Utd face test of title credentials at Liverpool - Capital Sports
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

English Premiership

Utd face test of title credentials at Liverpool

An emphatic 4-0 victory over West Ham in their opening game suggests Manchester United have shaken off a tendency to draw matches they should be winning

LONDON, United Kingdom, Oct 13 – Jose Mourinho takes high-flying Manchester United to Liverpool for a searching test of their title credentials this weekend as the Premier League returns with a bang after the international break.

United are level with Manchester City at the top of the table on 19 points, trailing their neighbours on goal difference, but have not yet faced any of their major rivals.

Pep Guardiola’s free-scoring City, who have already beaten seventh-place Liverpool and defending champions Chelsea, host Stoke City, looking to add to an impressive haul of 22 goals so far.

Here are five things to look out for in the Premier League this weekend:

Mourinho, Klopp forced to juggle

Mourinho and Klopp exchange opinions at Old Trafford. PHOTO/SKY.

Mourinho and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp must both juggle their resources for Saturday’s early kick-off at Anfield following injuries to key players.

United are without midfielder Paul Pogba, who has been out of action for several weeks with a hamstring injury, and the muscular Marouane Fellaini is also missing.

It means a likely start for last year’s club player of the year Ander Herrera alongside Nemanja Matic.

For his part, Klopp, whose side trail United by seven points, has to do without forward Sadio Mane, who picked up a hamstring injury on international duty with Senegal.

“I think we are a better team (than we were),” Mourinho told Sky Sports.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

“You can say, like some people do, we have not played one of the top five teams, but last season we did not beat West Ham at home, last season we did not beat Everton at home or Southampton away.”

Arsenal’s quiet resurgence

“I think politically something will happen in the next 12 months to regulate and limit the transfer amount,” Wenger said in comments published by British newspapers Saturday

Much of the focus in the season’s early weeks has been on the free-scoring Manchester clubs, but Arsenal have been going about their business with quiet efficiency since their 4-0 mauling by Liverpool in late August.

Despite uncertainty over the futures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, they have knuckled down to win three of their past four league matches, with the exception being a hard-fought 0-0 draw at champions Chelsea.

Wenger conceded on Thursday he may have no option but to sell Sanchez and Ozil in the January transfer window.

The pair are both out of contract at the end of the season and are yet to agree new deals.

“It is possible,” Wenger told a press conference ahead of his side’s trip to Watford on Saturday. “Once you’re in our kind of situation, we have envisaged every solution.”

Can Palace finally score?

England winger Andros Townsend in action for Crystal Palace during their Premier League defeat to Burnley on September 10, 2017

Champions Chelsea would not be Crystal Palace’s chosen opponents as Roy Hodgson’s beleaguered team attempt to break their embarrassing scoring duck at Selhurst Park.

The south London side are the only team in Europe’s top 20 leagues not to have notched a single goal, with seven defeats in seven matches.

They have already lost one manager in Frank de Boer and Hodgson has so far been unable to stop their slide.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Palace are rooted to the bottom of the table with a goal difference of -17, already five points adrift of safety.

Kane on fire

Tottenham Hotspur’s striker Harry Kane celebrates after scoring during the UEFA Champions League football match against Apoel FC and at the GSP Stadium in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia on September 26, 2017

Harry Kane’s recent goal-scoring exploits are frightening.

The Tottenham striker, the only English player on the 30-name Ballon d’Or shortlist, has found the back of the net 15 times in his past 10 games for club and country.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino, who describes Kane as one of the best strikers in the world, says he is sometimes lost for words.

“It’s so difficult to talk every three days about Harry Kane and find different words to describe him,” Pochettino said after his side’s ruthless 4-0 win against Huddersfield Town.

“He is fantastic and for me he is so great in front of goal, but when we don’t have the ball he also runs and fights and works hard for the team.”

Can Everton turn the corner?

Everton’s English striker Wayne Rooney (C) celebrates scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Stoke City at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on August 12, 2017

After a busy close season in the transfer market, Everton were tipped by some to upset the established order at the top of the Premier League.

But the loss of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United has outweighed the acquisition of the likes of Wayne Rooney and Gylfi Sigurdsson and Ronald Koeman’s team find themselves just two points above the drop zone.

Everton travel to Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Fixtures

Saturday (1400 GMT unless otherwise stated):

Burnley v West Ham, Crystal Palace v Chelsea, Liverpool v Man United (1130 GMT), Man City v Stoke, Swansea v Huddersfield, Tottenham v Bournemouth, Watford v Arsenal (1630 GMT)

Sunday:

Brighton v Everton (1230 GMT), Southampton v Newcastle (1500 GMT)

Monday (1900 GMT):

Leicester v West Brom

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
Advertisement

More on Capital Sports

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 27 – DStv and GOtv subscribers are in for a treat of the world’s best football this week as the 2020-21...

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25 – There is light at the end of the tunnel. After failed promises over the last three years since its...

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 6 – Gentrix Shikangwa scored with two minutes left as Vihiga Queens sailed to the final of the CECAFA regional qualifiers...

NFL

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 13 – Kenya’s history making Daniel Adongo, the first Kenyan to play in America’s National Football League (NFL), is now living...

© 2024 Capital Digital Media. Capital Group Limited. All Rights Reserved