1) Friday night lights
The match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur on 16 December 1983 is widely accepted as the first Friday night match in England’s top flight. It was a new era in football, with the game becoming the first Match of the Day live broadcast, and with Spurs sporting a sponsor, Holsten, on their shirts for the first time. Fast forward to 2015 and the game has come a long way in terms of commercialising the sport. While live Premier League matches on Friday night will become a regular occurrence from next season under the terms of the £5.14bn TV deal, we will have only one Friday match this season: tonight’s game between Aston Villa and Manchester United. Sky’s presenters and pundits may or may not herald the new kick-off time as a watershed for broadcasting but remember this is a one-off, brought about by circumstance: West Midlands Police couldn’t be present for a Saturday fixture because of a planned EDL march in Walsall, and the game could not be played on Sunday because Manchester United would not be given sufficient rest before their Champions League qualifier next Tuesday. Louis van Gaal will be chuffed with the decision, at least. More time to prep for Club Brugge, more recovery time for his players. Perhaps you are excited for more live Premier League football. Maybe you long for 3pm Saturday kick-offs. Don’t care? That’s OK, too. But Friday football is back, so get used to it. MB
2) Bench may hold key for both Watford and WBA
A tale of two strikers, neither of whom are likely to start. After winning the Championship player of the year award at Watford, where he was on loan from Udinese, also owned by the Italian Pozzo family, the Czech striker Matej Vydra spent an unhappy season on loan at The Hawthorns before leaving West Brom to contribute 16 goals to Watford’s promotion push last season.
An impressive tally by any standards, albeit one overshadowed by those of his team-mates Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo, who bagged 21 and 20 respectively. With his move now permanent, Vydra provides a speedy option off the bench and would surely love another, belated opportunity to show West Brom fans what he can do, even if they might not appreciate the gesture.
In the opposition dugout, having arrived in the Midlands as collateral damage from the fall-out of a new law forcing Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg to reduce the number of foreign players in their squad, the Venezuelan striker Salomón Rondón comes with the full backing of his former manager André Villas-Boas, who believes him to be equipped with all the tools to become a success in England. Replacing Ideye Brown as West Brom’s record signing, Rondón doesn’t have particularly big boots to fill and Baggies fans will be hoping the scorer of 13 goals in the Russian top flight doesn’t take as long as his predecessor to find the target upon his introduction to the Premier League. BG
3) Everton’s eye for youth paying off
Southampton and Everton meet in the early kick-off on Saturday and much will be made of John Stones’s involvement. But with Leighton Baines’s ankle injury ruling him out for up to three months, Everton’s defence is as likely to be as dependent upon young Brendan Galloway. Signed from MK Dons in 2014, the 19-year-old was selected ahead of Bryan Oviedo at left-back against Watford last week and put in a promising performance. Everton’s policy of cherry-picking the best young talent from the lower leagues appears to be bearing fruit, and after the club signed Mason Holgate from Barnsley on Thursday – the same club Stones was signed from in 2013 – Roberto Martínez claimed the 18-year-old was joining a “golden generation” at Goodison Park. Plundering the divisions below is nothing new but is proving to be an increasingly smart move: young British players, that count towards the home-grown quota, are already hardened to the physical demands of first-team football and transfer fees are generally lower. Aaron Creswell proved a shrewd buy for West Ham last season and Tottenham’s capture of Dele Alli is already looking like good business. Galloway showed a glimpse of his promise last weekend, it will be interesting to see if Martínez puts the same faith in him away from home against Southampton, where he is likely to mark Southampton’s most creative player, Dusan Tadic. MB
4) Can Oxford’s education continue against Leicester?
At £45, Leicester fans travelling to the Boleyn Ground are facing a 44.44% price hike on the corresponding fixture last season that is as baffling as it is shameful; after all, it’s not as if their opponents need to scrimp and save ahead of their subsidised move to the Olympic Stadium. For £25 last December, visiting fans got to see their team lose 2-0 but will be hoping for a better return on their investment this time around. But West ham’s defence, high on the hog after their unexpected win over Arsenal, is unlikely to be as accommodating as a Sunderland back four that shipped three goals in the first half at the King Power Stadium.
