1) Can West Ham give Benítez a helping hand?
If ever you’ve wanted to gain an insight into the fabled West Ham Way – Sam Allardyce and Sir Alex Ferguson have both loudly wondered if such a thing even exists – St Mary’s was the place to be last weekend. A farcical afternoon began with Winston Reid, Slaven Bilic’s best centre-back, pulling up with a muscle injury in the warm-up a day after signing a new six-year contract (two years after the 29-year-old signed a six-and-a-half-year deal). The laughs kept coming when West Ham took 11 minutes to fall behind to Southampton, who had not scored a home goal since 5 April, before they lost Marko Arnautovic to a red card when the club’s new record signing decided to elbow Jack Stephens. Then José Fonte, a 33-year-old centre-back signed for £8m from Southampton in January, conceded his fifth penalty since the start of last season. West Ham fought back to 2-2 thanks to Javier Hernández’s poaching instincts, only for wily 32-year-old Pablo Zabaleta to concede a last-minute penalty with a nudge on the lethal Maya Yoshida. Charlie Austin stepped up to convert the spot-kick. Mark Noble had told Austin that Joe Hart knew where he was going to put it, so he changed sides and sent the goalkeeper in the wrong direction. In other news Newcastle United have have lost their opening two games without scoring a goal, Rafael Benítez feels that Mike Ashley has not backed him enough this summer, the Spaniard has been linked with West Ham this week and St James’s Park regulars doubt that Dwight Gayle, Ayoze Pérez, Joselu and Aleksandar Mitrovic will be potent enough in a relegation battle. Guess who’s coming to town on Saturday afternoon, though … Jacob Steinberg
2) Kane and Tottenham look to end talk of curses
It is easy to see why Tottenham are becoming a little irritated about being portrayed as frightened little lambs every time they play at Wembley. Sure, they have lost eight of their last 10 matches there, but their performance in last Sunday’s narrow defeat to Chelsea would have beaten most Premier League teams. The margins were fine: Harry Kane came within a whisker of obliterating that statistic about him never scoring a Premier League goal in August, hitting the inside of the post with one fabulous effort and forcing Thibaut Courtois to save bravely with another after a bustling run past two defenders, and there did not seem to be anything wrong with the forward’s state of mind or his physical condition. For all the talk of mental blocks, a Kane winner against Burnley on Sunday afternoon would be the perfect way for Tottenham to change the conversation. JS
3) Can Koscielny and Kolasinac stop Arsenal being blown away?
Arsène Wenger dropped Alexis Sánchez for Arsenal’s last trip to Anfield and he soon regretted it, as Liverpool raced into an insurmountable lead. After missing all of Arsenal’s matches so far this season, the Chilean could be thrust back into action at Anfield this weekend as Arsenal strive to avenge that defeat and, more pertinently, atone for last weekend’s one at Stoke. But the return of Laurent Koscielny could prove even more significant. The Frenchman should bolster the centre of Arsenal’s defence and allow Sead Kolasinac to shift out to the left, which is his natural habitat. How Kolasinac copes with Mohamed Salah and/or Sadio Mané will give us the truest indiction so far of the value of Arsenal’s free signing. Paul Doyle
4) Palace and Swansea in search of improvement
When these teams last met at Selhurst Park, in January, both were in a state of transition, Sam Allardyce having only recently taken over at Palace while the Welsh team were playing their last game under the caretaker stewardship of Alan Curtis. Nearly nine months on both teams remain in gestation and both sets of supporters are understandably concerned. Anxieties were quelled only slightly by midweek victories over lower league opposition in the Carabao Cup and both could do with claiming a first league win of the season this weekend, or even a first goal. With Wilfried Zaha unavailable, this would be a fine time for Andros Townsend to given a reminder of the threat he can pose, especially as that might strengthen Palace’s resolve not to rush Zaha back – or perhaps help them sell Townsend in this window to fund a transfer for an attacker in whom Frank de Boer has more belief. PD
5) Fàbregas central to ruining Everton’s week
An exceptionally challenging week for the new-look Everton, who have already faced trips to Manchester City and Hajduk Split, concludes with another daunting assignment, a visit to Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea will be keen to atone for their chaotic defeat to Burnley on the opening day. Cesc Fàbregas has more to make up for than most and, following his suspension, should be reintroduced to the starting lineup immediately despite David Luiz’s fine display in midfield against Tottenham. Chelsea are likely to need his creativity to prise Everton open. PD
6) Berahino to have last laugh at the Hawthorns?
