Premier League Preview: Match Week 11

Manchester City and Arsenal try to right the ship the weekend after both clubs have struggled in recent weeks. Manchester City dropped a third consecutive match across all competitions during the week in Champions League action against Sporting Lisbon. The winning manager in that match was Ruben Amorim who the Citizens will be seeing much more of when the Portuguese manager takes the reins at Manchester United in a few weeks. A final score of 4-1 during Tuesday’s match was a humiliating exclamation point on Manchester City’s recent downturn in form. A defense depleted by injury played without discipline and conceded two penalties. Striker Erling Haaland, meanwhile, missed on his own penalty try. City returns to league play at Brighton on Saturday and the Seagulls will not be an easy opponent for Manchester City to recover their form against.

Only the top three clubs have fewer losses than a Brighton side which gave league leading Liverpool a competitive match at Anfield last week before falling in the end. Liverpool is home again this weekend to face  Aston Villa. Manager Unai Emery’s Villa team has won just one of its last five matches, a run punctuated by a 4-1 loss to Spurs last week.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will be on the road at Stamford Bridge as it tries to pick up the pieces after losing two of its last three league matches. A loss to Chelsea and a Liverpool win over Aston Villa would put the Gunners 10 points back of the Premier League top spot, reducing Arsenal’s championship hopes to just a glimmer. The team’s attacking woes were again on display in a1-0 Champions League loss to Inter Milan during the week. Chelsea, however, has been lukewarm at home, winning only two and drawing one of its five league matches at Stamford Bridge. The Blues’ early season scoring barrage has slowed considerably, with the team averaging just over one goal per match in its last four matches versus the three goal per match pace of Chelsea’s first six games of the league season.

Newcastle snapped a five-match winless run in defeating Arsenal last weekend. This week should serve as a barometer as to whether that Newcastle win was more a reflection of Arsenal’s troubles. The Magpies must go on the road to face a surprising top four club in Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees burst into the Champions League places with their third consecutive league win last weekend. Forest will be a tough out for the Magpies as the Tricky Trees have lost just once all season, Liverpool and Manchester City being the only other Premier League clubs to have stumbled just once.

Thursday work. 💪 pic.twitter.com/FVugI3n0Lh

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) November 7, 2024

Tottenham Hotspur will try to build on its dominating home win over Aston Villa last week when Spurs welcomes currently relegation bound Ipswich Town to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Tractor Boys are one of only two clubs, along with fellow relegation zone occupant Wolverhampton, not to have won a match this season. Wolves, meanwhile, will face the third relegation zone occupant, Southampton, in a key survival battle on Saturday.

West Ham Manager Julen Lopetegui, meanwhile, could be facing his own survival battle when the Hammers host Everton at London Stadium. Only Brentford, of clubs not currently relegation bound, has conceded more goals than the Hammers under their new manager. The West Ham defense has been wide open and has lost any resemblance to the disciplined and pragmatic, even if boring, style of former Manager David Moyes. Everton shored up their own defensive failings, which marked the early part of their season, to put together a five-match unbeaten run before an unexpected 1-0 loss to Southampton last week. The Toffees have conceded just four goals in their last six matches after conceding 13 goals in losing the first four matches of their season.

Manchester United has had difficulty finding the net in its Premier League matches as only Crystal Palace and Southampton have scored fewer goals than the Red Devils this season. Up next on the league schedule for interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy is a visit from Leicester on Sunday. The Foxes, under former Nottingham Forest Manager Steve Cooper, have experienced the most success of the three newly promoted clubs. After capturing seven of the twelve points available over their last four matches, the Foxes are 15th in the table, five points clear of the relegation line. Club legend Jamie Vardy, at 37 years old, leads Leicester with four goals this season.

Crystal Palace has failed to find the net in four matches this season and only twice has the club scored more than a goal in its 10 contests to date. The absence of injured Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton does not provide optimism with respect to Saturday’s London derby with Fulham. The Cottagers defeated Brentford in a London derby last week and are flirting with a top half finish while the Eagles continue their survival mission, flying just two points clear of the relegation line.

Brentford fell out of the top half with last week’s loss to Fulham and this week the Bees travel to in-form Bournemouth. The Cherries have sandwiched wins over Arsenal and Manchester City around a draw at Aston Villa in their last three matches.