Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Two years ago it was this fixture that looked to have brought an end to the Steve Cooper era at Nottingham Forest, losing 4-0 at the King Power Stadium. He survived another 14 months before being sacked. A few weeks ago, the situation looked equally critical for him at Leicester, but two wins in a row after a positive performance in defeat by Arsenal have put Cooper on a more stable footing. Despite the upturn in form, fans are still not fully convinced by the man that brought such success to their rivals. A win on Friday night, though, would secure a third straight victory and help to increase Cooper’s popularity. If they do get the points, Leicester would move into the top half, which would go some way to vindicating the manager’s appointment after a stuttering start to life back in the Premier League. Will Unwin

Has Aston Villa’s near-flawless start gone under the radar beyond B6? Villa have won nine of their 12 matches, drawing two, their sole defeat coming at home to Arsenal in August despite a bright performance. In midweek they maintained their 100% record in the Champions League and host Bournemouth on Saturday with perhaps the strongest-ever squad at Unai Emery’s disposal. Ollie Watkins, Boubacar Kamara, Ross Barkley, Jacob Ramsey and Jaden Philogene entered from the bench in Tuesday’s victory over Bologna. The former Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings could join Kamara and Emi Buendía in returning to action after lengthy injuries, with 441 days since Mings’ last appearance. “The strength in depth is amazing,” said the Villa captain, John McGinn. “We are excited. I think the manager is the only person who does not get excited – he does not let us take our foot off the gas.” Ben Fisher

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Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich side remain winless since returning to the top flight. They are finding out how difficult the Premier League is and need senior players to step up. After some promising performances since joining on loan from Manchester City, Kalvin Phillips has underwhelmed in recent weeks. The England midfielder should be an influential figure at Portman Road and after witnessing a naive defeat by Everton, when Ipswich were unable to cope with the physicality of their opponents, Phillips will need to show his experience at Brentford to avoid his side suffering the same fate. He has been handled carefully since arriving in East Anglia, as a lack of minutes on the pitch in recent seasons left him short of match practice, but he should be fit enough now to compete for 90 minutes. The 28-year-old has looked sloppy in Ipswich’s past two matches; he needs to cut that out and become the main man for a team in need of points. WU

Brighton shelled out almost £200m on nine new players in the summer and are already reaping the benefits. Old-stager Danny Welbeck has been Fabian Hürzeler’s star performer and scored the only goal in the win at Newcastle last week but Georginio Rutter and Yankuba Minteh have looked like shrewd signings. Yet while Matt O’Riley and Ferdi Kadioglu’s early progress has been stalled by injury, this weekend could finally be the chance for another new arrival to show his ability. The attacking midfielder Brajan Gruda is in contention to make his full debut after coming off the bench in the 3-2 win over Tottenham before the international break. The German under-21 scored four goals in the Bundesliga for Mainz last season before his £25m move to the south coast and Hürzeler will be looking forward to unleashing him against Wolves on Saturday. Ed Aarons

Matheus Nunes and Premier League starts at Manchester City are few and far between. The Portuguese midfielder has made 22 league appearances since joining from Wolves and only seven times from the first whistle. After being part of the team that routed Sparta Prague and with another League Cup start at Tottenham dangling in front of his eyes, maybe it would be wise for Pep Guardiola to put faith in Nunes and give him a run of three straight starts. Southampton, who have failed to win any of their first eight matches, look like suitable opposition to help Nunes get his eye in after scoring one and creating two on Wednesday. It would do Nunes’ confidence the world of good to get the nod from his manager, who knows he will need the 26-year-old more than he expected after losing Rodri to injury. WU

While stewing over Everton’s opening-day defeat by Brighton back in August, Sean Dyche said: “There’s still individuals here that won’t be accepted. So, if you think about it, you’re already three or four down on your squad because the fans won’t accept them.” The Everton manager refused to name names but, even if he was exaggerating, it would have been reasonable to guess Ashley Young and Michael Keane were among those he had in mind. Both have had lapses that encouraged the critics this season, but it would be churlish not to recognise their valuable contributions to Everton’s gradual recovery. Dyche’s team are unbeaten in four Premier League matches before Fulham’s visit and have kept clean sheets in the last two. Young’s versatility at 39 and Keane’s focus, knowing that Jarrad Branthwaite could take his place when fit, have been so important to a defence beset by injuries. With Dyche’s defensive options improving there will be increased competition for the duo on Saturday. Both, however, have earned their places and acceptance. Andy Hunter

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It is rare to see a team win the title without a top goalkeeper. Key to Liverpool’s rise under Jürgen Klopp was replacing Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius with Alisson Becker. Signing the Brazilian helped give Liverpool the edge in a number of tight games and Chelsea could do with following a similar path. Robert Sánchez has his qualities – the former Brighton goalkeeper kept out a penalty against Bournemouth and made crucial saves against Nottingham Forest – but he does not scream reliability. He has a habit of putting teammates under pressure with his distribution and needed to command his area better when Curtis Jones restored Liverpool’s lead against Chelsea last weekend. Enzo Maresca, though, is sticking by Sánchez. It is likely that the Spaniard will get the nod over Filip Jörgensen against Newcastle. Jacob Steinberg

Despite his best efforts Eddie Nketiah’s search for his first Crystal Palace goal goes on. The former Arsenal striker appeared determined to make his mark against Nottingham Forest on Monday after being preferred to Jean-Philippe Mateta for the second game in a row, but cut a frustrated figure when replaced by the Frenchman after Forest scored. It was a curious decision by Palace to bring in a new striker for a fee that could reach £30m given Mateta’s purple patch at the end of last season, and Oliver Glasner will know that he has to find a way of accommodating both in his side if Palace are to pull away from the bottom three after their disastrous start. Expect a tweak to his usual 3-4-2-1 formation when Palace face Ange Postecoglou’s side on Sunday. EA

Get ready for the most ponderous midfield battle of all time. West Ham have taken the curious approach of filling a key area with players utterly unsuited to the pace of the Premier League. Manchester United, though, rival Julen Lopetegui’s side when it comes to porousness in the middle. With Kobbie Mainoo injured and Manuel Ugarte already out of favour, Erik ten Hag paired Christian Eriksen with Casemiro during last weekend’s battling win over Brentford. It is not exactly the most dynamic pairing but it could possess enough quality on the ball to outmanoeuvre West Ham. Lopetegui is under pressure after seeing Spurs overwhelm and outrun Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paquetá and Guido Rodríguez last weekend. JS

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Jakub Kiwior did not look too impressed when he was hauled off against Bournemouth, having being brought on to stiffen Arsenal’s rearguard action following the dismissal of William Saliba. The Poland defender was rumoured to be on his way out of the Emirates in the summer after the arrival of Riccardo Calafiori . Mikel Arteta will be thankful he is still around given their current defensive crisis with the Italian expected to miss out against Liverpool While Kiwior was at fault for Bournemouth’s second goal after his sloppy backpass led to David Raya giving away a penalty, he could have a crucial part to play against Arne Slot’s side, with Arsenal’s options down to the bare bones given Saliba’s suspension and the ongoing absence of Jurriën Timber. Arteta must decide whether he or Ben White should partner Gabriel Magalhães in central defence as they face Mohamed Salah and co. EA

Source: theguardian.com