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LONDON, the United States | Xinhua | One of the biggest city rivalries in England takes center stage in the Premier League when Liverpool entertains Manchester City, and Manchester United hosts Everton.
The visit to Anfield looks increasingly vital for Manchester City, who may have ended a run of consecutive defeats in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, but a 3-3 draw at home to Feyenoord after being 3-0 ahead is not a result to build confidence, and its defense looks worryingly shaky to play arguably the most in-form team in Europe.
Liverpool goes into the match eight points clear at the top and with confidence sky-high after a 2-0 win at home to Real Madrid kept its 100 percent record in Europe intact.
Mateo Kovacic is out for City, leaving the team without a natural replacement for Rodri, and winger Jeremy Doku is also a doubt with a thigh injury, while Trent Alexander-Arnold could be back for Liverpool as Arne Slot’s side looks for another statement win.
Ruben Amorim made his league debut as Manchester United coach with a slightly underwhelming draw away to Ipswich last weekend, and Sunday sees him in the Old Trafford dugout for the first time in the Premier League.
Everton makes the short trip to Manchester after four winless games, although three draws from those four games show that Sean Dyche has his players well-drilled in defense.
The home fans will want to see a return to attacking football, and it will be interesting to see if Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund can connect in attack.
Fifth-placed Brighton gets the weekend underway against Southampton in a south-coast derby on Friday night, and a win would lift Brighton up to second place for at least 24 hours.
Arsenal would also move second with a win away to West Ham, and the team will cross London in high spirits after an impressive 5-1 win away to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.
A fortnight ago, this game would have looked like a certain away win, but West Ham was greatly improved in beating Newcastle on Monday, and Julen Lopetegui looks to be getting a grip on his side’s defense.
Newcastle has the chance to recover from that defeat when it faces Crystal Palace, which has just one win all season and is handicapped by injuries to key trio Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton and Eddie Nketiah.
Consecutive wins have changed the panorama at Wolverhampton and lifted the team out of the bottom three, and a home win against Bournemouth would be doubly sweet for coach Gary O’Neil against the club that harshly sacked him 18 months ago.
Successive defeats have put the brakes on Nottingham Forest’s impressive start to the season. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side now has a chance to get back to winning ways at home to Ipswich Town, although it will have to be careful of the impressive Liam Delap.
Steve Cooper became the first managerial casualty of the season when he was sacked by Leicester City in the wake of last weekend’s defeat to Chelsea. Ruud van Nistelrooy looks set to be named as his replacement, but he is unlikely to be in charge for Saturday’s visit to Brentford, which has scored 18 of its 22 league goals at home.
Two draws and two defeats have brought Aston Villa to the reality of combining Champions League and Premier League football, and Unai Emery’s side has a tough visit to play Chelsea, who could also end the weekend in second place with a win.
Tottenham has a habit of following a swashbuckling win with a defeat, which may worry fans turning up for its home game against Fulham, whose striker Raul Jimenez will be a threat to the home side’s high defensive line. ■
