win as a result of Spurs aren’t in motion till Monday.
The worldwide break got here on the flawed time for Chelsea after they posted back-to-back league wins below Mauricio Pochettino for the primary time.
The Blues have lastly discovered their scoring contact, netting six occasions in victories in opposition to Fulham and Burnley, however Arsenal will present a a lot sterner check of whether or not Chelsea actually have turned the nook.
Chelsea haven’t overwhelmed their London rivals within the league at residence since 2018.
Ought to he finish that barren run, Pochettino will go an extended approach to successful over the Stamford Bridge crowd after a irritating begin to his reign and do his outdated membership Spurs a favour on the prime of the desk.
Klopp’s quandary over South American stars
One other season of contrasting fortunes seems to be unfolding on Merseyside.
Liverpool have proven indicators of being again to their greatest below Jurgen Klopp and are simply three factors off the highest.
Everton, in contrast, look set for an additional relegation battle after taking simply seven factors from a delicate schedule of their opening eight video games.
The Toffees haven’t received at Anfield in entrance of a crowd since 1999.
“Their report may be very robust, they’re an excellent outfit, we all know that,” stated Everton boss Sean Dyche. “Our report wants altering there, we all know that.
“It has been a very long time with not many wins however it’s a troublesome place to go.”
Klopp, whose staff have taken only one level from their previous two video games, has a range headache — he’s sad on the 1130 GMT kick-off on Saturday, simply days after a few of his key gamers represented their international locations in South America.
Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez all performed 90 minutes for Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay respectively in matches that completed within the early hours of Wednesday UK time.
Fixtures (1400 GMT until acknowledged)
Saturday
Liverpool v Everton (1130), Bournemouth v Wolves, Brentford v Burnley, Manchester Metropolis v Brighton, Newcastle v Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest v Luton, Chelsea v Arsenal (1630), Sheffield United v Manchester United (1900)
Sunday
Aston Villa v West Ham (1530)
Monday
Tottenham v Fulham (1900)
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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