We don’t want to be the bearers of bad news, but this weekend is the last weekend of Premier League action before an international break.
Yes, you’re right to boo. It’s terrible.
Knowing that fact, however, should make us all cherish Gameweek 7 of the 2024/25 Premier League season a whole lot more.
With that in mind, here’s four storylines to keep a close eye on as the weekend action unfolds.
Had Harry Maguire not scored a 91st minute equaliser against FC Porto on Thursday night, chances are we’d be talking about who will replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.
That goal has given Ten Hag a stay of execution, but performance levels need to improve dramatically this weekend if the manager is going to stay in the job.
And unluckily for Ten Hag, this weekend’s game will be against Aston Villa at one of the most difficult stadiums to go to in all of Europe – Villa Park.
The Dutch boss may need a miracle to stay in the job for much longer if the Red Devils suffer a defeat as dismal at the one at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur last week, and he’ll take little comfort from the fact that Villa saw off Bayern Munich in midweek on their return to the Champions League.
For the first time in Premier League history, five teams head into Gameweek 7 without a single win to their name. That’s a quarter of the whole league.
And while we’d struggle to back Southampton to beat Arsenal or Crystal Palace to shock Liverpool, Ipswich Town, Wolves and Leicester City will look at their fixtures this weekend and think: ‘yeah, that’s winnable’.
Having drawn 2-2 with Aston Villa last week, and with their striker Liam Delap in fine form, we’re predicting that Ipswich are the most likely of the three to break their duck against a West Ham United team who can’t buy a win at home.
On Saturday, league leaders Liverpool face off against a winless Crystal Palace side, Arsenal face a winless Southampton side, and Man City face Fulham – a team that, while playing well right now, have lost 11 out of 11 games against City since Pep Guardiola took charge.
So it’s fair to say we’re expecting all three to win on Saturday.
The intrigue in the games may lay in who can win in the most impressive fashion, and how early in the game they can secure all three points. In a season jam-packed with games, the latter may prove to be crucial.
After a topsy-turvy start to the 2024/25 season, Tottenham Hotspur really came alive last weekend at Old Trafford, putting one of the best Premier League performances we’ve seen under Ange Postecoglou.
The 3-0 win showed off everything good about Ange-ball, and gave Spurs fans hope that this season could be a pretty special one in north London.
In order to get fans of other clubs believing that they could finally end their trophy drought though, they’ll need to put in a similar performance against a pretty damn good Brighton and Hove Albion outfit.
We’ll see what Tottenham are really made of on Sunday.
READ THE LATEST FEATURES AND ANALYSIS FROM 90MIN
