Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

1) Wenger looks for repeat performance

Eight weeks ago Arsène Wenger finally got his first win over José Mourinho and he enjoyed it so much that he jeopardised his Champions League chances in a bid to repeat it this weekend. Wenger rested several players for the trip to Dinamo Zagreb and found that he couldn’t count on his squad as much as he had hoped. He could still salvage some vindication, however, if Arsenal win at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Petr Cech will return to his old stomping ground and the performances of Mathieu Debuchy and Kieran Gibbs in Croatia should ensure that Héctor Béllerin and Nacho Monreal start as well. Francis Coquelin has got to come back and Theo Walcott should start in place of the slower and deflated Olivier Giroud. Chelsea also made changes in mid-week but for different reasons. It will be interesting to see how many of Wednesday night’s starters retain their place for the visit of Arsenal. Ruben Loftus-Cheek did enough to suggest he would be a better bet than Nemanja Matic at the moment, but Loïc Rémy did not seize his opportunity to displace Diego Costa and Kurt Zouma looked shaky at times, meaning John Terry could return, although Kurt Zouma would be a sounder safeguard against Walcott’s pace. Similarly, Baba Rahman should keep his place because Branislav Ivanovic could do without facing a side with Arsenal’s speed. PD

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2) Norwich travel to Anfield in confidence with Suárez hex lifted

Time was when a meeting with Liverpool would bring only one outcome for Norwich. In Luis Suárez’s six appearances against the Canaries, the Uruguayan scored a barely credible 12 goals in a spectacular run that suggested a deep-set aversion to things yellow and green. When Norwich last visited Anfield, in December 2013, Suárez scored four; a relationship of entirely one-sided antagonism concluded when, four months later, he limited himself to one goal at Carrow Road during a period when Liverpool’s march to the title seemed inexorable.

Those were the days. Suárez is long gone now and Norwich can be forgiven for travelling in something more than hope without the prospect of a chasing from their bete noire. The weight off their shoulders is perhaps a microcosm of that felt by the rest of the league when facing Liverpool these days – Brendan Rodgers’ team is giving opponents little to fear and questions about the quality of his recruitment will continue to be asked until they show any semblance of the mettle required to make the top four.

This would seem like the ideal fixture to get out of the way unfussily after last Sunday’s chastening defeat at Manchester United but one of the league table’s early curiosities is that Norwich currently sit above Liverpool – albeit on goal difference – and Alex Neil brings to Anfield a compact, combative side that poses a threat on the counterattack through Nathan Redmond and a re-energised Matt Jarvis. Philippe Coutinho’s return from suspension gives Liverpool at least one plausible means of picking the lock but a slow, tense grind of an afternoon seems more likely than a return to the days when Suárez could kick 11 Canaries down the most toxic of mineshafts. NA

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3) Sherwood facing derby double

The first of two consecutive derbies for Aston Villa, for whom Birmingham City are next up in the Capital One Cup next week. “We’ve got the two biggest matches this club is ever going to have ahead of us,” Tim Sherwood has said, but while Villa fans could be forgiven for hoping slightly grander, more prestigious occasions lie in their club’s mid- to long-term future, the importance of these games in relation to how their manager is perceived by fans in the short-term cannot be overstated. Back to back defeats could leave a dent on his reputation that even the most accomplished local panel-beaters might struggle to repair.

After the almighty dog’s breakfast Villa made of their attempt to close out the win against Leicester City when two goals up last weekend, back to back wins against local rivals West Brom and City would buy Sherwood some much needed breathing space after an inauspicious start to the season in which his team has kept just one clean sheet and leaked two or more goals in each of their past four matches. It will be interesting to see whether or not he attempts to rectify this porousness by adopting a safety-first approach that one suspects goes against everything he stands for as a manager.

More experienced, under far less pressure and with a more defensively stout team at his disposal, visiting manager Tony Pulis can afford to let his team sit back and hit Villa on the break and may task Saido Berahino with plugging away up front from the start. The young striker won’t be the only player looking for redemption, during his unhappy time at Manchester City, Scott Sinclair endured an even more miserable loan spell at The Hawthorns and in the colours of their local rivals, the in-form winger may feel he has a point to prove. BG

4) A story of what-might-have-beens at Old Trafford

If Louis van Gaal had his way, Luke Shaw and Sadio Mané would be Old Trafford team-mates or at least coming up against each other this weekend. But Shaw’s injury sadly deprives him of that option and us of that spectacle; it will be interesting to see what the United manager decides to do instead. On Tuesday he chose to break up a central defence that has done better than expected this season, shifting Danny Blind to left-back and putting Marcos Rojo alongside Chris Smalling instead. Mané, of course, did not start for Saints at West Brom last week but given how that match panned out, and the extra motivation he is likely to feel for this game, he should play from the beginning on Sunday. Meanwhile in midfield, this would be a fine time for James Ward-Prowse to confirm that he has what it takes to fill the gap left by Morgan Schneiderlin. PD

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5) Can Sunderland improve again?

