Premier League Preview: Match Week 7

Premier League leading Liverpool is at Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace on Saturday. The Reds have not lost there since 2014, and this is a lovely time to visit. The Eagles have lost all momentum from their fine finish to last season and are sitting in the relegation zone, having not won a single match. Manager Oliver Glasner was lauded for the job he did after taking over the club from Roy Hodgson in February. Now he could be in the hot seat with his grounded Eagles not only winless but limping along with just six goals in their last five matches.

Matchday -1 🌟 #CPFC pic.twitter.com/a7vx8wKnnO

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) October 4, 2024

Only Arsenal has conceded fewer goals than Fulham this season. That could change when the Cottagers visit the Etihad to face a Manchester City side which has scored more goals than any club not named Chelsea. Fulham is a tough out this season, however, after going undefeated in five matches since an opening week loss and crashing the “top six.” Kevin De Bruyne will be missing for a Manchester City side which is still reeling from a season ending injury to Rodri and has uncharacteristically dropped points in consecutive weeks.

Arsenal is level on points with Manchester City, one point behind Liverpool as the Gunners head to Southampton to face the suffering Saints. Southampton has scored only three goals in its six league matches. Worse yet, the Saints have leaked 12 goals by opponents, leading Manager Russell Martin to call his team "soft" after last week’s loss to Bournemouth. Arsenal’s Kai Havertz has the chance to tie the record of Robin Van Persie by scoring for a seventh consecutive match across all competitions at the Emirates.

Havertz’s former team, Chelsea, is also scoring a lot of goals. The Blues lead the Premier League in finding the net, 13 of their fifteen goals coming from young stars Cole Palmer, Niclas Jackson and Noni Madueke. Palmer also has four assists to go with his six goals on the season. Chelsea’s goal barrage has landed the Blues back into the top four as they await the visit of Nottingham Forest on Sunday. It will be interesting to see if that goal production continues against the Tricky Trees who suffered their first defeat of the season last week to Fulham. In only one of Nottingham Forest’s six matches has either club scored more than a single goal.

Brighton and Hove Albion was handed its first loss of the season last week at Chelsea. This week the Seagulls will be home to visiting Tottenham Hotspur. While Brighton may have lost for the first time last week, the Seagulls had drawn their previous three Premier League matches. Meanwhile, the arrow has most assuredly been pointing upwards for Spurs which has won all five matches across all competitions since its league loss in the north London derby to Arsenal. The London side is seeing increased contributions from attackers Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski which should help cover for the absence on Sunday of Son Heung-min who is expected out with a hamstring. Johnson has scored in his last five appearances across all competitions, Solanke has scored in back-to-back league matches and Kulusevski was responsible for creating nine chances in the match against Manchester United last weekend. Spurs’ 3-0 win at Old Trafford, the identical score by which Liverpool had won at the historic ground two weeks earlier, raised the temperature on the already hot seat of Manchester United Manager Eric ten Hag.

A change of venue will be welcomed this weekend as the Red Devils visit Villa Park, a stadium where Manchester United has lost only once in its last 25 Premier League visits. Villa, however, is in fine form this season, level on points with fourth place Chelsea after winning four of six matches and losing only to Arsenal. Aston Villa strikers Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran have been an impressive tag team for Manager Unai Emery. Watkins has scored in three straight matches while super-sub Duran has scored as a substitute in all four of Aston Villa’s wins. Manchester United received word this week that its appeal of Bruno Fernandes’s red card from the Spurs’ match was successful and their Portuguese captain will be available on Sunday.

Just when things were looking up for Everton, news came this week that Jarrad Branthwaite is injured again after suffering a thigh injury in training. His return from a groin injury was a key factor in the Toffees’ first win of the season last weekend. The defender is now a doubt for Saturday’s match versus Newcastle when the Magpies’ Anthony Gordon returns to his former stomping ground. The former Toffee star is now finding his way after a slow start to his career in the northeast. The versatile Gordon, a natural winger, might well play at center forward against his former team. Injuries to Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson forced Gordon to the middle against Manchester City last week where he performed well and scored the penalty kick which secured a point in the 1-1 draw.

West Ham has striker issues as transfer acquisition Niclas Fullkrug remains sidelined with a calf/Achilles problem. The Hammers will be trying to avoid a fourth consecutive home defeat when they host Ipswich Town at London Stadium on Saturday. Things could turn dark early for West Ham and new Manager Julen Lopetegui. Only one of 12 Premier League clubs whose new managers lost their first four home matches has managed to avoid relegation. The Tractor Boys have drawn four consecutive matches after opening losses to Liverpool and Manchester City.

Another newly promoted side, Leicester, will host Bournemouth at King Power Stadium. The Foxes are above the relegation line by virtue of goal differential over Crystal Palace. Bournemouth had their way with another relegation side in Southampton last week and are sitting just outside the top half of the table.

Newly promoted sides vying to survive this season could have their chances improved if Wolverhampton continues to play as dreadfully as they have in their first six matches. Last in the table with just a single earned point to date, Wolves travel to Brentford on Saturday.