The Premier League is back and if the opening weekend is anything to go by we are in for another cracking season.
Last week, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland stole the plaudits, capping his first league start with a brace in east London, a matter of hours after Manchester United had lost at home against Brighton.
There were also positive results for two of the newly-promoted sides Fulham and Bournemouth, while Nottingham Forest, struggled away at Newcastle.
But, now, as the Premier League rolls into its second weekend of 2022-23, there are plenty of potential storylines waiting in the wings.
More from Football
Meet the man who went from Cambridge United fan to U9s coach to their best manager in 30 years12 August, 2022
Banning ketchup, the Bell of Shame and no signings under 6ft - inside Conte's Spurs revolution12 August, 2022
Pogba and Berlusconi return as Roma's 'fab four' go for glory - what to look out for in Serie A12 August, 2022Not least, Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur – a match which caps a stellar weekend of football that will see Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa face Frank Lampard’s Everton (you have to call them that now) and top-flight football return to the City Ground after a 23-year absence.
Everything you need to know about the second week of the 2022-23 Premier League season, including the schedule and television selections is below:
Week 2 fixtures
(All televised fixtures are in bold)
Saturday 12 August
- Aston Villa vs Everton, 12.30pm, live on BT Sport 1/BT Sport Ultimate
- Arsenal vs Leicester City, 3.00pm
- Brighton vs Newcastle, 3.00pm
- Manchester City vs Bournemouth, 3.00pm
- Southampton vs Leeds, 3.00pm
- Wolves vs Fulham, 3.00pm
- Brentford vs Manchester United, 17.30pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event/Premier League
Sunday 13 August
- Nottingham Forest vs West Ham United, 2pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event/Premier League
- Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur, 4.30pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event/Premier League
Sunday 13 August
- Liverpool vs Crystal Palace, 8.00pm, live on Sky Sports Main Event/Premier League
Highlights
Saturday 13 August
- Match of the Day, 10.20pm on BBC One
Sunday 14 August
- Match of the Day 2, 10.30pm on BBC One
SATURDAY
Aston Villa vs Everton
The main focus of this lunchtime clash will be the two men in the dugout – Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.
As Lampard looks to kickstart his first full-season in charge of the Toffees, new signings Conor Coady, a former Liverpool player, and Amadou Onana, who signed from Lille this week, are both in line for club debuts.
Coady, in particular, is a welcome addition after it was confirmed that Ben Godfrey could be sidelined for three months after successful surgery on a fractured leg last week, and should improve a defence that shipped 66 goals last season.
For Villa, a rumoured fallout with Tyrone Mings, who was replaced by John McGinn as club captain on the eve of their 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth, has dominated headlines in recent weeks and given us an insight into Gerrard’s less ruthless management style.
Leon Bailey scored his first Villa goal in his side’s 3-0 win at Villa Park last season, and will hope to change his side’s recent patchy form – Gerrard’s men have won just two of their last 12 league matches ahead of their match with Everton.
Arsenal vs Leicester City
Mikel Arteta seems to have it all together in North London, despite what you might have concluded from Amazon’s All or Nothing: Arsenal documentary.
Last time out, it all seemed relatively simple for the Gunners, who made sure there would be no repeat of last season’s slow start in a Friday night London derby by beating Crystal Palace 2-0 at Selhurst Park, with William Saliba earning rave reviews on his debut.
Related Stories
Arsenal's new star, Everton in crisis, Man Utd go backwards and Klopp picks the wrong target08 August, 2022
Gabriel Jesus shines and William Saliba looks absolutely ready in Arsenal's winning start05 August, 2022
Amazon's sanitised Arsenal documentary fails to get under skin of the Arteta project03 August, 2022Gabriel Jesus will be looking for his first goal when he makes his competitive bow at the Emirates Stadium against a visiting Leicester City side who squandered a 2-0 lead against Brentford on the opening day.
Brendan Rodgers’ men are still yet to sign a player this window, and the departure of the previously ever-present Kasper Schmeichel to Nice showed a club at a crossroads.
There is no doubt the Foxes have invested heavily off the pitch in recent years, but Brendan Rodgers’ side looks a bit stale on it and could be further depleted this summer with Wesley Fofana, James Maddison and Youri Tielemans all linked with moves from the King Power.
Brighton vs Newcastle United
Despite the loss of Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella this summer, Brighton managed to battle their way to a first-ever win at Old Trafford thanks to a brace from Pascal Gross on opening day.
The status of Graham Potter’s side as a ‘selling club’ is in stark contrast to visiting Newcastle, who were boosted by the summer arrivals of Sven Botman, Nick Pope and Matt Targett, all of whom featured in a comfortable 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest last matchday.
Related Stories
For the Magpies, Calum Wilson’s return will be the biggest positive, with Eddie Howe’s No 9 clinching a well-deserved victory at St James Park with a stylish finish 12 minutes from time.
Wilson will look to add to his tally at the Amex after netting in the opening game for the fourth time in the last five Premier League seasons last week, although Newcastle have never won a Premier League match away at Brighton.
Manchester City vs Bournemouth
The defending Champions started their title defence by strolling to a 2-0 win over West Ham United at the London Stadium.
Now, newly-promoted Bournemouth travel to Manchester, with Scott Parker’s men expecting a tougher test than in their win over a hesitant Aston Villa last time out.
As expected, this match has been the topic of many FPL bosses’ discussion this week, with Erling Haaland looking to add to his tally against a newly-promoted side.
