5️⃣ big questions ahead of the Premier League weekend | OneFootball

The first international break of the new season is out of the way and now it’s time to tuck back into some juicy Premier League action.

Here are the five biggest questions ahead of the weekend’s games.

Can Liverpool banish their lunchtime curse?

The weekend begins at Molineux, where unbeaten Liverpool travel to face a Wolves side whose engine has sputtered and stalled so far this season.

Wolves won this fixture 3-0 last term and perhaps one of their biggest hopes of getting another result this time around relates to the kick-off time.

Liverpool failed to win any of their six Saturday lunchtime kick-offs last season and Jürgen Klopp won’t be thrilled about coming back from an international break to an early alarm call.

But all bad runs must come to an end, and Reds forward Mohamed Salah will be out to end one of his own this weekend by scoring his first Premier League goal in five away matches.

Is there an end in sight for Manchester United’s troubles?

After losing at Arsenal in dramatic late fashion before the international break, it has been a long fortnight of wound-licking for Manchester United.

Not least because a big cloud of off-field issues has gathered over Old Trafford in recent weeks, while performances on the pitch haven’t done a great deal to inspire confidence either.

United have won both of their home games in 2023/24, and only Manchester City had a better home record than Erik ten Hag’s side last season, but they beat Wolves in very unconvincing style on the opening matchday before they had to fight back from 2-0 down to overcome Nottingham Forest at the end of August.

It’s fair to say they will have to up their game when Brighton come to town on Saturday. Roberto De Zerbi’s side are the top scorers in the league with 12 goals so far this season and they tend to relish the big games, having taken 15 points against the top six last season, including a victory away at United on the opening day when Graham Potter was still in charge.

Ansu Fati could debut for the Seagulls in this one and Evan Ferguson will be aiming to build on the the hat-trick he bagged against Newcastle last time out, while another young striker – Rasmus Højlund – could be in line for his first United start after an enticing cameo at the Emirates.

Will Manchester City’s unblemished record withstand a Hammering?

Pep Guardiola will be back on the touchline this weekend having undergone successful surgery on his back.

Manchester City coped well in the absence of their boss, beating Sheffield United away and Fulham at home before the international break, leaving them as the only team in the league with a 100% winning record after four matches.

But the fixture list has blessed Guardiola’s men with a relatively comfortable start, and they face an interesting test when they travel to face West Ham on Saturday.

The Hammers have failed to beat City in the last 15 Premier League meetings between the two sides, but David Moyes’s boys have made a solid start to the new campaign with 10 points on the board so far, and they will back themselves to have a go at the champions this weekend.

Last weekend, the London Stadium hosted a match between The Sidemen and YouTube All-Stars which finished 8-5. Saturday’s game is expected to be a tighter affair, with low blocks and counter-attacks likely to be on the menu if the hosts have a say in the matter.

How good are Newcastle?

This was a question we asked after Newcastle began their season with an impressive 5-1 thrashing of Aston Villa. Three games and three defeats later, it’s a question that’s worth asking again.

The Magpies haven’t had the easiest of starts to be fair and not many teams will come away from the Etihad and the Amex with much to show for their efforts this season. They were also somewhat unfortunate to lose at home to Liverpool.

But performances since the opening day have still been disappointing, and three defeats on the spin have almost killed the buzz around what was expected to be a thrilling season at St James’ Park.

The assignments don’t get much easier, with Brentford travelling to Tyneside on Saturday having lost just one of their last 11 Premier League games, and striker Bryan Mbeumo enjoying a run of seven goals in his last seven outings.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe might have preferred a more straightforward fixture this weekend, but perhaps the challenge of Brentford is just what’s needed to get his side back on their toes, especially with a trip to San Siro coming up in midweek.

Will Arsenal come unstuck against the Toffees again?

Of the many things that changed for the better for Arsenal last season, their lamentable record away at Everton was not one of them.

Goodison Park has been a serious bogey ground for the Gunners in recent years. They are winless in their last six trips there, five of which were defeats, with the most recent being a 1-0 win for Everton in Sean Dyche’s first match in charge back in February.

The Toffees are yet to win this season, but then they hadn’t won in eight matches when Arsenal came to town last season, and Gwladys Street might be a little more buoyant on Sunday than it has been of late following the club’s takeover news this week. It’s too soon to say whether this is a new dawn or a false dawn, but a change was undoubtedly needed on the blue half of Merseyside.

Mikel Arteta will return to his old club hoping Arsenal can build on their win over Manchester United and really show they mean business in the title race. Kissing goodbye to their Goodison Park hoodoo would be an excellent place to start.