London: Premier League leader Manchester City looks to continue its perfect start to the season on Saturday when Enzo Maresca’s side visits an improving Aston Villa, while second-placed Arsenal hosts Everton in this weekend’s round of matches.
Erling Haaland could return after sitting out his side’s 5-1 Champions League win at home to AEK Athens in midweek. However, Mateo Kovacic, Nico O’Reilly and Antoine Semenyo remain sidelined, with Semenyo expected to be out for around eight weeks with a knee injury. Manchester City is aiming to become only the third team to win its first eight games of a Premier League season.
Aston Villa has improved in recent weeks, recording four wins and a draw in its last five games in all competitions as Unai Emery’s side begins to find its form following several changes over the summer.
Bukayo Saka will miss Arsenal’s home game against Everton after the England winger suffered a sharp pain in his quadriceps and was forced off after just 10 minutes of his side’s 2-2 draw away to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Eberechi Eze replaced Saka on Wednesday and could start in his place again on Saturday, while Viktor Gyokeres, Mikel Merino, Max Dowman and Myles Lewis-Skelly give Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta further options to rotate his side, reports Xinhua.
The round of matches gets underway on Friday night when Ipswich Town hosts Nottingham Forest, with Ipswich having made a promising start to life back in the Premier League.
Nottingham Forest is 19th in the table after three consecutive defeats. Coach Oliver Glasner will be keen to avoid a fourth successive loss, particularly given club owner Evangelos Marinakis’ impatience with coaches following a run of poor results.
Coventry City hosts Fulham in an intriguing encounter. Fulham claimed its first win of the season against Hull City last weekend, while Coventry was beaten 3-1 by Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham will look to build on that victory when it visits Stamford Bridge to face a Chelsea side that has climbed to fourth place after consecutive wins since the international break.
Sunday features several important matches, including Liverpool’s home game against Brighton, which travels to Anfield in third place. The match will test Fabian Hürzeler’s side and a Liverpool defence that has looked vulnerable at times.
Manchester United’s 4-1 defeat away to Como in the Champions League on Wednesday night has increased the pressure on coach Michael Carrick. Apparent criticism from captain Bruno Fernandes has added to the scrutiny, and another disappointing result at home to Bournemouth could intensify calls for a change of manager.
Crystal Palace coach Pierre Sage is also under pressure as his side takes on Newcastle United, which travels to London after consecutive defeats.
Hull City hosts Brentford on Sunday, with the home side boosted by the expected return of forward Mohamed-Ali Cho. Roberto Vaz could also be available. Brentford will be without suspended midfielders Vitaly Janelt and Yegor Yarmolyuk after both were sent off in last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool.
The weekend’s final match sees bottom-of-the-table Sunderland host Leeds United after a run of four league defeats. Balancing its Europa League commitments with the Premier League appears to be taking its toll on the squad. IANS
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