Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend
1) Forest loss could speed up Conte exit
Antonio Conte’s performance the season he won the league with Chelsea was spectacularly brilliant, but things have moved on since then. No team bar Conte’s Chelsea has won the Premier League playing three at the back; the standard at the top of the table is far higher now than it was then. Of the current top five, only Conte’s Spurs play a plodding, cautious, constipated style that makes watching them an imposition. Much as Conte likes to trumpet his achievement in qualifying Spurs for the Champions League, they were poor last season, it just so happened other teams were worse, and their run in the competition served only to show how far off his team are – despite a summer spend of roughly £150m – and how far off he is, having made the last eight once in six attempts. Conte is a man out of time, and another poor result this weekend might just mean the end. Daniel Harris
Tottenham v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)
2) Liverpool strikers will not want rest
When the two teams met in August, Liverpool won 9-0 at Anfield, costing Scott Parker his job. Jürgen Klopp’s side are coming into this match off the back of a monumental 7-0 victory over Manchester United, while Bournemouth have won once in their past 12 matches in all competitions. The signs are ominous for the bottom-ofthe-table Cherries. Four of Liverpool’s attackers scored in the thrashing of United to give the frontline a muchneeded confidence boost. Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Núñez et al will be keen for some further target practice on the south coast because they will be heading to Madrid in midweek in the desperate hope they can overcome a three-goal deficit against Real, so will not be keen on being rotated out, especially against a side who have conceded seven in their past two matches. A rest can wait when it comes to goals. WU
Bournemouth v Liverpool, Saturday 12.30pm 3) Potter needs Blues to maintain form
Chelsea beating Borussia Dortmund should not have surprised anyone: they have far too many good players to be too bad for too long, and employed a systems coach who needed time to assess a bloated squad and inculcate his methods. Whether
Graham Potter is the right man for the job remains in question – would Brighton havebecome as good under him as they have under his replacement, Roberto De Zerbi? Why did they start scoring as soon as he left, and why did the issue of attacking impotence follow him to Stamford Bridge? He has bought himself a little time. The question, though, is whether the players and fans believe in him, because even if the board would rather avoid the embarrassment of sacking the man they brought in to replace the Champions League-winning Thomas Tuchel – whom they sacked for insufficient deference – if Chelsea’s league form does not improve, immediately, they may soon have no choice. DH
Leicester v Chelsea, Saturday, 3pm
4) Squad depth solving Arteta’s problems
Should Arsenal become champions, last weekend’s late win against Bournemouth will doubtless be seen as a key moment and of course, the dramatic nature of the finale dominated the post-match discourse.What should not be ignored is how it came about. Mikel Arteta started Fábio Vieira in midfield, preferring his creativity to Granit Xhaka’s physicality, and replaced Jorginho with Thomas Partey, who scored; at half-time, he removed Takehiro Tomiyasu to introduce the more enterprising Ben White, who also scored; and having sent on Emile Smith Rowe for the injured Leandro Trossard, he then subbed his sub with Reiss Nelson, who scored the winner. Or in other words, Arteta is now able to pick particular players for particular games that might suit them, and if things go wrong, has the options on the bench to change them. As such and though Fulham are decent, chances are Arsenal find a way to win. DH
Fulham v Arsenal, Sunday 2pm 5) Eagles need goals in sticky period
Crystal Palace have not won a game since the last day of last year, and pressure on Patrick Vieira is mounting. Twenty-one goals in 25 games is a dreadful return for a squad boasting attackers as imaginative as Wilfried Zaha, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, and though the likelihood is that there are three worse sides in the division, there is no way that, this deep into the season, Palace should be five points above the relegation zone. They are unlikely to find their visitors in charitable mood. Manchester City have been unusually lax lately, failing to punish Arsenal for defeat at Everton – the following day they lost to Spurs – then after beating Arsenal, immediately surrendered two of the three points they gained by drawing at Forest. Though this may give Palace a glimmer of hope, another miserable weekend for the side looks likely – and with Brighton then Arsenal up next, things may get worse thereafter. DH
Crystal Palace v Manchester City, Saturday 5.30pm 6) United need to forget Anfield rout