Expect all eyes to be on Reece Oxford, whose assured performance against Arsenal was one of the main football talking points from last weekend. Can the makeshift defensive midfielder repeat his heroics of last Sunday, or will the stress of receiving his GCSE results next week affect the 16-year-old’s game? BG
- Reece Oxford: the schoolboy who helped nullify Arsenal
- Ranieri: Vardy won’t be sacked for racist slur
5) Tottenham’s stability might dash Stoke after spending spree
Everyone is a little bit excited about Stoke at the moment. Xherdan Shaqiri’s No22 shirt is already the fastest selling replica kit in Stoke City’s history. The Staffordshire club now have more Champions League winners in their squad than Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool combined. “Definite top-six material” a bored ex-pro probably murmurs on Sky Sports News, far too early in the morning. But let’s take a step back for a minute. It’s true that Shaqiri has an absurd amount of talent, but he’s flattered to deceive at club level for years. Mark Hughes is a good manager, but he has overhauled his squad this summer with more players that are unproven in this league. Last weekend against Liverpool, Stoke managed one shot on target. This summer they sold last season’s best player (as voted by both fans and players), Steven N’zonzi, and their first-choice goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. While we can agree Stoke have changed for the better, let’s not get carried away. Their opponents this weekend, Tottenham, have opted for the opposite approach this summer: consistency. Just one of their starting XI against Manchester United last Saturday, Toby Alderweireld, didn’t play for the club last season and Spurs were unlucky to leave Old Trafford empty-handed. In stark contrast to their own recent past, Tottenham have had a relatively quiet summer, with Mauricio Pochettino seemingly more interested in focusing his energy on the training ground than in the transfer market. In these early stages of the season, it may prove to be a better move than Stoke’s approach of recruiting a host of new signings, who could take time to gel. MB
- Shaqiri embraces new Stoke surroundings, oatcakes and all
- Soldado out, N’jie in as Spurs buy back-up for Kane
6) Arsenal face another test from London rivals
- Appearances
- 1
- Saves
- 2
- Clearances
- 0
Already one for one in this season’s “oh, Arsenal” stakes, it will be interesting to see how Arsène Wenger’s men bounce back from last weekend’s embarrassment against a surprisingly impressive West Ham. They would almost certainly prefer it if their first chance at redemption didn’t involve a trip to one of the top flight’s few remaining bear pits. A compact little cauldron boasting some of the Premier League’s most raucous and passionatefans, Selhurst Park couldn’t be less like the Emirates and should Arsenal go a goal down, it is hardly hyperbole to suggest the reaction of their players will speak volumes about their prospects for the season ahead.
Despite their impressive results under Alan Pardew and the undeniable quality among their ranks, Palace retain, for now at least, the status of plucky Premier League underdogs who like nothing better than bloodying the noses of the big boys.
Despite his team’s obvious strength on the flanks, Pardew will have noticed the manner in which West Ham suffocated Arsenal in midfield last weekend and may attempt to do the same by sacrificing some width to accommodate an extra central midfielder. Meanwhile, in Arsenal’s goal, expect Petr Cech to be reminded of last week’s uncharacteristic ricks early, loudly and often. Only two matches in, he and his team-mates are already facing a tough test of the mettle so many doubters suspect they do not have. BG
7) Sunderland must keep M’Vila from seeing red
“Yann M’Vila reads the game like Claude Makélélé, has the presence of Patrick Vieira and can pass the ball like Yaya Touré,” said then-Rennes manager Frédéric Antonetti back in 2012. Three years is a long time in football but judging from the Frenchman’s first appearance in a Sunderland shirt, albeit in an Under-21 match this week, not a lot has changed. The 25-year-old was dynamic and disciplined in protecting his back four, and going forward, he provided two assists in a 3-1 victory. Spot on Frédéric! Except that you forgot to mention M’Vila’s temper and this talking point forgot to mention that the midfielder was also sent off in that Under-21 match for a head-butt. For a player that has had a host a problems of off-field problems in his short career thus far, it’s not exactly the inconspicuous start in England M’Vila might have hoped for. However, despite the red card, he remains available for selection against Norwich this weekend. If Dick Advocaat can somehow channel his aggression into a fighting spirit Sunderland clearly lacked last week at Leicester, they’ve got quite a player on their hands. But it’s a big if. MB
8) Mourinho likely to opt for pragmatism against Manchester City
Manchester City’s players will begin this match buoyed by the prospect of ending it with a five-point lead over the title-holders with only two games of the Premier League campaign played but it would be naive to think they will enjoy the same freedom of the park gifted to them by West Brom on Monday.
