Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
Did Arsenal fans really humiliate the great Arsène Wenger … for this? At no point in Unai Emery’s tenure has it been possible to fathom a plan, and the longer things go, the worse they look. There are just so many questions: why is he so reticent to play Lucas Torreira in his position? How can he leave Mesut Özil out of his matchday squads when his team struggle to create chances? Watching Arsenal’s youngsters play in the cups, you can’t help but wonder if their abandon and cohesion will last only as long as it takes for him to impose himself upon them. Realistically, to make the club competitive again will require someone brilliant, and none of the key markers in Emery’s career so far suggest he is that. Whether Stan Kroenke cares about any of this no one knows, but if Emery isn’t on the brink he should be, and another poor performance against Palace would constitute yet more evidence for an already overwhelming prosecution. DH
• Arsenal v Crystal Palace, 4.30pm Sunday
2) It’s time for United’s players to stand up
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has copped for a lot of unfair flak lately: clearing up the mess he inherited needs more time than he has had and more money than he has been given, on top of which any team would struggle without six first-choice players. But United’s lack of ideas against opponents who do not oblige their fast players by leaving space in behind for them to run into speaks badly of the work done in training, and until that improves, playing for United will be as much of a struggle as watching them. At Norwich, though, this should not be a problem, because the hosts will look to ask questions of a defence that struggles to keep clean sheets – United have led against Wolves, Southampton, Arsenal and Liverpool, only to end up drawing all four games. The problem here is not one of preparation but of application, and responsibility for that lies not with the management but the players. It is about time they stood up, and for Harry Maguire to grow into as indomitable, influential, inspirational a leader as his reputation tells us he already is. DH
• Norwich City v Manchester United, 4.30pm Sunday
3) Will Spurs use extra man in the middle to good effect?
Spurs badly needed their midweek win, but it is hard to gauge how well they played because their opponents were useless. It did, though, seem like Mauricio Pochettino finally found the formation which best suits his best players. The 4-2-3-1 he deployed against Red Star protects what is now a shaky back four, allows Tanguy Ndombele the freedom to attack, and gets Heungmin Son and Dele Alli close to Harry Kane, with Érik Lamela picking up any slack in workrate. We can be sure that Liverpool will test this theory. Whatever happens, they will have an extra man in midfield, and whichever trio Jürgen Klopp selects will have the legs to run Spurs off the pitch. Without Christian Eriksen – upon whom Pochettino seems to have taken a definitive view – they lack the touch and nous to pass around them, so must be prepared to spend a lot of time chasing the ball. They can still win by defending well and hoping for Kane or a counter, but the likelihood is that it will take a cleverer plan than that. DH
• Liverpool v Tottenham, 4.30pm Sunday
4) Villa’s tempo-setters to give City a tough time
There’s a lot to like about Dean Smith’s Aston Villa, in particular their midfield axis of Marvelous Nakamba, Jack Grealish and John McGinn. Nakamba’s calm intelligence provides the perfect balance to his more energetic partners, who play with the perfect combination of entitlement and desire, McGinn a tenacious temposetter and Grealish an intuitive improviser. Against City, they will be extended like never before, but will know that if they can compete, there are goals to be taken from a vulnerable home defence. Of course, the likelihood is that City will be too good for them, but do not be surprised if Villa give them a run for their money. DH
• Manchester City v Aston Villa, 12.30pm Saturday
5) Ward-Prowse to step up for Saints
A draw at Molineux enabled Southampton to end a run of three consecutive top-flight defeats, but with backto-back visits to Manchester City looming in the Carabao Cup and Premier League they could really do with taking at least a point when they host Leicester. Southampton have averaged exactly one goal per game in the league and have recently become overly reliant on Danny Ings to score them since he replaced £15m summer acquisition Che Adams as first-choice striker. “I would like to have three, four or five players who are always able to score because this is more important for the team,” said Saints boss Ralph Hassenhüttl, before name-checking Ryan Bertrand and Yan Valery as players who should be contributing more. They are not the only ones. Adams is yet to get off the mark and with just one goal, a penalty against Bournemouth, to his name so far this season, now would be a good time for the curiously out-of-sorts James Ward-Prowse to step up. BG
• Southampton v Leicester, 8pm Friday
6) Hard done by Hornets to get that elusive first win
Despite being without a win in their past three games, Bournemouth are likely to be full of confidence as they travel to Vicarage Road to take on a Watford team already on their second manager of the season and winless at the bottom of the table. Or are they? Against Tottenham last weekend, Watford were vastly superior in almost every department apart from the scoreboard and had every right to feel extremely aggrieved at being denied all three points by the reluctance of officialdom to implement VAR as they should. Rather than stew on the comical injustice of it all, Quique Sánchez Flores is likely to have spent the week instructing his players to dwell on the positives of an excellent performance. A repeat at home ought to be enough to see them past their visitors. BG
• Watford v Bournemouth, 3pm Saturday
7) Webster should be on Southgate’s England radar
His Premier League career may only be six matches and 540 minutes old but the early evidence is that there is another Brighton defender worth Gareth Southgate keeping an eye on in the form of Adam Webster. It is almost a year since the Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk was capped by his country but, on current form, one of his colleagues could usurp him in the England stakes. Signed for £25m from Bristol City this summer, Webster is comfortable in possession, adept at playing out from the back (so much so he has also operated in defensive midfield) and happy to waltz forward and kickstart attacks – staples of Southgate’s mantra. That Tyrone Mings was called up to the England squad in September suggests Southgate is open to looking at defensive alternatives, with Michael Keane and John Stones not covering themselves in glory in recent outings. Webster, who scored his first Brighton goal at Aston Villa last weekend, has impressed in blue-and-white stripes and it may not be long before the clamour for the 24-year-old to appear in an England shirt builds. BF
• Brighton v Everton, 3pm Saturday
8) West Ham need to showcase top-six mettle
Things were looking relatively rosy for West Ham but three defeats from their past four matches, including a 4-0 loss at Oxford United, has given Manuel Pellegrini’s side something of a reality check. It has been a case of one step forward two steps back for some time at West Ham and an insipid performance