Friday, September 4, 2026

Premier Table: Match Week 3 Preview

Arsenal faces its stiffest test of the young season when high rolling Chelsea pays a visit to the Emirates on Sunday. After swatting Coventry in the league’s opener two weeks ago, Arsenal was businesslike, if less than impressive, against an Aston Villa side reeling from transfer window departures. Now undefeated Chelsea under new manager Xabi Alonso arrives for a London derby against the Gunners.

Chelsea has been living dangerously, bagging two wins despite allowing five goals over the first two matches. Only Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace have conceded more goals than Chelsea. Meanwhile, there is still some question as to whether Arsenal has enough firepower to successfully defend its title after winning the Premier League last season on the strength of its defense and set piece proficiency. Deals for Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior and Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez failed to reach the finish line. Leonardo Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri left the club while Christos Tzolis, formerly of Belgian side Brugge is the only addition of note. Chelsea midfielder Morgan Rogers was another player that Arsenal was rumored to covet but the attacking midfielder instead departed Aston Villa for the Blues. Rogers and best mate Cole Palmer will need to be at their best to deliver a first win for Chelsea over Arsenal in twelve meetings.

While Arsenal and Chelsea have both won their two matches to date so far, Liverpool is yet to edge into the win column, drawing both league matches under new manager Andoni Iraola. The former Bournemouth manager should have a good chance at that elusive first league win when his Reds visit Ipswich Town to begin the Premier League match weekend schedule on Friday.

Frank Lampard is also looking for his first win this season but is far less likely to find it when Coventry City, which was hammered by Arsenal in the league opener and then tripped up by fellow newcomer Hull last week, must now travel to the Etihad to face Manchester City and its galaxy of stars led by striker Erling Haaland.

Unbeaten and untied Hull, meanwhile, will try to keep the party going in front of its home fans versus Aston Villa on Saturday. A high scoring match should not be expected. Hull has yet to allow a goal this season. Aston Villa is yet to land a shot on target.

Nottingham Forest Manager Oliver Glasner gets a second chance to deliver a first win in front of the Tricky Trees home supporters when Forest welcomes Tottenham Hotspur. Like Coventry and Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur is yet to put a ball past an opposing goalkeeper this season, noteworthy in that Spurs had never before failed to score in the opening two matches of a Premier League season. This weekend Spurs could make more history as the north London club has never before lost the first three matches of a Premier League campaign.

Fulham and Crystal Palace are two other struggling London sides. The good news is that one of them is guaranteed their first point of the season when the two clash on Saturday.

No club, meanwhile, has been involved in matches with more aggregate scoring than the twelve goals recorded during Brighton’s first two matches. Interestingly, the Seagulls now host Leeds on Saturday with the Whites having scored just twice while conceding just once in their two prior outings.

Everton, despite a seemingly thin squad, are unbeaten after two weeks. The collapse of the deal to bring USMNT and Monaco striker Folarin Balogun to Merseyside leaves the Toffees seriously short of attacking quality. Everton was one of only three clubs last season to have a leading goal scorer with fewer than ten goals. That leading scorer for the Toffees, Beto, is now playing for Serie A side Fiorentina while Balogun was supposed to be the medicine for the Toffees’ ailing attack. Everton has failed to score in five of its last eight matches versus Manchester United which visits Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday.

Other Premier League matches this weekend include Newcastle United trying to snap an eight-match winless run in Premier League matches versus Bournemouth while their northeast neighbor Sunderland heads to Brentford where the Black Cats have failed to win in their last four visits to Gtech Community Stadium.

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Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Premier Table Match Week 2 Results: What the Hull Is Going On ?; Manchester United Roars Back From Opening Week Setback; High Scoring Chelsea Survives Another Goal Fest And Says Goodbye To High Priced Star; Spurs Suffer Another Goalless Defeat; Manchester City Rolls Over Crystal Palace

Hull sits in the top four after a perfect two weeks for the Tigers. The newly promoted side won 1-0 at Coventry over the weekend after shocking Manchester United in Week 1. The feisty newcomers to the league join Arsenal as the only clubs yet to concede a goal. Visiting Hull supporters were in a euphoric state in the Coventry stands, chanting “We’re going to win the league,” as the Tigers clawed to another victory.

The Tigers’ stinginess stands in stark contrast to Chelsea which is playing little defense but also has two wins now after scoring a combined seven goals in its two matches. The Blues sprinted to a 3-0 advantage on Sunday but were then forced to sweat out the three points as Brighton came roaring back in a 4-3 pinballing contest. Cole Palmer scored an insurance goal in the 74th minute to restore Chelsea’s margin to two goals, good enough to withstand a late injury time score by the Seagulls. New Chelsea goalkeeper Emi Martinez must be feeling shellshocked. The new man between the sticks made several key stops to help salvage the win despite Chelsea’s leaky defense. Chelsea scored another win when it scored a record fee for dishing disgruntled midfielder Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City at the transfer deadline on Tuesday.

