Noni Madueke of Arsenal battles for possession with Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool during a Premier League match earlier this year.
Noni Madueke of Arsenal battles for possession with Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool during a Premier League match earlier this year.
The past two champions of England meet in a clash between the second- and fourth-place clubs as Arsenal travel to Anfield to play Liverpool in the lone Premier League game on Sunday.
It’s a big weekend at the top of the table as the first- and third-place teams meet as well, with Brighton going to Manchester City on Saturday.
The match in Liverpool is a fascinating clash. Arsenal, winners of three in a row after dropping their only game of the season to Brighton, have been grinding out professional performances without looking like they’re anywhere near their top gear.
Their five goals conceded are the fewest in the division and they built their title win last season on a rock-solid defence and being a menace on set plays.
Liverpool have had a shaky start to the season under new manager Andoni Iraola, but last week beat Brighton — the darlings of the early season — fairly comfortably 2-0 at Anfield. Brighton had scored a whopping 23 goals in just seven games, but Liverpool held them off the scoresheet for the first time this season.
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And it helps that Liverpool’s attack is rounding into form despite suffering through injuries. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz are finally firing, both scoring last week (technically Wirtz’s opener was credited as an own goal, though) while newly signed French winger Bradley Barcola has been finding his form in the past few weeks. Barcola’s speed and control set up Isak’s goal and he generally has been a massive headache for the players he has faced.
Add to that teen star Rio Ngumoah, with his fleet feet and sprinter’s spark down the other flank, and Liverpool’s pricey attack will indeed test Arsenal’s defensive resolve.
Wait, did Arsenal lose to Fleetwood Town?
An interesting side note, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was in the same academy as a young boy with Liverpool’s Iraola, as well as Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso, so they all know each other well.
Mixed midweek fortunes were particularly interesting as Arsenal were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Fleetwood Town, who toil in England’s fourth division. Liverpool played Chelsea with Iraola’s Reds knocking out Alonso’s squad on penalties.
The other top-four tussle between Manchester City and Brighton is also of note, both coming off losses. City lost their first of the season to Aston Villa last week while Brighton’s failure at Liverpool was only their second and the first since losing by one to Chelsea in the second match of the season.
Stock up
Aston Villa: If manager Unai Emery could figure out how not to come out of the gates so cold, Villa would be mounting serious title challenges. Instead they’ve won three of the past four but, thanks to their awful start, they’ve just moved into the top half of the table in ninth spot. They still sit with a minus-3 goal difference because they’ve had so much trouble scoring.
Fulham: After a disastrous start under former Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa, they’ve put back-to-back wins together but now face Villa on the road. They’ve managed to score eight goals in eight games, but the wins have come because they’ve kept back-to-back clean sheets.
Tottenham: Have to give Spurs their due after a quality win over Chelsea, their second in a row, and they’re unbeaten in three. Getting dreadful Crystal Palace this week gives them a chance to build momentum and move away from fears of a relegation battle for the third season in a row.
Stock down
Everton: After two wins and three draws to start the season, Everton have dropped two games in a row and looked rather anemic doing so, even if last week was against champions Arsenal and prior to that Chelsea. Striker Thierno Barry has been starved for service and it’s hard to score goals when you don’t get your lone forward the ball.
Crystal Palace: Woof, one win in their past five with a minus-10 goal difference — the worst in the league — and now they face rejuvenated Spurs. This could be a rough season for the Stripey Nigels at Selhurst Park.
Nottingham Forest: Ironically, they thought they were on the right path hiring trendy manager Oliver Glasner away from Palace. But the draw last week came on the heels of three losses. They slid into the relegation zone and have a difficult trip to Brentford this weekend. Considering the manner in which hot-headed owner Evangelos Marinakis treats his managers, hopefully Glasner only rented his place in Nottingham and didn’t buy.
Crisis Club: Manchester United
Oh dear. What a mess this has turned into.
Losing at home to Bournemouth 3-0 is never a good result, but coming on the back of three disappointing draws and two incidents where star players — Lisandro Martinez and captain Bruno Fernandes — publicly rubbished the steering of the club, it has become a full-blown crisis.
Fernandes was benched last week after doing a TV interview that criticized manager Michael Carrick’s tactics. United are in 16th place and have just one win through the first eight games of the season. There was heavy speculation Carrick would be fired this week, but the board has come out and backed him and said his job is safe for now.
While most pundits acknowledge this mess is more on the construction of the team and the efforts of the players, it’s still hard to see how a manager, no matter how admirable he is, can marshall a team that has openly spoken out against him.
They go to Chelsea this week, who are coming off a damaging 2-0 loss to Spurs, but United are still facing a team with talent to spare and a big defeat could test the board’s resolve on the management front yet again.
This weekend’s Premier League schedule
Saturday: Chelsea vs Manchester United; Bournemouth vs Leeds; Brentford vs Nottingham Forest; Coventry vs Sunderland; Hull vs Ipswich; Manchester City vs Brighton; Tottenham vs Crystal Palace; Aston Villa vs Fulham.
Sunday: Liverpool vs Arsenal.
Monday: Newcastle vs Everton.