Premier League preview: What will and won't happen this weekend
Tottenham are without Harry Kane before their clash with Jose Mourinho's Manchester United, while Claude Puel leads his Leicester team for the first time
Manchester United vs Tottenham (Saturday, 12.30pm)
The big talking point: It's too early in the season to be decisive, but this is a mightily important game. Tottenham enter off the back of impressive results against Liverpool and Real Madrid, albeit bookended by a curious League Cup loss to West Ham (plus the news of Harry Kane's absence for this fixture). Manchester United have suffered a dreadful two weeks during which their title credentials have been re-evaluated.
What will happen: That will depend on Jose Mourinho's mood. When he spies a title contender on the horizon, his instinct is to circle the wagons and take the draw. However, given the volume of criticism he's taken over the past fortnight - and the fact that this game takes place at Old Trafford - expect a more aggressive United here. That would usually suit Tottenham perfectly, as there isn't a more dangerous counter-attacking side in the country, but the loss of Kane with a hamstring strain is a huge blow to the away side's plans.
What won't happen: Mauricio Pochettino won't tolerate anything similar to what he saw on Wednesday night. His players melted under the floodlights against West Ham, their dreadful complacency costing them a place in the League Cup quarter-finals. A wake-up call, perhaps, and Tottenham's players will arrive at Old Trafford with their ears ringing.
Arsenal vs Swansea (Saturday, 3pm)
The big talking point: Unusually for Arsenal, there aren't any - outside the boardroom, at least. The comprehensive win over Everton showed Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to be approaching something like their best form and the team as a whole is performing relatively well. They're not a good enough side to be considered a true title contender, but life at Arsenal seems unusually placid.
What will happen: Another home win. Swansea were a flawed side before Martin Olsson limped off midweek with a hamstring injury, but his absence will emphasise this squad's limitations; Paul Clement is now without a natural left-back. Kyle Naughton will likely switch sides with Angel Rangel coming into the team, but all logic suggests a chastening afternoon and another long journey back to South Wales afterwards.
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What won't happen: There'll be no Wilfried Bony or Renato Sanches for Swansea, so Tammy Abraham and Jordan Ayew will continue to lead the line. Leroy Fer should be recalled into midfield - although Clement has used Fer as an emergency full/wing-back in the past. Not successfully, but it has happened.
Crystal Palace vs West Ham (Saturday, 3pm)
The big talking point: A false resurgence. Whatever lift was provided by the win over Chelsea has quickly disappeared: a late, galling loss at Newcastle was followed by a humiliating 4-1 defeat to Championship side Bristol City in the League Cup. Palace absolutely have to be winning this sort of game.
What will happen: Tempting though it might be to be instructed by West Ham's stirring comeback against Tottenham on Wednesday night, it was a result which seemed anomalous even at the time. It came from nowhere and seemed based on a little more than Spurs dropping their standards and West Ham riding momentum. They did well to do that, playing as well as they have at any point this season, but how often has that fixture provided a false indicator before? Palace are still favourites here.
What won't happen: The visitors won't cope with Wilfried Zaha. It's an easy point to make, but he's a better version of the type of player that West Ham have been struggling with for weeks. Anthony Knockaert, Javier Izquierdo and Son Heung-min have all flummoxed Slaven Bilic's defence with their dynamism and Zaha has a better end product than all of them. One for the fantasy team, perhaps.
Liverpool vs Huddersfield (Saturday, 3pm)
The big talking point: Two big talking points: Liverpool's humbling at Wembley against Tottenham last weekend and Huddersfield's admirable victory over Manchester United - the respective reactions to which will determine the outcome of this game.
What will happen: You can sense it, can't you? The side smarting from a pride-sapping defeat, the team one game removed from an historic victory: Huddersfield are a capable side who responded well in ending a six-week winless run last weekend, but this couldn't be a better fixture for Liverpool. Comfortable home win.
What won't happen: There probably won't be many sightings of Dejan Lovren. Either Jurgen Klopp demotes him as punishment for his performance against Tottenham or, more likely, he reasons that the Croatian could do with properly recovering from any injury and being taken out of the spotlight for a while. Expect Joe Gomez to move into the middle of defence to partner Joel Matip in the centre of a back four.
Watford vs Stoke (Saturday, 3pm)
The big talking point: Mark Hughes's future, which is not looking terribly bright. His Stoke side have won just twice in the league and have conceded more goals than any other Premier League team.
What will happen: Watford win this. They lost at Stamford Bridge and the story since has been Chelsea's comeback, but Marco Silva devised a canny tactical plan for that game and would have come away a comfortable winner if his forwards (yes you, Richarlison) had been more efficient. They should deal comfortably with a Stoke side who aren't convincing in any phase of the game.
What won't happen: It's difficult to make even a tenuous case for Stoke taking anything from Vicarage Road. They've lost 11 of their last 12 away from home, have conceded at least twice in each of their last five games, and might be without Xherdan Shaqiri.
