Manchester United v
Manchester City – Saturday 1230
Positions: Man Utd 3rd,
Man City 1st
Form (league matches only – earliest matches first):
Man Utd WWW (9pts)
Man City WWW (9pts)
Key signings:
Manchester United – Paul Pogba (£89 million), Eric Bailly
(£30 million), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (£26.5 million), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (free)
Manchester City – John Stones (£47.5 million), Leroy Sane
(£37 million), Gabriel Jesus (£27 million), Ilkay Gundogan (£21 million),
Claudio Bravo (£17.1 million), Nolito (£13.8 million)
Key departures:
Manchester United – Guillermo Varela (loan), Victor Valdes,
Nick Powell, Will Keane, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (loan)
Manchester City – Martin Demichelis, Joe Hart (loan), Samir
Nasri (loan), Eliaquim Mangala (loan), Wilfried Bony (loan), Jason Denayer
(loan)
- This is not just the
Manchester derby, but also a meeting of two teams with 100% records who
look to have been much improved by their summer signings. Sergio Aguero
starts a three match ban, so will this factor, together with home
advantage, swing it for United?
Arsenal v Southampton
– Saturday 1500
Positions: Arsenal 8th,
Southampton 15th
Form:
Arsenal LDW (4pts)
Southampton DLD (2pts)
Key signings:
Arsenal – Shkodran Mustafi (£35 million), Granit Xhaka (£34
million), Lucas Perez (£17.1 million), Rob Holding (£2 million)
Southampton – Sofiane Boufal (£16 million), Nathan Redmond
(£11 million), Alex McCarthy (£4 million), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (undisclosed)
Key departures:
Arsenal – Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta, Serge Gnabry, Jack
Wilshere (loan), Calum Chambers (loan), Wojciech Szcesny (loan), Joel Campbell
(loan)
Southampton – Sadio Mane, Victor Wanyama, Kelvin Davis,
Graziano Pelle, Gaston Ramirez, Paulo Gazzaniga (loan)
- Southampton have yet to
record a win and have scored only twice in three matches. Arsenal have in
a way answered the demands of their supporters for big money signings,
even if Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez are not household names. Expect
Arsenal to be favourites here.
Bournemouth v West
Bromwich Albion – Saturday 1500
Positions:
Bournemouth 19th, West Brom 10th
Form:
Bournemouth LLD (1pt)
West Brom WLD (4pts)
Key signings:
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), Jack Wilshere (loan)
West Brom – Nacer Chadli (£13 million), Matt Phillips (£5.5
million), Allan Nyom (£4 million), Hal Robson-Kanu (free), Brendan Galloway
(loan)
Key departures:
Bournemouth – Tommy Elphick, Matt Ritchie, Lee Tomlin
West Brom – Stephane Sessegnon, Victor Anichebe, James
Chester, Ricky Lambert, Sebastien Pocognoli (loan)
- Bournemouth perhaps pulled
off one of the coups of deadline day in acquiring Jack Wilshere, but can
he inspire his new club to a win? This match is one the South Coast club
must be targeting as they seek their first victory. West Brom may have a
more than useful signing themselves in the shape of Nacer Chadli.
Burnley v Hull –
Saturday 1500
Positions: Burnley 13th,
Hull 5th
Form:
Burnley LWL (3pts)
Hull WWL (6pts)
Key signings:
Burnley – Jeff
Hendrick (£10 million), Steven Defour (£8 million), Nick Pope (£1.1 million),
Patrick Bamford (loan)
Hull – Ryan Mason
(£13 million), David Marshall (£3.5 million), Will Keane (£3 million), James
Weir (undisclosed), Jonathan Edwards (free), Will Mannion (undisclosed
compensation), Dieumerci Mbokani (loan), Markus Henriksen
(loan)
Key departures:
Burnley – Joey Barton, Matt Gilks, Lloyd Dyer, Matt Taylor
Hull – Mohamed Diame, Ryan Taylor, Sone Aluko
- Hull at last signed a raft
of players just before the window closed, and in spite of having two wins
under their belt, these new additions were much needed to improve the
squad’s strength in depth. The confidence those wins have given Hull may
make them slight favourites, although Burnley are another club to have
smashed their transfer record with the arrival of Jeff Hendrick.
Middlesbrough v
Crystal Palace – Saturday 1500
Positions:
Middlesbrough 6th, Crystal Palace 17th
Form:
Middlesbrough DWD (5pts)
Crystal Palace LLD (1pt)
Key signings:
Middlesbrough – Marten de Roon (£12 million), Viktor Fisher
(£3.8 million), Antonio Barragan (£3 million), Fabio da Silva (£2 million),
Gaston Ramirez (free), Victor Valdes (free), Bernardo Espinoza (free), Adama
Traore (undisclosed), Brad Guzan (free), Alvaro Negredo (loan)
Crystal Palace – Christian Benteke (£32 million), Andros
Townsend (£13 million), James Tomkins (£10 million), Steve Mandanda (free), Mathieu
Flamini (free), Loic Remy (loan)
Key departures:
Middlesbrough – Jonathan Woodgate
Crystal Palace – Dwight Gayle, Alex McCarthy, Brede
Hangeland, Marouane Chamakh, Adrian Mariappa, Yannick Bolasie, Mile Jedinak
- Crystal Palace finally
scored their first goal of the season in stoppage time last time out to
record their first point. Middlesbrough are unbeaten but have themselves
sonly scored three so far, so a tight game could be in store. A Boro win
by one goal looks a good bet.
