PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH PREVIEWS – SATURDAY AUGUST 27 – SUNDAY AUGUST 28

(Transfer information as of Thursday 0900)

Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool – Saturday 1230

Form (league matches only – earliest matches first):

Tottenham DW

Liverpool WL

Key signings:

Tottenham – Vincent Janssen (£18.6 million), Victor Wanyama (£11 million)

Liverpool – Sadio Mane (£36 million), Georginio Wijnaldum (£25 million), Loris Karius (£4.5 million), Ragnar Klavan (unknown)

Key departures:

Tottenham – Alex Pritchard, DeAndre Yedlin, Federico Fazio (loan)

Liverpool – Jordon Ibe, Joe Allen, Martin Skrtel, Jerome Sinclair, Brad Smith, Christian Benteke

• Liverpool fans must be wondering if this will be another season of inconsistency after they lost to Burnley last week. Tottenham are also not firing on all cylinders yet, and perhaps a draw is most likely here.

Chelsea v Burnley – Saturday 1500

Form:

Chelsea WW

Burnley LW

Key signings:

Chelsea – Michy Batshuayi (£33.2 million), N’Golo Kante (£32 million)

Burnley – Steven Defour (£8 million), Nick Pope (£1.1 million)

Key departures:

Chelsea – Mohammed Salah, Baba Rahman (loan), Nathan Ake (loan)

Burnley – Joey Barton, Matt Gilks, Lloyd Dyer, Matt Taylor

• Burnley’s win over Liverpool may have done wonders for their confidence. However, they should not expect to win many more matches with only 19% of possession. Chelsea have started well and should be fancied for a third win here.

Crystal Palace v Bournemouth – Saturday 1500

Form:

Crystal Palace LL

Bournemouth LL

Key signings:

Crystal Palace – Christian Benteke (£32 million), Andros Townsend (£13 million), James Tomkins (£10 million), Steve Mandanda (free)

Bournemouth – Jordon Ibe (£15 million), Lys Mousset (£5.4 million), Lewis Cook (£10 million), Brad Smith (£6 million), Marc Wilson (£2 million), Nathan Ake (loan)

Key departures:

Crystal Palace – Dwight Gayle, Alex McCarthy, Brede Hangeland, Marouane Chamakh, Adrian Mariappa, Yannick Bolasie, Mile Jedinak

Bournemouth – Tommy Elphick, Matt Ritchie, Lee Tomlin

• This is a meeting of the sides currently occupying the bottom two places. Palace are also the only side in the league yet to score. Could Christian Benteke score a debut goal to get Palace’s season moving?

Everton v Stoke City – Saturday 1500

Form:

Everton DW

Stoke DL

Key signings:

Everton – Yannick Bolasie (£28 million), Ashley Williams (£12 million), Idrissa Gueye (£7.1 million), Marten Stekelenburg (free)

Stoke – Joe Allen (£13 million), Ramadan Sobhi (£5.5 million)

Key departures:

Everton – John Stones, Leon Osman, Tim Howard, Tony Hibbert, Steven Pienaar

Stoke – Peter Odemwingie, Steve Sidwell, Marc Wilson

• Neither side has kept a clean sheet so far, but Everton may just have enough to edge a match in which both sides may well score.

Leicester City v Swansea City – Saturday 1500

Form:

Leicester LD

Swansea WL

Key signings:

Leicester – Nampalys Mendy (£13 million), Ron-Robert Zieler (£2.6 million), Ahmed Musa (undisclosed), Luis Hernandez (free)

Swansea – Leroy Fer (£4.75 million), Mike van der Hoorn (free)

Key departures:

Leicester - N’Golo Kante, Andrej Kramaric, Mark Schwarzer, Ritchie DeLaet

Swansea – Ashley Williams, Andre Ayew, Eder, Alberto Paloschi, Bafetimbi Gomis (loan)

• Leicester showed something like their form of last season in drawing with Arsenal, and will start as favourites against a Swansea side who are yet to replace their big name departures, and who lost to Hull last time out.

