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London, UK | Xinhua | The second round of games in the Premier League kicks off on Friday night with what could be a battle against relegation, and ends on Monday with an interesting London derby, with several other big games sandwiched in between.
Nottingham Forest entertain Sheffield United in the game that opens the weekend, with Steve Cooper’s men hoping to repeat some of their good moments from last weekend’s defeat to Arsenal.
Sheffield were comprehensively outplayed at home by Crystal Palace on their return to the top flight, but the midweek signing of Tom Davis and Gus Hamer should add more bite on the pitch.
Saturday’s big game sees newly crowned European Supercup winners Manchester City at home to Newcastle, although City coach Pep Guardiola has already complained about the lack of recovery time after Wednesday’s final.
Guardiola looked to rotate his squad on Wednesday but is hampered by an injury to Kevin de Bruyne, and the fact Aymeric Laporte looks to be on his way out of the club, while Newcastle impressed with a 5-1 thrashing of Aston Villa last week and their impressive midfield will make life hard for Guardiola’s side.
Tottenham and Manchester United both drew their season-opening games, although Tottenham were probably the happier of the two sides as new arrival James Maddison turned on the style and Yves Bissouma finally showed why the club signed him.
Manchester United, in contrast, looked flat and only a refereeing error saved them from conceding a late penalty against Wolves. Lisandro Martinez misses out for United, who are still waiting for Rasmus Hojlund to reach match fitness.
Liverpool drew their league opener, 1-1 away to Chelsea, but coach Jurgen Klopp will be worried about the porous nature of his midfield and defense and frustrated at missing out on Moises Caicedo and Romero Lavia, both of whom opted to join the Blues rather than move to Anfield.
Liverpool have captured Japanese national team captain Wataru Endo from Stuttgart and he could be registered in time to face Bournemouth, who could cause Klopp’s men problems with their high-pressing game.
Saturday also sees a southwest London derby between a Fulham side still without Joao Palhinha and Brentford, who looked threatening last week despite the absence of the suspended Ivan Toney.
Wolves will try to take out their frustration after being denied a penalty at Old Trafford last week on an impressive Brighton, with coach Gary O’Neil looking to Matheus Cunha to add a goal to the impressive display he gave a week ago.
Sunday’s games see Aston Villa entertain Everton, looking to recover from their disastrous 5-1 defeat to Newcastle, which also saw defender Tyrone Mings suffer a season-ending knee injury. Diego Carlos or Pau Torres will step into the Villa defense against a rival that lost 1-0 to Fulham last week, thanks mainly to their habitual problem of turning chances into goals.
Record signing Moises Caicedo could make his debut as Chelsea travel to play West Ham in the London Stadium, but last weekend’s draw against Liverpool made it clear that wing-backs Ben Chilwell and Reece James are vital to Manuel Pochettino’s plans for Chelsea.
West Ham could also give a debut to new arrivals James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez and have so far held onto Lucas Paqueta, despite Man City’s advances.
Monday’s game is another London derby with Crystal Palace, boosted by Michael Olise rejecting a move to Chelsea and signing a new contract, at home to Arsenal, who lost new signing Jurien Timber last weekend to a serious knee injury.