Snake-belly low the bar may be, but Sunderland’s performance in defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend was generally recognised as their best of the season thus far. New signings Jeremain Lens and Yann M’Vila demonstrated the beginnings of a decent partnership. After a ropey start to the season Younes Kaboul looked assured on the front and back foot. Fabio Borini, Ola Toivonen and Jordi Gómez all got much-needed match minutes into their legs. A match against some Premier League new boys could be just what the doctor ordered for Dick Advocaat and his side as they travel 350 miles in search of their first win. Be afraid, Bournemouth. Be very afraid. Or at the very least, mildly apprehensive. BG

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6) City may start their Fab Four

Having already won at Arsenal and Liverpool, West Ham will travel to the Etihad with high hopes of staging another smart counterattacking away win. They certainly have the speed to cause problems on the break to a City side who have not yet conceded in the Premier League this season but showed against Juventus that they are still vulnerable to lapses of concentration. Sergio Agüero could be fit, which means Manuel Pellegrini may, for the first time, be able to start with a front-four of Agüero, David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne. Mind you, it might be worth giving Agüero more time to recover and starting with Wilfried Bony, who looks like he needs a run of matches to regain his sharpness. PD

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7) Naismith sets sights on a start

While the egg-chasers of Ireland and Canada get amongst each other 44 miles away at the Millennium Stadium, two of the Premier League’s better teams will be going toe-to-toe in Swansea in what ought to be a considerably more aesthetically pleasing spectacle. High on the hog after their unexpected demolition of Chelsea, Everton travel to take on a Swansea City team who came out on the wrong end of another surprise scoreline, losing 1-0 against Watford. Returning to his old stomping ground, Roberto Martínez must decide whether or not to give Steven Naismith an extended run in the team following his hat-trick heroics at Goodison Park, beginning at the Liberty.

The chippy Scot with the heart of gold has already stated that a life on the substitutes’ bench is no life at all and could scarcely have staked his claim for a starting spot more emphatically. Not the kind of player likely to rest on the laurels of his perfect hat-trick, Naismith is at his best up front rather than marooned out on the wing and will expect to start his first match of the season this weekend. But with Romelu Lukaku and Arouna Kone both playing well, who if anyone will make way? BG

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8) McClaren and Newcastle look vulnerable

Judging by form, you can book that late slot on Match of the Day already. Newcastle have not scored since the opening day of the season; Watford have scored once since then. Watford, at least, have looked dangerous and coherent – a proper team on the rise – and a narrow away win looks a distinct possibility. Because Steve McClaren’s side are floundering. The manager, without a league victory so far, has been hampered by the suspension of Aleksandar Mitrovic and a slew of injuries and could be without up to seven players this weekend. He could do with Florian Thauvin being on song – and Papiss Cissé being on the bench. PD

9) Entertainment on the cards at Stoke v Leicester

Bojan Krkic could make his first Premier League start for eight months. Xherdan Shaqiri and Riyad Mahrez could make their first starts for one week. Three excellent reasons to follow what could be the most entertaining match of the weekend. Goals are likely to flow, and if the visitors exploit Ryan Shawcross’ continued absence and claim more than the hosts, Mark Hughes will likely to be asked again whether he regrets letting Robert Huth go. PD

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10) Alli can help Tottenham shrug off post-Europa League lethargy

Tottenham’s aversion to a Thursday-Sunday routine was there for all to see last season and Crystal Palace are probably not the opponents Mauricio Pochettino would like to be greeting after an entertaining if occasionally rather headless win over Qarabag. Pochettino made six changes to his team in the hope that Harry Kane and company will be sharp enough to outgun the league’s poster boys for upwards mobility but it was one of those that remained who started the most excitable conversations among those leaving White Hart Lane. “It’s important to take care of him and try to keep him at the level he has shown,” said Pochettino of Dele Alli, the 19-year-old who was perhaps the best player on the pitch in their 3-1 victory. Alli, who was signed from MK Dons, also shone at Sunderland last weekend in the absence of Christian Eriksen and the question for Pochettino will be how soft the kid gloves need to be when Eriksen returns, as he may on Sunday. Three starts in a week is not a schedule he would like to regularly give a player of Alli’s age but the midfielder, so alert and creative, has added a zest that Tottenham had been lacking this season and is in the kind of form that makes him hard to omit. NA

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