Big Weekend: Arsenal, Roy Hodgson, Ivan Toney, Liverpool, Roma | OneFootball

It's Big Weekend for Roy Hodgson, Mikel Arteta, Ivan Toney, and Jurgen Klopp.

A big-ish weekend offers the chance to see what Arsenal were doing in Dubai, while Roy Hodgson is hoping to be proved right after being jeered by Palace fans. Also: returns for Ivan Toney, Daniele De Rossi and Russell Martin…

Game to watch – Arsenal v Crystal Palace Ahead of this meeting of two of the Premier League’s crisis clubs, Arsenal needed their winter break more than most.

They welcome Palace on the back of a run of three defeats in all competitions, taking just four points from their last 15. In their last seven overall, they have won just once, falling off the title pace now being set by Liverpool and Manchester City.

How does Mikel Arteta arrest their slump? The Gunners boss will expect a week-long training camp in Dubai to have helped, even if he could have done without being photographed as the latest of steak shagger Salt Bae’s suckers.

Arteta will be desperate to skewer Palace on Saturday lunchtime but the change Arsenal need stretches beyond just a few days in the sunshine.

The Gunners have become woefully predictable, beyond the price necessary to firm up their midfield. Last term, Arteta struggled to find a balance that allowed his side to retain their attacking flair while remaining secure at the back. The same is true this season but in reverse.

Arsenal fans need to hope their team were rehearsing some new passing patterns in Dubai since the old ones seem to have been sussed. Especially in wide positions. Opponents are crowding out Bukayo Saka on the right flank, while towards the left, Kai Havertz is too easily shackled. Might it be time to try Saka in a more central role?

In the absence of the January recruits Arsenal clearly need, Arteta must find answers within. Starting on Saturday.

Manager to watch – Roy Hodgson Arteta, though, is in rather less immediate danger than his opposite number at the Emirates…

Hodgson’s position is looking increasingly unstable after Palace’s own miserable run. Since Bonfire night, they have won one game in 11 – a Michael Olise-inspired victory over a similarly struggling Brentford side. And Olise will be absent against Arsenal.

Palace’s last outing, a 1-0 defeat to Everton in an FA Cup replay neither club really wanted, saw Hodgson face open dissent from Palace fans. Trailing to Andre Gomes’ free-kick, the Eagles boss withdrew Eberechi Eze just after the hour, prompting chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ from the visiting supporters.

“If I was a fan, I wouldn’t have wanted to see Eze taken off either,” Hodgson said after the defeat. “But we play Arsenal at 12.30 on Saturday and we need people like Eze who is one of our very best players.”

The logic is sound, but Hodgson needs his gamble to pay off. Mercifully, they have form for causing trouble for the big boys. Liverpool were lucky to win at Selhurst Park before Christmas and Manchester City were held on their own patch by the Eagles.

We know what we will get from Palace. They will sit deep and hope to hit Arsenal on the counter. And it might work. If not, Steve Cooper’s continued availability will linger over Hodgson until he finds answers most doubt he can.

Player to watch – Ivan Toney Toney is back! And, Christ, how Brentford need him.

The England striker’s eight-month suspension for breaking gambling rules was completed this week, freeing him to face Forest on Saturday evening having not played a competitive minute since the start of May last year.

Toney is apparently keen to make up for lost time. “I feel like a free man,” he told Sky Sports while celebrating the end of his ban. “I have a target of how many goals I want to get.”

Motivation comes in many forms for the 27-year-old who has scored 32 goals in 64 Premier League appearances for Brentford. Firstly, he admits he owes a debt of gratitude to the Bees. But not so big that he wouldn’t be keen to move on before the end of the month if Arsenal or Chelsea are prompted to pay silly money.

There is also the carrot of regaining his England place in time for the Euros. Whatever drives him, having been training with no prospect of playing since September, Toney will be straining at the leash to get at Forest on Saturday evening.

Team to watch: Liverpool Whatever happens this weekend, Liverpool will end it on top of the Premier League. Best case scenario: with a five-point advantage.

To make that a reality, the Reds will have to cope at Bournemouth without two, maybe three of their most influential players. Mo Salah is away getting injured at AFCON with Egypt, while Trent Alexander-Arnold is crocked. Dominik Szoboszlai is back in training but doubts remain over his availability.

Jurgen Klopp has other absences to cover too, not least at left-back, and the Liverpool manager will be wary of Manchester City coming up behind them, especially with Chelsea and Arsenal waiting as the Reds’ next two opponents.

While Liverpool have outperformed expectations, City have underwhelmed somewhat so far this season. But with Kevin De Bruyne back and Erling Haaland almost ready to reunite with the brilliant Belgian, the feeling persists that City are ready to put their foot down.

Liverpool might be fresh but it would be a stretch to describe them as reinvigorated while Klopp, like many other managers, has so many holes to fill. Especially against a Bournemouth side who, like Klopp’s men, have lost one in their last eight.

EFL game to watch – Swansea v Southampton Of course Leeds and Sunderland are on the box this weekend, but so too is the Russell Martin derby between Swans and Saints at the Liberty Stadium.

Martin returns to Swansea for the first time since his summer exit, since when he’s transformed Southampton to the extent that they could dislodge Ipswich in the top two before the Tractor Boys face leaders Leicester on Monday night.

Saints are currently 20 matches unbeaten. If they avoid defeat at Swansea, four months will have passed since they were last beaten at Middlesbrough. So it’s a daunting task for Swans, who were thrashed 5-0 at St Mary’s three weeks ago.

But Luke Williams, Swansea’s second attempt at appointing a successor to Martin, takes charge of his first Championship match at the Liberty. And Saints aren’t all that on the road. They have drawn four of their last five away from home and haven’t scored more than a single goal in their last six.

European game to watch – Roma v Hellas Verona Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga title credentials are tested at RB Leipzig on Saturday night and, on Sunday, Ajax host RKC Waalwijk but that comes too soon for Jordan Henderson, who might use the time offered by a work permit delay to dwell upon his life choices.

So to Italy we go, on Saturday evening, to check on Roma as they begin life after Jose Mourinho. Daniele De Rossi has already jumped into Jose’s grave and the former Italy midfielder will take charge for the first time when they host Hellas Verona.

Mourinho hardly lacked popularity in Rome but in De Rossi, the club’s owners have appointed an icon even more revered in the capital. And so keen was De Rossi to take over, The Athletic says he made only one demand during talks over his contract: a bonus for qualifying for the Champions League.

Roma have plenty to do if De Rossi is to bank that bonus. They are languishing in ninth place but only five points off the top four so the visit of third-bottom Verona offers the Giallorossi the perfect chance to kickstart their season under new management.