An eventful week saw Manchester United sack its manager, win its Carabao (EFL) Cup match versus Leicester in resounding fashion and name a new manager in waiting. The club moved quickly to replace Eric ten Hag, announcing the signing of Sporting Lisbon Ruben Amorim on Friday. That was two days after interim manager Rudd Nistelrooy was on the touchline for a 5-2 thrashing of Leicester in the EFL cup. Van Nistelrooy will get a few more games in charge as Sporting Lisbon’s Amorim will not take over till after the next international break. On Sunday van Nistelrooy and the Red Devils are at Old Trafford to face an angry Chelsea squad which was bounced from the EFL cup by Newcastle on Wednesday. The Blues will be a far more formidable test for Manchester United, which faced a heavily rotated Leicester line up in midweek.
League leading Manchester City, still undefeated and riding a three-match winning streak despite an increasing injury list, will face a tricky Bournemouth side on the south coast. The Cherries defeated Arsenal just two weeks ago and stole a late point at Aston Villa last Saturday. Manchester City has overcome a host of injuries in rising to the top of the table. Rodri is out for the season, Kevin De Bruyne is out indefinitely. Jeremy Doku, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker are all out for the Bournemouth match while defender Manuel Akanji is a question mark.
Man City played a youth infused line up in a midweek loss to Spurs as the Citizens bowed out of the Carabao Cup. The win was costly for Tottenham Hotspur, however, as defender Mickey van de Ven pulled a hamstring. Van de Ven’s speed is crucial to Manager Ange Postecoglou’s risky attacking scheme which leaves acres of space for Spurs’ opponents to exploit. On the positive side, forward Son Heung-min is expected to return for this weekend’s match against visiting Aston Villa. The Villans were surprisingly knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Crystal Palace midweek, just days after conceding a 96th minute equalizer to Bournemouth. The draw with the Cherries was the third deadlock in the past three league matches for Aston Villa which is still clinging to fourth position in the table by a point over Chelsea.
Ready for Sunday 👊 pic.twitter.com/Ju4S6NkFmb
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 1, 2024
Liverpool and Brighton will meet at Anfield on Saturday just days after the Reds defeated the Seagulls in a midweek Carabao Cup tilt. That match saw five goals being scored and the attack-oriented sides can again be expected to ripple the nets. The Reds plethora of attack options has easily compensated for the injury absence of Diogo Jota with Cody Gakpo notching a brace versus the Seagulls on Wednesday.
Arsenal gets center back William Saliba back from suspension and Manager Mikel Arteta is hopeful his other starting center back, Gabriel, will be fit to go when the Gunners visit Newcastle which defeated a collection of Chelsea reserves during the week but are in dire need of ending a five-match winless run in the Premier League.
West Ham, meanwhile, has been on a rollercoaster for the past few weeks. The Hammers were humiliated by London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, administered their own beatdown of lowly Ipswich Town, and then ended the Manchester United career of Eric ten Hag with a victory at London Stadium last week. The Hammers now head to Nottingham Forest, which is just two points outside the top four under Manager Nuno Espirito Santo. The majority of results, however, have come away from the City Ground where the Tricky Trees have won just once and suffered their only league loss.
That lone loss of the season for the Trees was inflicted by Fulham, which will be home at Craven Cottage to face Brentford this weekend. A tightly contested battel could be in store for the mid table sides with the ninth place Bees holding a one-point advantage over the Cottagers in the standings. Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa lead a high-flying Brentford attack which has not been slowed down by the departure of striker Ivan Toney during the offseason. Mbeumo’s eight goals are second in the Premier League to Erling Haaland and Wissa has five goals for a Brentford side which is joint third in the Premier League in goal production this season. Unfortunately, the Bees have also conceded more goals than any club not in the bottom three.
One of those bottom three clubs has started to show signs of life after a dreadful start to the season. After conceding five goals to Brentford for loss number six of the season, Wolves recovered to play competitively in a 2-1 loss to Manchester City before grabbing a point at Brighton with a stoppage time goal. A confidence infused Wolves side will now greet Crystal Palace to Molineux Stadium. The Eagles have also been on an upward trajectory but lost star Eberechi Eze to injury in a midweek Carabao Cup win over Aston Villa. The Cup win followed a London derby victory over Tottenham Hotspur for the Eagles’ first Premier League win of the season last weekend. The loss of playmaker Eze could disrupt the Eagles’ flight pattern, however. Midfielder Adam Wharton was also injured in the midweek match. The opportunity is thus there for Wolves to win for a first time in this campaign and perhaps extend the tenure of Manager Gary O’Neil.
Winless Southampton are the only club below Wolverhampton in the table. The newly promoted Saints have found the net only six times this season, joint lowest in the league. Meanwhile, they have conceded 19 goals, a total exceeded only by fellow relegation zone occupants Wolverhampton and Ipswich Town. Everton comes to St. Mary riding a five-match unbeaten run which has lifted the Toffees five points clear of the drop zone. The Toffees are greatly improved since the Saints eliminated the Merseyside club from the Carabao Cup back in September. No Everton opponent has scored more than a goal in the Toffees five match Premier League unbeaten run.
Ipswich Town, meanwhile, has conceded ten goals over three consecutive losses as the Tractor Boys prepare to get back at it this weekend versus Leicester. The newly promoted Foxes are level on nine points with Everton but suffered a painful loss versus Manager Steve Cooper’s former Nottingham Forest team last weekend. That loss was followed by a trouncing at the hands of Manchester United in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. Cooper’s frustrations got the best of him at Old Trafford, and he has been suspended from the touchline for Saturday’s match.
