1) Wenger’s anniversary should not mask significance of derby
On a weekend when much will be made of Arsène Wenger’s 20th anniversary as Arsenal manager, the Frenchman would not be human if he didn’t recall the manner in which Chelsea ruined the occasion of his 1,000th game in charge. It was March 2014 and on a strange afternoon at Stamford Bridge, Andre Marriner sent off Kieran Gibbs in a case of mistaken identity, as José Mourinho’s side hit their visitors for six without reply. Arsenal had already lost 6-3 at Manchester City and 5-1 at Liverpool that season, capitulations that rendered Wenger’s team and any aspirations they had towards a title win a laughing stock. With apologies to Leicester fans, this is the second big test of Arsenal’s credentials as potential title winners in six games. They have already failed the first, against Liverpool. Should they fail this one, against likely fellow contenders for a top four spot, the weekend airwaves will echo to the sound of seething Gooners repeating their forlorn and familiar lament that it’s once again time for Wenger to go. BG
• Barney Ronay: Wenger should have won more but English football owes him
• Amy Lawrence: Wenger at Arsenal – a journey of joy and frustration
• Wenger’s 20 years at Arsenal – in pictures and his own words
2) Carrick’s steady hand could allow Pogba to flourish
Michael Carrick turned 35 in the summer, but how much does that matter when his role has always been more about speed of thought than the speed in his legs? Even now he could be the cure for Manchester United’s midfield ills. While the clamour for Wayne Rooney to be dropped grows, the England captain has not been the only issue for a team that seems unable to take control. Indeed Rooney’s struggles have lessened the focus on other issues. Paul Pogba needs to be freed. While Marouane Fellaini has done a job, Carrick’s measured play in a holding role could hand the world’s most expensive player the chance to take the shackles off. Pogba has not exactly impressed so far, but he needs a chance to roam rather than hold and if Rooney remains undroppable, then swapping Carrick, who was steady against Northampton, for Fellaini seems the obvious route for the visit of Leicester. AS
• Mourinho hits out at ‘football Einsteins’ for trying to undermine him
• Jonathan Wilson: Mourinho is no longer the bright young iconoclast
• Rooney insists he can deal with ‘rubbish’ criticism
- Appearances
- 4
- Goals
- 0
- Shots
- 13
- Shots on target
- 15%
- Offsides
- 0
3) Another Anfield beatdown for Hull?
Hull have never won a competitive match at Liverpool in 10 attempts and have been subjected to some ferocious beatings on their trips to Anfield, conceding three or more goals on no fewer than six occasions. Jürgen Klopp’s side have scored 11 goals so far this season, third in the scoring charts behind Manchester City and Arsenal, having faced tougher opposition. Liverpool have already played the teams who finished first, second and third last season, while Chelsea are unlikely to be far off the pace this time around. Having put four past both Arsenal and Leicester, with EFL Cup smitings of two Championship sides thrown in for good measure, the potential for another thrashing of Hull at Anfield seems high. And yet … and yet, Mike Phelan can always point to Liverpool’s sole reverse this season, an inexplicable and entirely unexpected defeat at the hands of Burnley, when the hunger, passion and iron will of a side that took full advantage of their opponents’ generosity with the ball helped to ensure the minnows prevailed. BG
• Jürgen Klopp calls on Liverpool to be ‘angry’ against Hull City
4) West Ham seek on-field tonic after explosive week
It’s been a tough week for West Ham fans. After all the problems that have beset their new stadium, watching the footage and photos of their beloved Boleyn Ground being blown up on Tuesday for a new Pierce Brosnan film called Final Score – described by producer Marc Goldberg as “Die Hard in a soccer stadium” – must have been heartbreaking. Their side limping to a 1-0 win over League Two Accrington Stanley on Wednesday, before which many season ticket holders struggled to gain entry to the ground, won’t have helped matters. With all eyes trained on the London Stadium this Sunday, West Ham desperately need both a positive performance and result against Southampton, if only to distract people from off-field issues for 90 minutes. It won’t be easy; Saints come into this game off the back of three consecutive wins in all competitions and West Ham’s only fit left-back, Arthur Masuaku, was taken off on a stretcher against Accrington. Scoring is also a concern: only Michail Antonio has netted from open play since the first league game of the season, and Dimitri Payet cannot be expected to score a last-minute free-kick every match. MB
• West Ham beat Accrington Stanley after Payet’s last-minute strike
5) The start of two big months for Janssen
While Harry Kane takes an enforced but apparently much-needed rest after damaging ankle ligaments against Sunderland last weekend, Vincent Janssen will be given his chance to shine. The Dutch striker enjoyed a timely confidence boost by getting off the mark in Tottenham’s EFL Cup rout of Gillingham and can relax into his temporary role as Tottenham’s go-to goal merchant safe in the knowledge that, barring a calamity, the position is his for up to two months. The omens for Janssen are good. Aged just 22, he was awarded this year’s Johan Cruyff Trophy for Dutch talent of the year and has an admittedly brief history of scoring in bursts. Various fallow periods (some as long as one match) for AZ Alkmaar last season were punctuated by a run of three goals in two games, four in three, six in three, seven in seven, five in two and two in two. While goals in the Premier League are generally harder to come by for strikers making the transition from the Eredivisie, Janssen’s past form suggests a goal glut is imminent. BG
• Danny Rose commits to Tottenham Hotspur with new five-year contract
6) Everton’s steely (league) portcullis
