The final international break of the calendar year dragged a little, didn’t it? Not to worry though, the Premier League returns this weekend with a bumper edition. Yes, there’s even Monday Night Football™.
By Sam McGuire
There are a number of interesting match-ups to look out for across Matchday 12 and it’d be easy to overlook a few things. We’ve got you covered though.
Manchester City take on their bogey team
Manchester City have lost four matches on the bounce. Yes, the great Man City side, managed by the great (and newly committed, contract-wise) Pep Guardiola, are winless since they eked out a 1-0 victory over Southampton at the end of October.
Since then, the reigning champions have lost to Bournemouth and Brighton in the Premier League, Spurs in the Carabao Cup and Sporting in the Champions League. The aggregate scoreline across these games is 10-4.
They trail leaders Liverpool by five points but with playing first this weekend, they have the opportunity to cut that down to just two points with a win at the Etihad on Saturday evening.
However, it just so happens they find themselves up against perhaps their only bogey side of the Guardiola era in Tottenham Hotspur. City have won just five of their previous 12 games against this weekend’s opponents, losing on six occasions. Spurs have lost just two of their last four at the Etihad and have scored eight goals in these games.
It is going to be a slog for City to get back to winning ways but bouncing back from these situations is what is needed if you are to become champions.
Can Liverpool handle the pressure?
Liverpool have won 15 of their 17 matches across all competitions this season.
Arsenal and Nottingham Forest are the only two sides to have taken points off of the league leaders. Mikel Arteta’s team played out a 2-2 draw with the Reds at the Emirates while Nottingham Forest picked up a surprise win at Anfield in September.
The 2019/20 Premier League champions weren’t title favourites ahead of the campaign but their ruthlessness this term has given them a five point advantage at the summit. It isn’t necessarily theirs to lose at this point, you cannot win the title in November, but expectations are being altered now and pressure is mounting.
They will be under pressure to win this weekend when they travel to the South Coast to take on Southampton. Russell Martin’s men are currently bottom of the Premier League table with four points from their opening 11 matches. They have the worst attack in the English top-flight having scored just seven goals while only Brentford (22), Ipswich Town (22) and Wolves (27) have conceded more goals than the Saints (21).
Southampton did pick up a victory in their last home outing, beating Everton 1-0, before losing to Wolves before the international break to completely halt their momentum.
This should be a formality for Liverpool. It should be all three points. If they are to challenge for this title, it has to be. How will they handle this sort of pressure, especially after the international break and a tricky away game on the agenda?
The Amorim era kicks off
Kieran McKenna was linked with the Manchester United job in the summer. He penned a new deal with Ipswich Town ahead of their return to the Premier League and the Red Devils kept faith with Erik Ten Hag.
However, the Dutch tactician didn’t last long into the new season and has been replaced by Rúben Amorim. The former Sporting boss takes his new team to Portman Road this weekend to take on McKenna’s side.
Things could’ve been oh so different had McKenna returned to Old Trafford in the summer. Now, though, he’s got a part to play in what is set to be a new era for United.
After all, all eyes will be on this game.
How will Amorim set his new team up? Will there immediately be a new manager bounce? There is an expectation that the Red Devils will fly out of the traps, buoyed by their new manager. If Ipswich, currently just a point outside of the drop zone, can get anything from this match, Amorim will immediately be scrutinised while McKenna’s stock will further rise.
A hammer blow
Newcastle United are having the season West Ham United were supposed to be having.
The Magpies are eighth in the Premier League table but are just one point behind third-placed Chelsea. They’ve beaten high-flyers Nottingham Forest and Arsenal in the final two matches before the international break and they’ve picked up a point against Manchester City this season. Eddie Howe has shown he can turn things around, time and time again, and their faith in the former Bournemouth boss is yielding positive results now.
By comparison, West Ham United find themselves in 14th position, just five points above the drop. The Hammers had a busy summer, replacing David Moyes with Julen Lopetegui and signing a host of names. It was supposed to usher in a new era. More attack-minded players should’ve resulted in better football. This hasn’t been the case though. They’re finding goals hard to come by with 30% of their haul for the campaign arriving in their win over Ipswich Town. Without that game, the Hammers have scored nine in 10. The pressure is mounting on Lopetegui and there’s even talk he could be sacked sooner rather than later.
A performance, and a positive result, is needed at St James’ Park or the former Wolves boss could be out of a job before the festive period kicks off.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow every game from the Premier League on FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage including xG, shot maps, and player ratings. Download the free app here.