Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Last week saw Manchester United beaten for the third time in just over a week and Liverpool get the better of Chelsea in this season’s second installment of Friday Night Football.
It also saw Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City continue their perfect start to the season while Everton and Tottenham are yet to taste defeat as they hold second and third places in the table respectively.
That may have been the news at the top of the table but there were plenty of headlines at the other end as West Ham and Stoke once again shipped four goals for the second consecutive week.
That was last week though and a week is a long time in Football, let’s now focus on the three main stories from this upcoming Premier League weekend
A Heavyweight London Derby
The fixture computer hasn’t been too kind to Chelsea as after losing to Liverpool on Friday night they now make the short journey to The Emirates on Saturday evening to go up against arch rivals Arsenal.
Antonio Conte’s side were outclassed when facing Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp’s side deservedly came away with all three points. That in turn meant it was the second league game in a row that Chelsea had failed to win and new boss Conte is undergoing his first spell if pressure since taking over at Stamford Bridge.
For Arsenal it all seems to rosy as of late, unbeaten since the opening weekend and the toxic Emirates atmosphere from that defeat to Liverpool has been long since forgotten. Can they do what they failed to do last season and that is beat Chelsea.
Without doubt the pantomime villain Diego Costa will be in the spotlight. In the two encounters last season he played a hand in getting both Gabriel and Per Mertesacker sent off.
If Arsenal can tame Costa then they will have a chance if breaking their Chelsea hoodoo but if they let Costs get the better of them then it could be the same old story when these two are concerned.
Mourinho needs to bounce back
Back to back League defeats for Manchester United and star players not performing to expectations. How much of that is down to the tactics and formations can be argued but after a bright start to the season not all us well in the red half of Manchester.
After a week to forget it doesn’t get any easier for Jose Mourinho’s side as they play hosts to defending champions Leicester. Last season The Foxes earned a 1-1 draw which all but clinched them the title, this time they will look to go one better.
The question of whether Wayne Rooney and Paul Pogba can play in the same team and have a real positive influence is set to run and run but don’t be surprised if once again they two stars are shoehorned into the side with neither making a real impact.
United can’t afford to drop any more points if they are to win the title. Their opponents Leicester only lost three times en route to their fairytale success last season, United have already lost twice
Could Pulis be The executioner?
Tony Pulis returns to his old stomping ground on Saturday as he takes his West Brom side to a Stoke outfit which is currently sitting bottom of the Premier League table.
Could defeat at home to West Brom spell the end of Mark Hughes’ tenure at Stoke and how ironic would it be if it were Pulis who put the final nail in the coffin.
Stoke turned in an almost embarrassing performance on Sunday as they lost 4-1 to Crystal Palace while West Brom turned in an incredibly rare swashbuckling performance as they eased past West Ham at The Hawthorns.
It was Pulis who made what was then The Britannia Stadium a fortress but now teams don’t seem to fear Stoke especially in their current form and they will be very much there for the taking.
Add the fact that Pulis himself is under an element of pressure and we have all the makings of a combustible afternoon and one that could see our first managerial casualty of the season.