A 7-0 hiding to your arch rivals can never be erased from the record books but Erik ten Hag will tell his players that, beyond reputational damage and the mocking rights it gives all opposition fans, the material loss from last Sunday’s humiliation at Liverpool was only three points. Southampton’s visit is Manchester United’s first Premier League match since and a glance at the table shows a seven-point gap to Jürgen Klopp’s side in fifth. This means Ten Hag can also lift his charges by pointing to how with 13 games left they hold a comfortable comfortable cushion in the chase for Champions League football and that with the Carabao Cup claimed and United still in Europe and the FA Cup, the overall picture remains rosy as the defining phase of the campaign begins. Jamie Jackson
Manchester United v Southampton, Sunday 2pm
7) Dyche must learn to get more from subs
It took until the 89th minute of Everton’s 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest for Sean Dyche to make personnel changes. Neal Maupay and Tom Davies were brought on as the visitors held on for a point. It shows the lack of options at Sean Dyche’s disposal when it comes to gamechangers. At Forest he had four defenders on the bench, two central midfielders and two strikers, who have one Premier League goal between them this season. The momentum was going the way of Forest after Brennan Johnson’s leveller but Dyche stuck with his tired players, feeling they are the ones that he trusts the most. At Burnley, Dyche would rely on a similar core group, keeping fringe players as perennial unused substitutes. If he is to lead Everton out of the relegation zone, he will need to be able to rely on a full squad, knowing the roles they can play off the bench to make a difference in tight situations, because there will be a lot of them in the final 12 matches of the campaign. WU
Everton v Brentford, Saturday 3pm 8) Wilson hunts goals as Newcastle chase sun
It is almost two months since Newcastle last won a top-flight game and they have registered just one league victory in eight attempts. Small wonder then that a failure to beat Wolves may leave Eddie Howe on the brink of his first mini-crisis as Newcastle manager. While all things are relative – this time last year the team were fighting relegation while now a Champions League place remains in sight – some fear a campaign which began in overwhelmingly promising fashion is in peril of fizzling out. A big part of the problem is Callum Wilson’s loss of post-World Cup form. Since returning from Qatar a striker integral to Howe’s ambitions has scored only once in 14 appearances. “I’m a striker so I take responsibility,” Wilson told the Footballers’ Football Podcast. “I need to fix up in front of goal. It’s important not to let self doubt creep in but I’ve heard the noise and negativity and I use that as motivation.” Maybe a centre-forward troubled by illness and injury in recent weeks will benefit from a restorative, Vitamin Dsuffused sunshine break to Dubai later this month. Meanwhile Howe could arguably do worse than switching formation and pairing Wilson and Alexander Isak up front. Louise Taylor
Newcastle v Wolves, Sunday 4.30pm 9) Emery has midfield problem to solve
Aston Villa’s impressive away record since appointing Unai Emery will be a worry for West Ham. Emery has lost one away game in the league since his appointment, a 3-1 defeat at Manchester City. An impressive run has featured victories over Brighton, Tottenham, Everton and Southampton. Villa have become an effective counterattacking force, thanks in no small part to the work Ollie Watkins gets through up front, and they will fancy their chances of deepening West Ham’s relegation worries. However, Villa have a problem to solve in midfield. Boubacar Kamara is out for a month after injuring an ankle during last weekend’s win over Crystal Palace and Emery is short of replacements for the influential Frenchman, who was the victim of a crude lunge from Cheick Doucouré. He has hinted at using Calum Chambers and could move John McGinn or Jacob Ramsey into a deeper role. But Leander Dendoncker is a doubt. Jacob Steinberg
West Ham v Aston Villa, Sunday 2pm 10) Leeds get a forward-thinking boost
Managers sometimes like to talk about teams being only as good as their strikers and that adage certainly appears to apply to Leeds. A lack of goals cost Jesse Marsch the manager’s job at Elland Road and Leeds have just seven in their last 11 Premier League games. The good news for Javi Gracia is that not only is Patrick Bamford fit for Brighton’s visit to West Yorkshire, but Rodrigo could also be involved after recovering from ankle surgery ahead of schedule. Rodrigo has been much missed in the past couple of months, after 10 Premier League goals in 18 games.Marsch had his faults but arguably his biggest achievement was coaxing the best out of Rodrigo, a £27m striker whom Marcelo Bielsa never quite successfully incorporated. Marsch also had to cope without Bamford for the majority of his tenure and Gracia’s challenge is to restore the No 9 to former glories. “I think Patrick is an important player for us,” he said. “I’m trying to give us his best version.” Might it involve playing alongside Rodrigo in a front two rather than as a lone attacking spearhead? LT