Last weekend two Stoke fans captured the hearts of the nation by continuing to celebrate their team’s goal against Arsenal even after falling in a preposterous heap on the steps of the Bet365 stadium. It was beautiful. After the match Saido Berahino launched a public appeal to identify the two heroes so that he could reward them with a signed jersey each. Hopefully Berahino has been inspired by the duo and has hatched a plan with team-mates to perform a similar celebration if he (comes on and) scores against West Brom on Sunday. The striker was booed mercilessly when he last returned to the Hawthorns, back in February, and has still not justified Stoke’s long pursuit of him. But he looked sharp when he replaced Xherdan Shaqiri last weekend and combined well with the wonderful Jesé Rodríguez. Perhaps he is finally ready to score his first goal for the Potters. There would be no better place to do so. And no better way to celebrate. PD
7) A left-back problem and the return of Knockaert heighten intrigue
Watford’s promising start to the season unravelled on Tuesday night when they were ushered out of the League Cup by Bristol City and, to make matters worse, the club’s only senior left-back, José Holebas, got himself sent off. That leaves Marco Silva with a problem to solve before this weekend’s visit of Brighton, who could unleash their new winger José Izquierdo. The visitors may also be able to give a first appearance of the season to Anthony Knockaert: Brighton will welcome his creativity as surely as Watford fans will condemn it, since they remember the way the midfielder conjured a last-minute penalty from an innocuous challenge by a makeshift left-back (Marco Cassetti) when playing for Leicester City in the 2013 Championship play-offs semi-finals. Knockaert missed that penalty and Watford hurtled straight down the other end to score, but that is beside the point. Brighton’s attacking options may be boosted but getting their first league win of the season will still be a tall order. PD
8) Terriers on top?
Should Huddersfield Town see off Southampton, they’ll go top of the league for at least a couple of hours. A bit too early to wonder whether a reboot of the 1920s is on the cards, perhaps, but if nothing else it would represent the fastest start by a newly promoted team in the Premier League era. It would also be arguably the most jaw-dropping statement of intent since Wimbledon gatecrashed the old First Division party back in 1986 by winning three of their first four games to reach the summit. It was the beginning of a 14-year top-flight residency for the Dons; Huddersfield would certainly accept a run like that right now. But first things first. “My mum will want this season to finish tomorrow,” smiled Dave Bassett back in the day, upon his Crazy Gang going top. Should the Terriers make it, can David Wagner come up with a quip as priceless? SM
9) Foxes return to rediscover their mojo
The signature result of Leicester’s title-winning season was surely the Robert Huth inspired sacking of the Etihad Stadium in early February, the moment at which everyone suddenly realised this was actually happening and nobody had the power to do anything about it. Still, Leicester’s next visit to Manchester, some three months later with the championship practically in the bag, was remarkable in its own way too. After the Foxes came this close to sealing the title at the home of the Premier League’s most successful club, Old Trafford rose as one to honour the champions elect. It was a symbolic ovation, reward for an equally significant performance, one which proved Leicester were deserving champions. Now, a season after the inevitable hangover, the Foxes appear rejuvenated, with nine goals in their first three fixtures. Having nearly won at Arsenal, there’s no reason why another good show at Old Trafford is beyond them – although this time, of course, it may be the turn of the in-form hosts to make a title statement. SM
10) Cherries may continue to bomb
Is there really such a thing as a must-win game in mid-August? No. Still, both Bournemouth and Manchester City will be desperate to claim all three points at lunchtime on Saturday, otherwise the mood music surrounding two clubs with wildly differing agendas may turn a little maudlin. City, having dropped a couple of points at home to Everton on Monday, will be wary of falling any further behind Manchester United even at this stage, José Mourinho being a notoriously relentless front runner. They’ll be happy to run into Bournemouth, having beaten them 15-1 on aggregate across their last four meetings. The Cherries meanwhile have started the season sluggishly, Jermain Defoe taking time to adapt to his new surroundings. A third league defeat on the bounce, with a tricky assignment at Arsenal to follow, would put Eddie Howe’s side in all sorts of bother before the visit of Brighton and the first south-coast derby of the season. Is there really such a thing as a relegation six-pointer in mid September? Maybe. SM
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