Premier League: 10 things to look out for in this weekend’s football
Klopp must beware set-piece barrage
David Moyes will surely have taken note of Liverpool’s struggle to defend set pieces against Everton. Jürgen Klopp, who must be delighted with a 12.30pm kick-off on Saturday, should prepare his team for another bruising test when they visit West Ham. For Moyes, this is a chance to repair the sizeable damage to his reputation caused by last weekend’s collapse at Selhurst Park. West Ham were 4-0 down to Palace after 31 minutes and are preparing to part company with Moyes at the end of the season, but they should take heart from how Everton unsettled Liverpool in the Merseyside derby. Everton scored twice from set pieces and West Ham pose a similar threat from dead balls. James Ward-Prowse’s deliveries towards Tomas Soucek, Kurt Zouma and Michail Antonio will have Klopp’s defenders sweating. Jacob Steinberg
West Hamv Liverpool, Saturday 12.30pm (all times BST)
Mateta watch thriving on
Glasner’s
Jean-Philippe Mateta has looked like a different player since Oliver Glasner’s arrival at Crystal Palace. Mateta had struggled to nail down a starting spot since moving to south London three years ago. He was a bitpart presence, a useful squad player, but nobody seemed convinced he was capable of leading the line on a regular basis. Yet the situation has changed under Glasner. In nine appearances for the Austrian, Mateta has eight goals. A clinical finisher has emerged. Palace are creating chances and Mateta has been taking them. He scored both of their goals in the 2-0 win over Newcastle on Wednesday. Fulham will need to watch out when Glasner’s side visit Craven Cottage. JS
Fulham v Crystal Palace, Saturday
3pm Howe still underrated as a coach
Given Eddie Howe’s close bonds with Liverpool’s new football chief executive, Michael Edwards, and their incoming sporting director, Richard Hughes, it is arguably surprising that the Anfield club have opted to target Feyenoord’s Arne Slot as Jürgen Klopp’s potential successor rather than attempt to recruit Newcastle’s manager. Howe is not perfect but there is a real sense that he remains underrated. Perhaps neutrals do not fully appreciate his achievement in keeping a squad still staffed by a nucleus of Rafael Benítez’s old personnel in strong contention for a Europa League place. Newcastle’s 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Wednesday was disappointing but it is worth noting that it involved six players – five starters and one substitute – who were on the St James’ Park books when Benítez walked out, citing lack of ambition, five years ago. The reality that Fabian Schär, Sean Longstaff, Jacob Murphy and co are challenging for Europe rather than trying to avoid relegation these days speaks volumes for Howe’s coaching ability. Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder is certainly unlikely to underestimate it as he aims to avoid a repeat of the 8-0 defeat his relegation-bound side (then managed by Paul Heckingbottom) sustained at Bramall Lane in September. Louise Taylor
Newcastlev Sheffield United, Saturday 3pm
No sign of improvement from Antony
Erik ten Hag gave Antony a second start since February against Sheffield United, but the manager might feel in
retrospect like he shouldn’t have bothered. At home to comfortably the worst side in the division, this seemed like an opportunity for the beleaguered Brazilian to actually contribute and build some confidence. Instead, Antony was substituted with Manchester United trailing 2-1: no goal, no assist, no shot on target, six duels lost. In his 55 minutes, the 24-year-old lost possession 13 times, or roughly every four minutes. United were greatly improved once Antony was replaced, so will Ten Hag risk starting him again against Burnley? From the worrying off-field allegations to the on-pitch inadequacies, this looks like maybe a last chance for Antony to create a positive headline before a more testing runin and what will surely be an uncertain summer. Michael Butler
Manchester United v Burnley, Saturday 3pm One more push for Everton safety
Everton will still be on a high after their first home win over Liverpool in 14 years and the instruction from Sean Dyche to his players will be relatively straightforward: do it again. Consistency has eluded Everton for most of the campaign but, should Luton fail to win at Wolves earlier in the day, Dyche’s team will go into the Brentford game knowing a fourth consecutive league victory at Goodison Park will secure their top-flight status. It would be some achievement by a team docked eight points to do so with three games to spare. “Repeated wins is the art of the game and finding the way to win is the next challenge,” said Dyche. “We’ll park Wednesday quickly, and that is difficult because the noise around it has been tremendous from Evertonians, but we have to go again. I’d imagine the fans will be in good voice from the off, I hope so, to keep us going.” Andy Hunter