Stoke City v
Tottenham Hotspur – Saturday 1500
Positions: Stoke 20th,
Tottenham 7th
Form:
Stoke DLL (1pt)
Tottenham DWD (5pts)
Key signings:
Stoke – Joe Allen (£13 million), Ramadan Sobhi (£5.5
million), Wilfried Bony (loan), Bruno Martins-Indi (loan)
Tottenham –
Moussa Sissoko (£30 million), Vincent Janssen (£18.6 million), Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (£11 million), Victor Wanyama (£11 million)
Key departures:
Stoke – Peter Odemwingie, Steve Sidwell, Marc Wilson.
Philipp Wollscheid
Tottenham – Alex Pritchard, Ryan Mason, Nacer Chadli,
DeAndre Yedlin, Federico Fazio (loan), Nabil Bentaleb (loan)
- Stoke are yet to win, but
Tottenham have only scored three goals in three matches and are yet to
totally convince. Harry Kane is still to find the net. Stoke may have made
two shrewd signings in Wilfried Bony and Bruno Martins-Indi, but Tottenham
are poised to unleash Moussa Sissoko. Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland will
miss two more months of football through injury.
West Ham United v
Watford – Saturday 1500
Positions: West Ham
12th, Watford 18th
Form:
West Ham LWL (3pts)
Watford DLL (1pt)
Key signings:
West Ham – Andre Ayew (£20.5 million), Manuel Lanzini (£9.4
million) – previously played for club as loan player, Arthur Masuaku (£6
million), Edimilson Fernandes (£5.5 million), Alvaro Arbeloa (free), Simone
Zaza (loan)
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)
Key departures:
West Ham – James Tomkins, Enner Valencia (loan)
Watford - Almen Adbi, Jose Manuel Jurado, Allan Nyom, Matej
Vydra
- Two teams meet here who
have made disappointing starts and who have two of the worst defensive
records so far. West Ham may just edge an encounter where both sides
score.
Liverpool v Leicester
City – Saturday 1730
Positions: Liverpool
11th, Leicester 9th
Form:
Liverpool WLD (4pts)
Leicester LDW (4pts)
Key signings:
Liverpool – Sadio Mane (£36 million), Georginio Wijnaldum
(£25 million), Loris Karius (£4.5 million), Ragnar Klavan (unknown)
Leicester – Islam Slimani (£29.7 million), Nampalys Mendy
(£13 million), Bartosz Kapustka (£7.5 million), Ron-Robert Zieler (£2.6
million), Ahmed Musa (undisclosed), Luis Hernandez (free)
Key departures:
Liverpool – Jordon Ibe, Joe Allen, Martin Skrtel, Jerome
Sinclair, Brad Smith, Christian Benteke, Luis Alberto, Andre Wisdom (loan)
Leicester - N’Golo Kante, Andrej Kramaric, Mark Schwarzer,
Ritchie DeLaet, Gokhan Inler
- Neither side has produced
what they are really capable of so far, and both sit in mid table. Both
teams have players who can turn games with individual moments of
brilliance, but perhaps a score draw is a good bet here. Leicester’s Danny
Simpson has signed a new three year contract.
Swansea City v
Chelsea – Sunday 1600
Positions: Swansea 14th,
Chelsea 2nd
Form:
Chelsea WWW (9pts)
Swansea WLL (3pts)
Key signings:
Swansea – Borja Gonzalez (£15.5 million), Alfie Mawson (£5 million), Leroy Fer (£4.75
million), Mike van der Hoorn (free), Fernando Llorente (undisclosed)
Chelsea – Michy Batshuayi (£33.2 million), N’Golo Kante (£32
million), David Luiz (£30 million), Marcos Alonso (£23 million)
Key departures:
Swansea – Ashley Williams, Andre Ayew, Eder, Alberto
Paloschi, Bafetimbi Gomis (loan)
Chelsea – Mohammed Salah, Baba Rahman (loan), Nathan Ake
(loan), Patrick Bamford (loan), Christian Atsu (loan), Loic Remy (loan)
- Chelsea have started
superbly, with many players unrecognisable from last season, especially
Eden Hazard. They will expect to make it four wins out of four against a
Swansea side who have lost their last two matches.
Sunderland v Everton
– Monday 2000
Positions: Sunderland
16th, Everton 4th
Form:
Sunderland LLD (1pt)
Everton DWW (7pts)
Key signings:
Sunderland – Didier Ndong (£13.6 million), Papy Djilobodji
(£8 million), Paddy McNair, Donald Love (£5.5 million combined), Mika
(undisclosed), Adnan Januzaj (loan), Jason Denayer (loan)
Everton – Yannick Bolasie (£28 million), Ashley Williams
(£12 million), Idrissa Gueye (£7.1 million), Marten Stekelenburg (free), Enner
Valencia (loan)
Key departures:
Sunderland – Emmanuel Giaccherini, Danny Graham, Steven
Fletcher, Wes Brown, Younes Kaboul
Everton – John Stones, Leon Osman, Tim Howard, Tony Hibbert,
Steven Pienaar
- Everton have made an
excellent start, and on current form you would back them to add another
three points here. Sunderland’s Fabio Borini will be out injured for three
months, and Vito Mannone also faces an extended period on the sidelines,
but here the club have signed goalkeeper Mika as a reinforcement.