Arsenal and Manchester City sit level on 12 points at the top of the Premier League, but the weekend’s attention is drawn towards the other end of the table, where two winless sides meet in north London and a familiar face returns to the south coast. Chelsea’s long wait for a win at Brentford continues on Friday night, while Andoni Iraola brings Liverpool back to Bournemouth on Sunday and Oscar Bobb looks to build on a midweek cup winner.
Brentford v Chelsea, Friday, 8pm BST. Chelsea have not won this west London derby since Brentford’s first Premier League season, and every visit since October 2021’s 1-0 win — Ben Chilwell the scorer — has ended in a draw. This season has continued the divergence between the clubs’ approaches, Brentford’s solidity and continuity contrasting with Chelsea’s latest reboot. Kevin Schade, after two well-taken goals at Bournemouth, will fancy his chances against a defence not yet attuned to Xabi Alonso’s configurations. Only one team has won a Premier League title with a defensive trio: Chelsea’s own 2016-17 side under Antonio Conte, and Alonso’s attack has been rather more successful than his defence so far. That presents another challenge for Jannik Schuster, the 20-year-old central defender who replaced Nathan Collins and had a tough examination from Bournemouth’s Evanilson on his first Premier League start, emerging with credit. For Chelsea, João Pedro has registered three goals and three assists, but doubts surrounding his fitness could lead to Danny Welbeck’s first league start.
Tottenham v Aston Villa, Saturday, 3pm. Villa arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 19th place, with Spurs 17th on two points, and the two clubs have scored just one league goal between them all season. Both are desperately hoping for a first Premier League win. The return of Pedro Porro is significant for Roberto De Zerbi and should bring the Archie Gray experiment at right-back to an end. No Premier League starting XI feels less settled than Tottenham’s, with most players seemingly a mistake or two from being dropped, and after coming off the bench against Everton and Liverpool in the past week, the injury-plagued James Maddison will be itching to start and take the initiative.
Brighton v Arsenal, Saturday, 3pm. Fabian Hürzeler spoke about Brighton’s success being founded on them being “well structured” after their comeback against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday, and he could have been describing Malick Yalcouyé. The 20-year-old Ivorian moved to the south coast in 2024 after a few months with IFK Gothenburg in Sweden, but had to wait until this season for his senior debut after loans to Sturm Graz and then Swansea. With Jack Hinshelwood sidelined until after the international break, Yalcouyé has taken his chance in the No 10 role and already scored twice in the Premier League. The champions are next for the division’s top scorers, who have registered 13 goals in their opening four matches, and Mikel Arteta should be wary of the threat as Arsenal prepare for a fourth away game in succession.
Everton v Ipswich, Saturday, 3pm. Vitalii Mykolenko’s early-season improvement has gone largely unheralded, but at a time when David Moyes needs experienced players to defy the constraints of a small squad, the Everton left-back has delivered. Having signed a new three-year contract in the summer, and seemingly bulked up, the Ukraine international has impressed in a defence that has kept four clean sheets in six matches. There remains a lack of cover at left-back after Adam Aznou was loaned to Málaga for the season, but Mykolenko has eased concerns that surrounded his position ahead of the campaign. Ipswich’s new forward recruits, Emersonn and Zian Flemming, will test Everton’s solidity, and Moyes’s side will have made an encouraging start should they sign off with a win before the extended international break.
Newcastle v Hull, Saturday, 3pm. Matthias Jaissle was asked on Thursday whether Monday night’s 4-1 thrashing at Leeds and a raft of injuries might tempt him to switch to a back five or modify his “vertical” approach when Hull visit Tyneside. His reply was unequivocal: “No.” Eddie Howe’s successor expects his young team to retain faith in a wider vision as Newcastle — who signed eight players aged 24 and under this summer — adapt to life after Bruno Guimarães, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon. “It’s a brave journey the club is going on and I’m fully committed in that,” said Jaissle. “If there’s one setback, we shouldn’t delete our journey or our vision.”
Nottingham Forest v Coventry, Saturday, 5.30pm. Many scoffed at the £45m paid for Liam Delap in the summer, but Forest feels like the right place for the striker to regain his form. Forest previously thrived with Chris Wood as their arrowhead, and Delap is something of a younger Wood regent — powerful, instinctive and willing to bring others into play. During Saturday’s away win at Villa, Morgan Gibbs-White and Delap looked as if they already have an understanding, and both will be keen to capitalise against a Coventry side that has conceded eight goals in its past two games. After a nervy campaign last season, Forest feel back in the ascendancy, and the club will have been delighted that plans to increase the City Ground’s capacity from 31,000 to 52,500, at an estimated cost of £790m, were approved by the local council on Wednesday.
Bournemouth v Liverpool, Sunday, 2pm. After watching Bournemouth make their European bow from afar in San Sebastián, a city he knows inside out, Andoni Iraola returns to his previous club. His assistants Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper both played for Bournemouth, the former captaining the club into the Premier League in 2015. Iraola led Bournemouth into the Europa League after recording their best-ever finish, a body of work that earned him the Liverpool opportunity, and a warm welcome is guaranteed. Despite the Cherries’ slow start under his successor Marco Rose — who spent a couple of hours in Iraola’s company before officially starting in June — Bournemouth will pose tricky opposition, and both men will be braced for an all-action contest. Eddie Howe failed to beat Bournemouth in the eight league games he managed against them with Newcastle.
Leeds v Crystal Palace, Sunday, 2pm. Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be a man on a mission at Elland Road, hoping to become the first Leeds player to score in six consecutive home league games since Arthur Hydes in 1932. Daniel Farke’s switch to 3-5-2 late last November proved a turning point for a striker who had struggled as the team’s lone forward; paired with Noah Okafor or Lukas Nmecha, the goals started to flow. Leeds have collected eight points from their opening four games, the best beginning to a top-tier campaign of any Leeds team since David O’Leary’s class of 2001-02.
Manchester City v Sunderland, Sunday, 2pm. Enzo Maresca’s side have taken the maximum 12 points from their first four Premier League games, with 1-0 wins over Coventry and Manchester United, a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth and a 4-1 success against Crystal Palace, allowing only two goals while registering eight. That record is only marginally bettered by the champions, Arsenal, who have conceded one and scored eight in their 12-point tally. Régis Le Bris, meanwhile, plots to halt City’s perfect start and can draw on guiding Sunderland to a share of the points against the FA Cup holders last season, though that was at the Stadium of Light; in the corresponding fixture at the Etihad Stadium, City cruised to a 3-0 win.
Fulham v Manchester United, Sunday, 4.30pm. Oscar Bobb came off the bench against West Ham and fired Fulham into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a clinical late winner at the London Stadium on Tuesday night. It was a fine piece of individual play from the Norway winger, but he needs to produce it more often: the goal was his first since joining Fulham last January, and a player of his ability should be offering more end product. The 23-year-old is a clever dribbler who looked ready to establish himself at Manchester City before a serious injury curtailed his development, and after a good World Cup he should be full of confidence as Fulham, still seeking their first league win of the season, host Manchester United.