The Brighton comeback at Stamford Bridge was not all that surprising as the Seagulls are level with Manchester City for the most goals scored after two matches. The Citizens sit atop the table, ahead of Arsenal due to their goals scored advantage over the Gunners. Erling Haaland scored a brace in Manchester City’s 4-1 humiliation of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and now add Chelsea’s Fernandez to their constellation of stars. The winless Eagles, meanwhile, are in a bad way after saying goodbye to their top-notch manager Oliver Glasner over the offseason and suffering a transfer window so dismal that Ben Chillwell, of all people, was a headline deadline day addition.

Aston Villa also suffered a rough transfer window but looked better in a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal. The Villans, however, still haven’t put a shot on target after two matches.

All is well again for Manchester United supporters after the club put an embarrassing opening week loss to Hull behind it and ran amok at Old Trafford versus the plodding Tractor Boys of Ipswich Town. Last year’s Premier League Player of the Season, Bruno Fenrandes, scored a hat trick in the 5 -2 win over the visitors.

Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, laid an egg for a second consecutive week in a 2-0 home loss to Newcastle. The north London side still looks a bottom of the table club despite heavy offseason investment. Manager Roberto De Zerbi is yet to see his club find the net after two matches. Things are so dismal in north London that the club has rolled the dice on Chelsea bust Mykhailo Mudryk in a loan deal.

The jury remains out on Liverpool after a second consecutive 2-2 draw under new Manager Andoni Iraola. A 99th minute penalty was required to salvage the point in Sunday’s match at Newcastle.

Everton also required a stoppage time goal in a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth. James Tarkowski delivered the point saving header from amidst a forest of ineffective Bournemouth defenders. Goals could be scarce this season for the Toffees as a deal for USMNT striker Folarin Balogun fell through at the last minute on Tuesday. Everton said goodbye to Beto and now look even worse up front than last season when no player scored in double digits for David Moyes’ side.

A 79th minute goal by Dominic Calvert Lewin gave Leeds a point in a 1-1 draw with Brentford at Elland Road.

Sunderland, meanwhile, notched its first win of the season in a 1-0 victory at the Stadium of Light over Fulham. New Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa is showing the stress of two opening league losses as he exploded in post-match comments about “the attitude of my team.” The Cottagers failed to put a shot on target against the Black Cats and Alvaro deplored his side’s lack of effort.

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Friday, August 28, 2026

Premier Table: Match Week 2 Preview

As if Aston Villa doesn’t have enough problems, Villa Park will be invaded on Monday by marauding Premier League champion Arsenal which slapped around poor Coventry City in its 3-0 opening win. The Villans, meanwhile, were frightful in a 4-0 loss to Brighton. Now comes the news that goalkeeper Emi Martinez is the next to fly the coop at Villa, the Argentine heading to Chelsea where he will reunite with Morgan Rogers, yet another Villa refugee.

Chelsea edged past Fulham 3-2 on Monday, but both Cottager goals were preventable, and Xabi Alonso apparently means business as he brings in Argentina’s starting keeper to make the Blues a bit stingier. Alonso and the boys host Brighton on Sunday in a matchup of winners from Week 1.

Former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca also notched a victory in his first appearance on the touchline for Manchester City last week. On Friday the Citizens head to Selhurst Park to face a Crystal Palace side trying to find its footing under its own new manager, Pierre Sage. Erling Haaland will be trying to net his first goal since his recent haircut.

Former Palace Manager Oliver Glasner was unsuccessful in his debut last week for his new employers at Nottingham Forest. The Trees now uproot this week for a tilt at Anfield where Liverpool is trying to find a winning formula under new manager Andoni Iraola, one of nine new managers in the Premier League this season. Iraola’s teams usually take some time to adjust to his style of play, but Reds supporters may not be patient should things take too long. Arne Slot after all got the sack just one season after winning the Prem for the Reds.

Coventry City Manager Frank Lampard is trying to establish his cred as a Premier League manager after false starts in earlier stints on the touchline for Chelsea, where Lampard starred as a player, and Everton. Things started poorly last week for the Sky Blues in a shellacking by Arsenal, but Coventry returns home to face Hull on Saturday for the first Premier League match in Coventry in 25 years.

While that match will take place at the Sky Blues’ less than excitingly named venue Coventry Building Society Arena, Ipswich Town heads to a more famous venue this week when the Tractor Boys visit Old Trafford for a match with Manchester United, surprising losers to Hull last week. Ipswich won their opening match after an offseason where they invested heavily. The Red Devils, meanwhile, stumbled in their opener and supporters are anxious about a lack of spending by their historic club to support Michael Carrick in his first season as “permanent” manager.

Like Carrick, Roberto De Zerbi entered the season in the high regard of supporters after saving Spurs from relegation. Those same supporters were somewhat shocked when De Zerbi’s crew laid an egg in a 3-0 opening loss to Brentford. Spurs will try to get back in the saddle this weekend when facing Newcastle at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Brentford will try to build on the momentum of last week’s dominant win when the Bees travel to Leeds. Brentford is winless in its last eight visits to Elland Road.

Sunderland will be relying on its Stadium of Light supporters to help the club shake off its opening week’s defeat to Ipswich Town. Bournemouth will likewise be trying to avoid a second defeat when the Cherries welcome Everton to Vitality Stadium on Saturday. Everton have won just once in their last nine trips to Bournemouth.

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