Everton v Brentford, Saturday 5.30pm
Luton must keep heads held high
Sitting in 19th with 25 points and with time running out to mount an unlikely great escape, Luton will be desperate to get some sort of result at Wolves. No team has conceded more goals away from home this season, however, and Rob Edwards will surely be more confident about Luton’s remaining (kind) home fixtures against Everton, who are now all but safe, and Fulham, who have nothing tangible to play for. Win those two and Luton could well stay up with an incredibly low total of 31 points. Nottingham Forest and Burnley face the Manchester clubs this weekend, and it’s likely that Luton will not be much worse off by the end of it. So even if Luton do lose at Molineux, hope remains, and Edwards must make sure that heads don’t drop. MB
Wolves v Luton, Saturday 3pm Chelsea struggling without Gusto
Much was made of Cole Palmer’s absence before Chelsea’s cursed trip to Arsenal, but of almost equal significance was the injury to Malo Gusto. The right-back has been the team’s second best player this season, a rare gem unearthed by Chelsea’s scattergun transfer policy. Reliable and dogged in defence and enterprising in attack, Gusto lived up to his name before suffering “a minor problem in his knee ligaments” in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City. Gusto is unlikely to return for the trip to Aston Villa and stand-in right-back Alfie Gilchrist – who endured a torrid time at Arsenal – could again be called upon to face the in-form Morgan Rogers. MB
Aston Villa v Chelsea, Saturday 8pm An on-the-beach derby?
Given their respective positions on the map and in the middle third of the Premier League table, it could be argued that Sunday’s match between Bournemouth and Brighton is about as on-the-beach as these encounters at the end of the season get. With just two wins in their past 10 games in all competitions (one an exercise in futility in the second leg of a Europa League tie that was already lost), injuryravaged Brighton’s season is in danger of ending with a whimper, but Bournemouth still have something to play for. Despite taking three of the first 27 available to them this season, the Cherries remain in with a chance of achieving their highest Premier League finish (ninth in 2016-17), while the news that squads for Euro 2024 are now to be 26strong will have piqued the interest of Dominic Solanke. The 26-year-old is in the form of his life and must fancy his chances, however small they may be, of pushing into the queue for an England striker’s berth ahead of the out-of-sorts Ivan Toney. Barry Glendenning
Bournemouth v Brighton, Sunday 2pm Arsenal to keep ball rolling or grind to halt?
There has been a lot of talk about fixture congestion from managers this season, but Spurs go into the north London derby with a 15-day rest after their dismal 4-0 defeat at Newcastle on 13 April. By contrast, Arsenal have played four games since that day but travel to their neighbours with an almost fully-fit squad: only long-term absentee Jurriën Timber, who scored a sensational goal just eight minutes into his comeback game for Arsenal’s Under-21s on Monday, remains a doubt. Despite having more miles in the legs and with less time to prepare tactically, might Arsenal feel sharper, especially after their confident 5-0 thrashing of Chelsea? MB
Tottenhamv Arsenal, Sunday 2pm
A resumption of hostilities at Forest
Nottingham Forest could find themselves in the relegation zone by the time their game kicks off on Sunday afternoon and, even with home advantage, the odds of them taking anything against the combined forces of Manchester City, the match referee, Simon Hooper, and his curtaintwitching Stockley Park informer, Peter Bankes, will be very long indeed, no matter how fatigued Pep Guardiola’s players might be from the grind of having to play three matches in nine days. Won reasonably comfortably by City, the corresponding fixture at the Etihad Stadium was a particularly badtempered affair, with Rodri receiving a rare red card for raising his hands to the throat of Morgan Gibbs-White shortly after half-time, while Ederson and Taiwo Awoniyi also butted heads later in the game. Given how much is at stake for the teams and the propensity for both managers to moan about malign forces conspiring against their sides, it would be no surprise to see a resumption of hostilities and further fireworks at the City Ground. Here’s hoping. BG