Shaping up to be one of those box-office fixtures that looks mouthwatering on paper, only to end up a spirit-crushing and tedious disappointment (or “really compelling tactical battle … like a chess match”, depending on your levels of pretentiousness), much will depend on the approach of Chelsea when they pitch up at the Etihad.
Going into the corresponding fixture last September, they were the league’s top scorers and had already opened a five-point lead over their nearest rivals. Lining nine men across their own penalty area, they stole a goal on the counterattack before conceding an equaliser against 10 men, leaving with the point they came for when they should really have taken all three. Mourinho goes into this match having endured a comparatively miserable beginning to the season, his team’s home draw with Swansea probably a recent highlight in the wake of a pre-season in which his players had shown very little of the fight their manager has been taking to Rafael Benítez and his wife, Maria, Arsène Wenger, his own medical staff and – it seems - anyone else who wants “some”.
The Portuguese is unlikely to have been perturbed by the flood of public opprobrium generated by his treatment of physiotherapist Jon Fearn and Dr Eva Carneiro and is even more unlikely to mend many bridges if he uses the bus both were thrown under to less unpleasant but more pragmatic effect this weekend. Considering how sluggish and off the pace his team have looked in recent outings, competitive and friendly, it would almost certainly be foolhardy for him to approach this match in any other way. BG
- David Conn: Chelsea defy reason in treatment of Carneiro
- Agüero not sure of starting place against Chelsea
9) Swansea and Newcastle must both beware widemen
Pace: Swansea have got it in spades these days. The front three of Jefferson Montero, Bafétimbi Gomis and André Ayew frightened the living daylights out of Chelsea’s back four last weekend. Montero cut Branislav Ivanovic to ribbons on the left flank, and Gomis was a constant threat in behind John Terry and Gary Cahill, who aren’t exactly the fastest centre-back pairing in the league. Swansea are unlikely to have the same joy against a Newcastle defence that numbers Daryl Janmaat, Massadio Haïdara and Chancel Mbemba – aka The Chancellor – who are considerably quicker, but the game is still likely to be won and lost on the flanks. Both of Newcastle’s goals against Southampton came from wide positions, with Gabriel Obertan justifying his surprise selection with an excellent run and cross to new signing Georginio Wijnaldum for their second. Having hit Chelsea on the counterattack to devastating effect, Swansea will be wary of their north-east opponents stinging them with a similar tactic on Saturday. MB
10) Cherries fans face Monday night blues against Reds
A real treat awaits Bournemouth fans attending the first Premier League away fixture in the club’s history. Showing their usual total and utter disregard for travelling supporters, Sky have ensured that those Cherries supporters lucky enough to have secured tickets for this momentous event face a round trip of 528 miles on a Monday, which ought to have them home, tucked up in bed as early as 3am ... if they’re allowed out of the stadium straight after the final whistle and the early-morning M5 traffic isn’t too bad.
Whether or not they’ll travel home from Anfield in celebratory mood remains to be seen. When last these sides met, Liverpool had just meekly exited the Champions League, sat 18 points off the Premier League summit and were reeling from a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester United. For all this turmoil, they still emerged 3-1 winners from a Capital One Cup tie at Dean Court in a game won with a minimum of fuss.
That was last December and this is now. It will be fascinating to see how Eddie Howe sets up his team for a league match away from home against one of the better Premier League teams. Renowned for the zippy pass-and-move approach that won his side the Championship last season, the Bournemouth manager will need to adapt a more pragmatic approach if his team is to pick up points from games such as this. Goals, should they arrive, look likely to be scored on the counter-attack, where speed-merchants Christian Atsu and Joshua King ought to pose a real threat.
King was a little too critical of his own Premier League debut last weekend, while an injury picked up in pre-season meant Atsu missed out on Bournemouth’s season opener. He completed 90 minutes in a friendly against Exeter on Thursday morning and looks certain to play some part on Merseyside. Should the pair feature, they ought to give Liverpool’s defence plenty to think about on a landmark - if rather inconvenient - night in their new club’s history. BG