In their first four games of this Premier League season, Everton conceded two goals. In the corresponding fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur (h), West Brom (a), Stoke City (h) and Sunderland (a) last season they shipped 10, five times that number. Last weekend they conceded a decidedly contentious one against newly-promoted Middlesbrough to bring their tally of goals conceded this season to three in five matches, making theirs the second tightest defence in the division, behind only Spurs. While much of the credit for this commendable turnaround – midweek defeat aside – can be attributed to the club’s decision to replace Roberto Martínez with Ronald Koeman, a particularly mean defender in his playing pomp, the seamless introduction of Ashley Williams to the Everton back four is already making the £11.9m purchase of the 32-year-old Wales skipper look like one of the signings of the season. With their combined age of 66, Williams and Phil Jagielka have forged quite the steely portcullis in the heart of Everton’s defence, even if their team has only faced two teams from last season’s top 10, one of whom finished ninth and is currently propping up the league. Against a Bournemouth side who are the joint-lowest scorers in the Premier League, this pair of old-timers seem unlikely to have a particularly testing afternoon. BG
• Koeman rules out prospect of Niasse rescuing Everton career
7) Time for Kelly to find his wings
- Appearances
- 4
- Shots blocked
- 1
- Clearances
- 10
This is a make-or-break season for Martin Kelly. Entering the final season of his three-year contract at Crystal Palace, the former Liverpool defender failed to hold down a regular starting role under Alan Pardew last season, but has deputised well for Pape Souaré recently, after the Senegalese left-back suffered an horrific car crash earlier this month. However, with James Tomkins and now captain Scott Dann sidelined through injury, Kelly will be expected to hastily form a partnership with Damien Delaney in the centre of defence. On Wednesday it did not go well at Southampton, Kelly conceding a penalty just 15 minutes after coming on for Dann. No other team have scored fewer this season than Palace’s opponents on Saturday, Sunderland, but Kelly will need to adapt quickly if he is to extend his short-term stint in the first team and his long-term future at the club. MB
• Sunderland and McNair rally to see off QPR after Sandro strike
8) Sobhi can add some sparkle to stodgy Stoke
Perhaps the only positive for Stoke to take from a fifth defeat in a row, against Hull in the League Cup on Wednesday, was the performance of Ramadan Sobhi. The Egyptian winger appeared fearless on debut and considering the rut Mark Hughes’s team find themselves in he may be worth a punt against West Brom in Tony Pulis’s 1,000th game. It is hard to put a finger on what the matter is for a squad that is arguably stronger than last season’s but the Potters require fresh impetus and Sobhi can bring that to the party. Hughes described the 19-year-old’s performance against Hull as “fantastic”, adding that “he was always a threat”. Factoring in the stodginess of West Brom’s defence and Stoke’s paucity in front of goal so far (which may have been overlooked to a degree because of their leaky back line), it could be a gamble worth taking. AS
• Hughes retains support of Stoke City board despite frustrating form
9) Another needless kit change?
For anybody who didn’t catch Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Swansea City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, Pep Guardiola’s side wore a monstrosity of a third kit – a purple and orange number which, according to the club, “blends two unexpected colours to create a distinctive look that reflects the vibrancy and creativity at the heart of both club and city”. Nice try, but it’s not exactly the sort of thing you’d expect to see in Moss Side. Perhaps it will get another showing on Saturday as City return to south Wales – their black away shirt perhaps deemed too close to the Swan white colours of their hosts. Earlier this season, we saw what should have been a red Arsenal sport a black-and-yellow third kit away at Watford, presumably with the aim of flogging a few more shirts – and while City’s third kit won’t clash with Swansea, it might clash with supporters who feel they continue to be seen as customers, not fans. MB
• Kompany injury sours Manchester City’s victory at Swansea
10) Burnley v Watford on Monday night
In the absence of anything more stand-out to write about before this game than the imposition of a seven-and-a-half-hour round coach trip for travelling Watford fans, let’s take a trip down memory lane. Just over 15 years ago, on a day remembered for the attacks on the Twin Towers, Sean Dyche got kicked in the head while playing for Millwall against Gillingham in a League Cup match and felt his nose shatter. “My memories of that were crystal because of what happened, not only that event but the bigger-picture event, 9/11,” the Burnley manager would later recall in a fascinating interview with his former team-mate turned journalist and pundit Richie Sadlier, the season before last. “I remember getting home and hardly being able to breathe and thinking ‘two planes crashed into a building.’” It’s a vignette that offers some insight into the perspective on life of a man happy to operate with the Premier League’s smallest budget and who, in the same interview, illustrated what his side were up against by pointing out that Ángel di María cost Manchester United more money than Burnley had spent on players in their entire history. They failed to stay up that season, but are back in the Premier League with few managers more secure in their jobs than Dyche. Despite their surprise win over Liverpool in the second game of the season, the signs are that Burnley will struggle again and with three of their next four matches against Arsenal, Everton and Manchester United, the acquisition of a point or three against Watford under the Turf Moor lights would be welcome. BG
• Mazzarri praised for instilling a ‘winning mentality’ at Watford
