Premier League Preview: Match Week Six

Newcastle was exposed in a 3-1 loss last week at Fulham after a misleading undefeated start to its season. Now the Magpies fly home to face table leader Manchester City at St. James Park. Newcastle has been a punching bag for Manchester City. The Magpies have won just one of the last 33 Premier League meetings between the clubs and Newcastle has  more losses to the Citizens than any Premier League side in history. Newcastle’s hopes for Saturday rely on the always vibrant home support and the absence of the injured Rodri in the middle of the Manchester City lineup. Manchester City lost four of the five matches that Rodri missed last season and might well have to play the rest of this season without him after his knee injury last weekend. Manchester City will look to extend its unbeaten Premier League streak to 29 matches as striker Erling Haaland will attempt to become only the second plyer to score in each of the first six league games of a season.

Liverpool trails Manchester City by a single point as the Reds head to Wolverhampton this weekend. Wolves have been dreadful and sit at the bottom of the Premier League table, one of six clubs still hunting for a first win of the campaign.

Crystal Palace will be hoping to separate themselves from those other five teams when the Eagles descend on Goodison Park to face Everton this weekend. Palace has drawn each of its last three matches, including hard fought points away to Chelsea and home to Manchester United. The Eagles face an Everton side which lost its first four matches, two in dramatic late-stage collapses, before drawing with newly promoted Leicester last week. The Toffees have conceded a joint league high 14 goals this season.

Like Crystal Place, Leicester have drawn three of their five matches this season. The Foxes are at the Emirates on Saturday where Arsenal will need guard against a “trap” game which comes between last week’s Manchester City duel and next Tuesday’s Champions League tilt with PSG. Gunner goalkeeper David Raya is a question mark for the match with a “muscular injury” so former Bournemouth keeper Neto could be between the sticks for Manager Mikel Arteta.

On Arsenal 🔴

"We’re coming up against an incredible team who have been in great form for a number of years, but it’s these games that you’ve got to embrace. We back ourselves and it couldn’t be a better time to get the result we’re craving." pic.twitter.com/OE6DB6QtGh

— Leicester City (@LCFC) September 26, 2024

Aston Villa, level on points with Liverpool and a point ahead of Arsenal, face another of the newly promoted sides at Ipswich Town on Sunday. Three consecutive draws, including a surprise point at Brighton, have given the Tractor Boys hope after lost cause losses to Liverpool and Manchester City welcomed them to the league. Only Manchester City and Chelsea have scored more goals than Aston Villa which features two dangerous strikers in Ollie Watkins and super sub Jhon Duran.

Chelsea will tangle with undefeated Brighton this weekend at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea has won three of four to move a point past the Seagulls in the table. The Blues’ young talent, particularly in attack, is beginning to shift focus, at least a little bit, away from the unusual machinations of its controversial ownership. New Manager Enzo Maresca has numerous options in his forward positions such as the Jadon Sancho versus Pedro Neto duel at left wing and Niclas Jackson versus Christopher Nkunku debate at striker. At least for now, the competition seems to be driving performance instead of discord. Brighton, meanwhile, will be without injured forward Joao Pedro for Saturday’s match and is less blessed with the type of depth which Chelsea enjoys. Pedro was injured by the challenge of Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White last week which set off the fireworks that saw not only Gibbs-White but also Forest Manager Nuno Espirito Santo and Brighton Manager Fabian Hurzeler red carded. Both Hurzeler and Santo will be on the touchlines this weekend as they prepare to respond to their charges.

Gibbs White, however, will miss out on Nottingham Forest’s date at the City Ground with Fulham. The Tricky Trees have impressed with an undefeated record to date and a shock victory over Liverpool at Anfield two weeks ago. The loss of Gibbs-White is damaging, however, and Fulham, one point behind the Trees in the table, looked proficient in attack last week with three Arsenal academy graduates involved in goals for the Cottagers. On of the Fulham goal scorers last week, loanee Reiss Nelson, scored versus Forest while playing for Arsenal in 2022.

Spurs and Manchester United are level on points, one behind Fulham in the table as the two “big  clubs’ try to crawl closer to the top six when they face each other at Old Trafford on Sunday. Manchester United’s attack seemed to be awakening after a 3-0 league win over Southampton and a 7-0 Carabao Cup rout of Barnsley. That now seems a false positive as the Red Devils were subsequently unable to find the net in a goalless draw at Crystal Palace and again seemed turgid in a 1-1 Europa League draw with FC Twente on Wednesday. Spurs 3-1 win over Brentford last weekend, meanwhile, contained nothing but positives. James Maddison scored and showed the kind of form he had not flashed since early last season. Newly acquired striker Dominic Solanke scored his first goal with the club. Even Brennan Johnson, who has shown little since his arrival last season, found the net against the Bees. Son Heung-min played facilitator with two assists. A win at Old Trafford would provide much needed positive momentum for Manager Ange Postecoglou’s side which had dropped two straight before exterminating the Bees.

Brentford will host a London derby with West Ham on Saturday which already seems like a must win for West Ham Manager Julen Lopetegui. Things haven’t gone well for the new manager who has West Hm supporters already looking back fondly on the much-criticized tenure of former manger David Moyes. Lopetegui might well be looking forward to Saturday’s match away from London Stadium where he has become the first West Ham Manager to lose the first three home matches of a league season.

The final match of the Week Six Premier League slate features a South Coast battle between Bournemouth and Southampton. The Cherries seemingly get a break in their schedule after difficult losses to Chelsea and Liverpool. The Saints do not seem to have a prayer of Premier League survival with Manager Russell Martin’s crew having found the net only twice in their so far futile search for a first league win.