The Gunners will try to stop the negative streak in Birmingham (14:30, Sport1), the champion and the new leader will be hosted by the newcomer who remains without brakes (17:00, Sport2). And also: a comfortable game for Chelsea, a critical battle for Liverpool in Newcastle and will Manor Solomon start at Fulham?
Arsenal barely had time to recover from the blow they received at home on Wednesday against Manchester City, and they already have a difficult task ahead of them against Aston Villa In the opening game of the 24th round in the Premier League. After that, Manchester City will host Nottingham Forest and Chelsea will hope to return to winning ways against Southampton. In the game that will close the day, Newcastle will host Liverpool.
Arsenal looked like the championOn the way, but only one point was gained from the last nine possible – lost to Manchester City on Wednesday, surrendered to Everton and in between also ended in a draw against Brentford, and already lost the top. Despite all this, the Gunners have a lackluster game and that means they are still hanging on themselves in the title race. Mikel Arteta already surprised when he started against City with Tommaso instead of White, and now he may make more changes against the group of Unai Emery, who previously coached Arsenal. The one who is expected to go to the bench is Gabriel Martinelli and the opportunity in the 11 will be given to Andrew Trussard who scored against Brentford last week. Arsenal beat Villa away last season, but lost the secondThe meetings at Villa Park in 2020 and 2021. The host will hope that Tyrone Mings will recover from injury, but he will probably be absent.
The champions returned to the top on Wednesday with an impressive victory in London over Arsenal, but they have an excess game over the Gunners and therefore cannot afford to lose points even for a moment. Arling Holland returned to scoring against Arsenal and Kevin de Brauna also starred with a goal and an assist, and they are expected to continue in the lineup when the Citizens meet the latter who are in dire straits due to injuries to Willie Boley and Scott McKenna – both were injured in the 2:0 loss to Fulham last week and will be absent for an extended period. In the first round at the Etihad it ended with a crushing 0:6 to winManchester City.
Chelsea won only once in the last nine games in all competitions, when they beat Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge. The purchased players who joined are slowly starting to make an impact and the team is improving, but despite this they lost 1:0 in Dortmund on Wednesday in the round of 16 of the Champions League and in the league scored only one goal in the last three games, all of which ended in a draw. Luckily for her, at least on paper, a comfortable game awaits her against table-topping Southampton who have not yet appointed a new coach after the talks with Jesse Marsh failed and in the last round she took the lead against Wolves, yet surrendered at home 2:1. In the first round at the end of August, the “Saints” managed to winChelsea 1:2, then still under coach Thomas Tuchel.
A week after Manor Solomon came off the bench and scored his first goal in the Premier League in a victory over Nottingham Forest, the Israeli may start at Fulham following the blow Willian received, which puts him in doubt for the game. Coach Marco Silva claimed that Aleksandar Mitrovic will also be tested for the match, but he should be fit. The two teams are level on 35 points each, but Brighton have two games in hand against the Cottagers and for Roberto de Zerbi and his players this is an opportunity to escape the battle for the UEFA Champions League places next season. Brighton were held at Crystal Palace last week, but have not lost a game in 2023 and whoThe one who leads it to the top of the league is the Japanese Mitoma who scored four goals in the last six rounds.
The absence of Bruno Guimaraes is very noticeable in Newcastle, who did not manage to win in the last two rounds, in relatively comfortable games against West Ham and Bournemouth from the bottom, thus allowing them to burn after her in the battle Fourth place must remain within touching distance. Guimaraes will return to the League Cup final at Wembley against Manchester United next week, but until then Newcastle will have to manage without him also against Liverpool, who this week celebrated with Everton in the derby and stopped a streak of four rounds without a win. This is a critical game for Liverpool, who can narrow the gap from Newcastle to six pointsonly, and Jurgen Klopp is not expected to make significant changes to the lineup, even though he will host Real Madrid on Tuesday in the round of 16 of the Champions League. Virgil van Dijk is expected to return to the squad after returning from injury, Newcastle’s Miguel Almiron is doubtful and it is not impossible that he will not be endangered before the final. By the way, in the first round at Anfield, Liverpool won in the 98th minute, when Carvalho completed a turnaround. Other matches Brentford – Crystal Palace (17:00) Everton – Leeds (17:00) Wolves – Bournemouth (17:00)
The cycle will continue on Sunday when Manchester United will host Leicester (4:00 p.m., Sport1) and Tottenham will host a London derby against West Ham (6:30 p.m., Sport1).