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LONDON, UK | Xinhua | Manchester City have a perfect chance to pressure Premier League leaders Liverpool and title rivals Arsenal this weekend as they play bottom-of-the-table Southampton on Saturday, while Arsenal host Liverpool on Sunday.
Three points for Pep Guardiola’s side against a rival that has yet to win a game this season looks very likely, especially considering the damage to Southampton’s morale caused by last week’s collapse from 2-0 up at home to Leicester City to a 3-2 defeat. However, Manchester City will also remember how they needed a controversial late winner from John Stones to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers last week.
Arsenal are without several key players to entertain Liverpool. William Saliba was suspended after his red card at Bournemouth last weekend, while Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber are also sidelined. This gives Mikel Arteta problems in defense, while Bukayo Saka is also doubtful and has a hamstring problem.
The weekend kicks off with Leicester City at home to Nottingham Forest, which is likely to be a close affair as Leicester coach Steve Cooper faces his former club.
Leicester got a massive boost from their win to Southampton, while Chris Wood’s goal saw Nottingham Forest move up to eighth after a 1-0 win away to Crystal Palace.
Wood is clearly the man Leicester will need to stop, with the New Zealand forward netting five of Forest’s eight goals this season.
Brentford were slightly unlucky to lose to Manchester United last weekend and now host Ipswich Town, who suffered a painful defeat after being outmuscled by Everton last week, and are still looking for their first win since returning to the top flight.
Wolverhampton are slipping deeper into trouble at the bottom of the table, although they were unlucky not to get a point off Manchester City last weekend.
Coach Gary O’Neil’s side’s results are down to small margins, but a bad defeat to a lively Brighton, who have a fitness doubt over top scorer Danny Welbeck, would put him under increasing pressure.
Two wins and two draws have helped lift Everton away from trouble after their dreadful start to the campaign, they now face Fulham, who sit comfortably in mid-table, despite defeats to Aston Villa and Manchester City.
Aston Villa could have defender Tyrone Mings back for their home game against Bournemouth, with both sides in an excellent moment of form after Bournemouth defeated Arsenal last weekend. Aston Villa moved to the top of the Champions League on Wednesday with an impressive 2-0 win at home to Bolognia and Unai Emery’s main task is ensuring his players stay as fresh as possible.
Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner desperately needs a win to kick-start his side’s season, although Tottenham will hope their energy should be enough to take the points from Selhurst Park.
Anthony Gordon will hope to celebrate his new Newcastle United contract away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in what is an interesting match. Chelsea were unlucky to leave empty-handed from Anfield last week, while Newcastle wasted a host of chances in their defeat to Brighton, although pressure is slowly building on coach Eddie Howe.
The pressure on Howe isn’t as much as that on West Ham coach Julen Lopetegui, whose side collapsed away to Tottenham last weekend and also lost their best player, Mohammed Kudos through suspension.
West Ham are at home to Manchester United, where crisis is more or less the normal state of affairs. A win for either side will ease some pressure on their coach, but you suspect that the effect will only be short term. ■
With Arsenal hosting Liverpool, it presents a crucial opportunity for Manchester City to apply pressure in the title race. If Arsenal drops points, City can capitalize on that in their upcoming fixtures. Both Arsenal and Liverpool have strong squads, so it should be an exciting match that could influence the title chase significantly. How do you think the game will play out?