But, such conversations do a disservice to Parker’s men, who kept 21 clean sheets in the second-tier last campaign – a whopping 46 per cent of their league matches.
Still, the Bournemouth boss described his squad as “light” ahead of opening day, and it does not get tougher than a trip to Manchester City, who the Cherries have not taken a point off in the Premier League era.
Southampton vs Leeds United
The Red Bull revolution hits St Mary’s Stadium, as two of its managerial graduates lock horns on the south coast.
Captain James Ward-Prowse saw his early volley give the visitors hope at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium last time out, but Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, who finished last season with four straight defeats, were swept aside as Spurs hit four goals in response.
It was a better final run-in for Jesse Marsch’s outfit, who secured their Premier League status on the final of last season thanks to Jack Harrison’s stoppage-time strike at the Brentford Community Stadium.
As it stands, a battling win over Wolves showed that Marsch may be finally moving out of the shadow cast by the departure of Marcelo Bielsa’s last campaign.
His side were aggressive in both their attack and defence at Elland Road, cancelling out Daniel Podence’s early strike to record a morale-boosting victory. They will hope to make it two wins from two against Southampton, who last won their opening home match of the season in 2004-05.
Wolves vs Fulham
Fulham are back in the big time, and if last week’s showing against Liverpool was anything to go by this season might prove to be different for Marco Silva’s men, who have been relegated in each of their last three top-flight campaigns.
Key to Fulham’s survival bid will be Aleksandar Mitrovic, who before his brace against Liverpool had scored just 14 goals in his last 64 top-flight games.
For their opponents, Wolverhampton Wanderers, it is all change, with Bruno Lage moving away from the much-utilised back five, and opting for a back four. The departure of Coady to Everton confirming a permanent switch of tactics from the Portuguese boss.
Coady’s move is a particularly interesting one, considering the former skipper played the most minutes of any Premier League player for Wolves last season, but has had to leave for first-team football in a World Cup year.
New-signing Goncalo Guedes could also make his Wolves debut at Molineux.
Brentford vs Manchester United
Tea-time football sees the return of Christian Eriksen to the Brentford Community Stadium, where a fruitful six-month spell in West London saw him propel the Bees to an impressive 13th- place finish.
The Danish creator has netted over 50 goals across a glittering Premier League career and will hope to open his account for the Red Devils in front of former boss and fellow countrymen Thomas Frank.
For Manchester United, the match already feels like a must-win for Erik ten Hag’s lethargic side, who were thoroughly outplayed by Brighton at Old Trafford.
That noise has rumbled over the last week, with a potential swoop for Marko Arnautovic cancelled, leaving United short of attacking options. Anthony Martial missed the opening game through injury, while the unsettled Cristiano Ronaldo was summoned from the bench in the second half.
Last year, the Red Devils struck three goals in each of their wins against Brentford and will hope for a routine victory to get their campaign up and running.
Sunday
Nottingham Forest vs West Ham United
Nottingham Forest will hope for a better showing after a poor performance away to Newcastle and can expect to be loudly backed by their home fans in the City Ground.
All eyes will be on Jesse Lingard, a fan-favourite during a loan spell with West Ham United in 2021, who will hope to get his Forest career underway in Sunday’s clash after a disappointing debut last weekend.
There is also the return of Michail Antonio to Nottingham, who was signed from Forest in 2015 – and has gone on to become West Ham’s highest Premier League scorer of all-time.
New signing Maxwel Cornet could also be in line to make a debut, as the two sides meet in the Premier League for the first time since 1999.
The Hammers lost the last clash between the sides 5-0 in the FA Cup back in 2014.
Chelsea vs Tottenham
Antonio Conte returns to Stamford Bridge with a Tottenham Hotspur side, who came from behind to beat Southampton 4-1 last time out.
There is plenty to play for already, with both sides leading a pack of clubs who will hope to dismantle Liverpool and Manchester City’s stranglehold on the top two.
Conte won 65 per cent of his matches as Chelsea boss, winning a Premier League title in his first season at the Bridge, and will hope to further Tottenham Hotspurs’ top-four credentials against his former employers.
Related Stories
The other figure in the dugout, Thomas Tuchel has seen his side linked with Frenkie de Jong this week, as Chelsea look to bolster their squad further after splashing the cash to add Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella already this summer.
Sterling will hope to net his first competitive goal in Chelsea’s colours after a penalty from Jorginho saw Tuchel’s men scrape past Everton last time out.
The hosts will take confidence from the fact that Spurs have not scored in their last six meetings with Chelsea – the visitor’s last Premier League victory against the Blues coming in 2018.
MONDAY
Liverpool vs Palace
Expect a crisp surface under the lights at Anfield after Jurgen Klopp lamented a “dry” pitch in the wake of his side’s 2-2 draw with Fulham.
For a side credited for their athleticism, Liverpool looked unusually sluggish, with a lack of a proper break perhaps playing its part as his side, who came close to winning a quadruple last season, looked miles off the pace.
Fulham to their credit played their part, and Palace will take some comfort in the performance of the newly-promoted side as they look for a first win at Anfield since 2017.
One look at the schedule revealed a tough opening three matches for Patrick Vieira’s outfit, whose trip to Merseyside is sandwiched between their opening day defeat to Arsenal and an away clash with Manchester City.
Palace certainly have enough to avoid any talk of relegation, however, and are more than capable of springing a surprise against last season’s runners-up, although they have netted just one in their last five meetings with Klopp’s men.
from Football | News and analysis from the Premier League and beyond | iNews https://ift.tt/5TYC2zk
Post a Comment