Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
1) Post-Bonfire Night fireworks at Bridge
An already-spicy encounter between Chelsea and Arsenal has been lent added piquancy by a promo clip recorded for BT Sport by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. “It’s nothing personal, Arsenal,” says the Chelsea striker, who is presumably eager to put one over on a club whose manager relieved him of the captaincy before shipping him off to Barcelona. “I’m back, I’m ready and I’m blue.” The striker’s harmless goading might carry more weight if he was currently firing on all cylinders but his return for Chelsea of three goals in 11 appearances – two of them off the bench – is hardly prolific. Aubameyang will be desperate to add to this tally on Sunday and should he do so, any celebration (or the lack thereof) will be scrutinised to within an inch of its life. On the day after Bonfire Night, here’s hoping for more fireworks at Stamford Bridge. Barry Glendenning
Chelsea v Arsenal, Sunday 12pm (all times GMT)
for England
2) Late audition hopefuls
English players on the periphery of Gareth Southgate’s World Cup plans have been instrumental in the gradual improvement of both Everton and Leicester but, on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season before its disgraceful interruption, is it too late for an audition at Goodison Park? James Maddison, James Tarkowski and Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be among those desperately hoping not. Tarkowski has impressed in a newlook defensive partnership with Conor Coady that has underpinned Everton’s greater resilience and character this season. While Coady looks a safe bet for Qatar, Tarkowski has not had a look-in at international level since 2018, when he was on stand-by for the last World Cup before undergoing a hernia operation. Maddison’s claims have also been ignored by the England manager despite producing six Premier League goals and two assists in a difficult season for Leicester. It is almost three years since he won his only senior cap as a second-half substitute against Montenegro. He must hope Southgate doesn’t play it entirely safe again. Andy Hunter
Everton v Leicester, Saturday 5.30pm
3) Time Gil got a go
Since signing for Spurs the summer before last, Bryan Gil has yet to start a game in either the league or Champions League. There’s a strong chance he hasn’t earned the right to – Antonio Conte sees him in training every day, and the chances are that he knows slightly more about football than those of us reading and writing these words. But though Conte’s preference is for brutal automatons, Gil’s cameo against Sporting last week showed his willowy unpredictability is something that Spurs lack and, given the unfortunate injuries suffered by Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison, Conte has a decision to make. The conservative option would be to flank Harry Kane with Ivan Perisic and Lucas Moura, but if Perisic plays wing-back with Gil in front of him on the wing, this would give Spurs an extra attacker and also allow the two of them to gang up on and exploit the space behind Trent Alexander-Arnold. Daniel Harris
Tottenham v Liverpool, Sunday 4.30pm
4) Is the end nigh for Hasenhüttl? Newcastle fans taking on the 644mile round trip to St Mary’s will almost certainly make the first half of the journey in the highest of spirits and might be forgiven for thinking the long trek home will be similarly cheery. In beating Chelsea at the end of August, Southampton suggested they might have turned a corner, but Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side have won one and lost five of their subsequent eight matches. Despite the club hierarchy’s apparent reluctance to sack him, the Austrian manager is surely on borrowed time with a long mid-season hiatus looming. Southampton then travel to Liverpool for their final game before the World Cup, a match their away form suggests they will almost certainly lose. Regardless of the outcome of the Carabao Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday next Wednesday, defeat against Newcastle could hasten the end of Hasenhüttl’s curate’s egg of a reign on the south coast. BG
Southampton v Newcastle, Sunday 2pm
5) Álvarez ready to make impact
Earlier in the week, Pep Guardiola said that Erling Haaland might make Saturday’s Fulham game. But given his importance to City, if the call to select him is marginal, it would make more sense for him to miss a home game his team should win anyway, rather than risk aggravating an injury that is almost healed. This would be good news for Julián Álvarez, who’s made a slow start to his Manchester City career, but showed against Sevilla that he is ready to affect games. First, he slipped a beautiful pass inside a defender for Rico Lewis to score, then finished superbly when put in on goal himself and finally, scavenged possession high up the pitch before playing in Riyad Mahrez to clinch victory. Confidence in footballers – especially those not only playing but living in a new environment – can be fragile. So Guardiola should seek to capitalise on Álvarez’s midweek buzz, by granting him another start this weekend. DH