West Brom vs Manchester City (Saturday, 3pm)
The big talking point: Familiar complaint though it is, West Brom seems to have reached a new low recently. Having flickered with intent briefly against Arsenal at the end of September, their more recent fixtures have shown them at their unambitious worst. Which would be fine if they could keep clean sheets - but they haven't since the goalless draw with West Ham in the middle of September. Tony Pulis needs to rebalance this team. Quickly, too, because they're only two points off 18th place.
What will happen: Another Manchester City cakewalk. Until a Premier League team creates a blueprint for stopping Guardiola's side, the outcome of their games is likely to remain the same. As yet, nobody has an answer for their forward line, the attacking midfielders behind them, or the combinations between those two banks. This could be 0-3, or worse.
What won't happen: West Brom won't score. The familiar caveat about City, which is now badly outdated, depicts them as a weak, finesse-based side who can't defend properly. Into that context looms Pulis's set-piece expertise and the assumption that this is exactly the sort of fixture which could rattle John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi. Unfortunately, that just doesn't hold any weight: City have conceded very few shots this season, have rarely been under any concerted pressure - even against the league's elite - and should have no problem here.
Bournemouth vs Chelsea (Saturday, 5.30pm)
The big talking point: Chelsea came back to beat Watford, an impressive feat given how poorly they were playing, but the champions clearly aren't what they were. Here's another awkward little game.
What will happen: Eddie Howe will show his tactical growth. Bournemouth have only won one of their last two games (versus Stoke, losing against Tottenham), but the thread between those two fixtures was tactical nous - they counter-attacked really well and seem to have abandoned the 'play the same way, whatever the circumstances' approach which caused them such difficulty last winter. Whether that's enough to upend Chelsea is another matter, but don't expect them to lose naively.
What won't happen: Again, there will be no N'Golo Kante and it's hard not see his absence as the root cause of Chelsea's instability. With Kante, Chelsea have a hermetic seal in front of their defence who is also the foundation block of their attacking phases. Without him, Antonio Conte's midfield lacks solidity, is without a tactically aware and reliable ball-winner, and seems perpetually imbalanced.
Brighton vs Southampton (Sunday, 1.30pm)
The big talking point: Two teams on the up. Brighton truly humbled West Ham last time out and Southampton rode that brilliant Sofiane Boufal goal to squeeze past West Brom.
What will happen: A really interesting selection for Mauricio Pellegrino. Boufal is talented and Southampton aren't in a place to turn their nose up at anyone who scores goals from open play, but he remains maddeningly unpredictable; how can Pellegrino extract the best from him without putting the structure as a whole at risk? And how can he find that balance away from home?
What won't happen: Had it not been for that Boufal goal, the conversation would still be about Southampton's inability to create chances and, really, nothing they did against West Brom suggested that they've reached a tipping point. Pellegrino has inherited a squad without a true playmaker and without the physical targetman that his style of play requires; they're anaemic football will last until January at least.
Leicester vs Everton (Sunday, 4pm)
The big talking point: Hello again, Claude Puel. Southampton were criticised in parts for ditching the Frenchman after just a single season (and following an eighth-place finish and a cup final), so now - equipped with a far broader range of forwards - he has a chance to make that case for himself.
What will happen: Change. Interim managers tend to be bold and that could involve David Unsworth unleashing a trio of young, developing players who all possess attributes that Ronald Koeman's team suffered without. Expect Tom Davies to start, Ademola Lookman to feature, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin to continue up front after playing in the League Cup in midweek.
What won't happen: Leicester's Puel won't be Southampton's Puel. People have become so used to praising Southampton's Les Reed and his recruiting department that they've overlooked how haphazard the club's transfer dealings have actually become - look at the difficulties being experienced by Mauricio Pellegrino for more evidence of that. At the King Power Stadium, Puel will take charge of a much more balanced and powerful squad. The smart money should be on this looking like an astute appointment in six months' time.
Burnley vs Newcastle (Monday, 8pm)
The big talking point: Sean Dyche's future. Linked to Everton at the time of writing, this could potentially be one of his last game's in charge of Burnley.
What will happen: Probably something quite gritty. Burnley are an open book of a side who will play exactly as anticipated and Newcastle have been consistently reticent on the road this season. Neither urgently needs a win here, neither manager can call on a lot of flair, so expect this to be rather attritional - although not in an unimpressive way, because what these clubs are achieving with fairly meagre squads shouldn't be underestimated. Organisation meets organisation.
What won't happen: Here's good news for Burnley supporters: Leicester have already appointed Claude Puel and, realistically, Everton are likely to look beyond Dyche. The modern Premier League is as much about projecting image as it is performance and, given Everton's ambitions and the experience they've just suffered through with Koeman, they're likely to target someone who promises a more dynamic brand of football. That sounds like a snide criticism of Dyche, but it's not - it's recognition that he's already in the perfect place for his abilities to be best appreciated.
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Seb Stafford-Bloor is a football writer at Tifo Football and member of the Football Writers' Association. He was formerly a regularly columnist for the FourFourTwo website, covering all aspects of the game, including tactical analysis, reaction pieces, longer-term trends and critiquing the increasingly shady business of football's financial side and authorities' decision-making.