Southampton v Sunderland – Saturday 1500

Form:

Southampton DL

Sunderland LL

Key signings:

Southampton – Nathan Redmond (£11 million), Alex McCarthy (£4 million), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (undisclosed)

Sunderland – Paddy McNair, Donald Love (£5.5 million combined), Adnan Januzaj (loan)

Key departures:

Southampton – Sadio Mane, Victor Wanyama, Kelvin Davis, Graziano Pelle, Gaston Ramirez, Paulo Gazzaniga (loan)

Sunderland – Emmanuel Giaccherini, Danny Graham, Steven Fletcher, Wes Brown, Younes Kaboul

Middlesbrough – Jonathan Woodgate

• Sunderland have lost both matches by the odd goal so far, and they may stand a good chance of getting some points on the board as they make the long trip to Southampton, whose squad certainly looks weaker than last season’s.

Watford v Arsenal – Saturday 1500

Form:

Watford DL

Arsenal LD

Key signings:

Watford – Roberto Pereyra (£13.5 million), Isaac Success (£12.5 million), Daryl Janmaat (£7 million), Christian Kabasele (£5.8 million), Younes Kaboul (£3.5 million), Brice Dja Djedje (£3 million), Jerome Sinclair (free), Juan Camilo Zaniga (loan)

Arsenal – Granit Xhaka (£34 million), Rob Holding (£2 million)

Key departures:

Watford - Almen Adbi, Jose Manuel Jurado

Arsenal – Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta

• Watford continue to splash the cash, but at a club where no manager seems to last long, the spending spree may only increase their expectations and increase the pressure. Arsenal have had a difficult start and also have only one point, but will be favourites to record a win here.

Hull City v Manchester United – Saturday 1730

Form:

Hull WW

Man Utd WW

Key signings:

Hull - Jonathan Edwards (free), Will Mannion (undisclosed compensation)

Manchester United – Paul Pogba (£89 million), Eric Bailly (£30 million), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£26.5 million),  Zlatan Ibrahimovic (free)

Key departures:

Hull – Mohamed Diame, Ryan Taylor, Sone Aluko

Manchester United – Guillermo Varela (loan), Victor Valdes, Nick Powell

• Perhaps an unlikely early top of the table clash. However, while Hull certainly deserve credit for what they have done so far, they surely cannot maintain their position amongst the leaders with such a threadbare squad. United must start as favourites here, having delivered two really impressive performances so far.

West Bromwich Albion v Middlesbrough – Sunday 1330

Form:

West Brom WL

Middlesbrough DW

Key signings:

West Brom – Matt Phillips (£5.5 million), Brendan Galloway (loan)

Middlesbrough – Marten de Roon (£12 million), Viktor Fisher (£3.8 million), Victor Valdes (free), Bernardo Espinoza (free)

Key departures:

West Brom – Stephane Sessegnon, Victor Anichebe

Middlesbrough – Jonathan Woodgate

Neither side is fancied to do well, but both already have a morale boosting win under their belts. A closely fought match could be in store here.

Manchester City v West Ham United – Sunday 1600

Form:

Man City WW

West Ham LW

Key signings:

Manchester City – John Stones (£47.5 million), Leroy Sane (£37 million), Gabriel Jesus (£27 million), Ilkay Gundogan (£21 million), Nolito (£13.8 million)

West Ham – Andre Ayew (£20.5 million), Manuel Lanzini (£9.4 million) – previously played for club as loan player, Arthur Masuaku (£6 million)

Key departures:

Manchester City – Martin Demichelis

West Ham – James Tomkins

• It’s very early days, but City are exactly where many people expected them to be – top of the table and as the leading scorers in the league. With West Ham’s two main forwards injured, City will certainly carry the larger goal threat here.

At Your Service,

Tipster Street.