Manchester City v Fulham, Saturday 3pm
6) Coutinho hoping for a fresh
start under Emery
“I have not returned (to England) because it is the Premier League, it is because it’s the right club and the right project.” So said Unai Emery after his first two days on the job at Aston Villa, who might have also persuaded the Spaniard with a bumper four-and-a-half year contract and the promise of January funds, with Villarreal’s Pau Torres already linked with a £40m move. After last week’s appointment, Emery only started coaching on Wednesday owing to work permit issues, but was seen orchestrating a high press in training at Bodymoor Heath. What does this mean for Philippe Coutinho? The Brazilian is not a prolific worker off the ball. Might he be offered a deeper role as Villa chase their first home win over Manchester United since 1995? Or will Emery go for a more mobile starting XI and leave Coutinho stranded on the bench, where he has sat for the last four games? Michael Butler
Aston Villa v Manchester United, Sunday 2pm
7) Summerville must match talent with application
The Leeds first-team squad, their families and club staff celebrated last Saturday’s reassuring victory at Liverpool with a Halloween Party at the start of the week. Every player attended in fancy dress with Jesse Marsch adjudging Pascal Struijk’s outfit the winner. “Pascal was the best, he came as a hippy,” said the Leeds manager, whose job security would be reinforced significantly with a win over Bournemouth. It will be intriguing to see if Crysencio Summerville, his young winger, starts against Gary O’Neil’s side. After scoring the winner at Anfield, Summerville asked for permission to return to his native Netherlands to celebrate his 21st birthday but, tellingly, Marsch refused. If Summerville’s application does not yet quite match his considerable talent, Illan Meslier has long married assiduousness to high-calibre ability. Itcan be easy to forget that the Leeds goalkeeper is still only 22, but Marsch believes Meslier should be included in the France squad for the World Cup and it is difficult to disagree. Louise Taylor
Leeds v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm
8) Lingard has earned a benching
After the positivity of beating Liverpool, Forest were brought back down to earthwith a five-goal thrashing at Arsenal
on Sunday. A turning point was Jesse Lingard’s failure to score at 1-0, after which Arsenal dominated. Lingard is, admittedly, not the only Forest player to be underperforming but his efforts this season have been below the standard expected of someone of his pedigree; he has failed to score or assist a goal and has struggled to influence the side since his heralded summer arrival. Brennan Johnson lost his place to Lingard, but has produced some promising cameos in recent weeks and it could be time for the academy graduate to be brought back into the starting lineup ahead of his more illustrious colleague. Lingard has not fitted into the formation at Forest and has received criticism for his lack of commitment when it comes to winning the ball back, so it is time to put him back on the bench. Will Unwin
Nottingham Forest v Brentford, Saturday 3pm
9) Brighton make another eyecatching recruit
Wolves are renowned for recruiting Portuguese players and it seems Brighton are beginning to develop a trend of their own. Facundo Buonanotte will arrive in January and is the latest hailing from South America to move to the south coast, joining Pervis Estupiñán, Julio Enciso, Moisés Caicedo, and compatriot Alexis Mac Allister among the Brighton ranks. An attacking midfielder, Buonanotte will add craft to a forward line that despatched Chelsea 4-1 in the last fixture. Brighton will be heavy favourites for the trip to Wolves, who have been mostly dreadful of late, and Roberto De Zerbi will be thankful that the rudderless hosts have not yet appointed Julen Lopetegui in the opposite dugout – talks with the former Spain manager are slowly progressing after initially hitting the buffers. In the interim, Brighton will look to
capitalise and propel themselves back into the top six. MB
Wolves v Brighton, Saturday 3pm
10) Time Olise got among goals
Patrick Vieira has called on Michael
Olise to score more – the winger is yet to register this season after netting twice in the league last time around. He has two assists to his name but his manager wants to see him on the scoresheet himself. “Olise needs a bit of time,” Vieira said. “Sometimes we forget how young he is. Coming up from the Championship, he has to learn and he has to learn a lot to be a Premier League player.” With time, goals will almost certainly come. He is hindered by the fact he has to put a lot of energy into defending and can often be found tracking full-backs all the way to his own box. The longer he goes without scoring, however, the greater the mental impact on a player who has shown moments of caution in the vicinity of the opponent’s box because he does not have the unbounded confidence of a more prolific player, which can result him missing the chance to shoot. Once he does get one, though, more will surely come. WU