After the first international break of the new season, the Premier League resumes this weekend, with the pick of the fixtures found in North London on Sunday afternoon.
Tottenham Hotspur host fierce rivals Arsenal aiming to improve on their mixed start to the campaign, while the Gunners look to get back to winning ways after a draw with Brighton last time out.
The round begins on Saturday afternoon at St Mary's Stadium where Southampton host Manchester United, before Brighton host Ipswich Town at Amex Stadium, Crystal Palace welcome Leicester City to Selhurst Park, and West Ham travel to Craven Cottage to face Fulham. Elsewhere, Liverpool aim to extend their perfect start at Anfield against Nottingham Forest, while leaders and defending champions Manchester City take on Brentford at the Etihad.
Saturday's evening game will be held at Villa Park where Aston Villa face Everton before a late fixture at Vitality Stadium as Bournemouth host Chelsea.
Two matches will be held on Sunday, with the North London derby preceding a match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United at Molineux.
Here are the predictions.
Saturday: Southampton v Manchester United (3.30pm kick-off UAE time)
Three defeats out of three for Southampton so far – against Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Brentford – with Russell Martin's side managing just a single goal over 270 minutes. The Saints lie second bottom of the table, clearly still adjusting after seeing 14 players arrive and 11 depart during a manic summer.
United find themselves in the bottom half of the table after consecutive losses to Brighton and Liverpool, the latter a 3-0 home battering, which has piled the early season pressure on Red Devils manager Erik ten Hag. Expect €50 million ($55.2m) Paris Saint-Germain signing Manuel Ugarte to make his United debut in place of Casemiro in midfield.
Prediction: Southampton 1 Man United 2
Brighton v Ipswich Town (6pm)
Brighton have enjoyed a flying start under new manager Fabian Hurzeler with seven points from a possible nine after a summer that saw the Seagulls splash out a net spend of more than £153m ($200.4m) in the transfer market – more than any other club. They drew 1-1 at Arsenal in the last game before the international break and are third in the table.
Ipswich sealed their first Premier League point in 22 years when they drew at home to Fulham last time out, having lost to Liverpool and Manchester City in their opening two fixtures. The Tractor Boys' net summer spend of £107m was the second most in the league and saw 10 new players brought in.
Prediction: Brighton 3 Ipswich 1
Crystal Palace v Leicester City (6pm)
With just one point from three games – a 1-1 draw at Chelsea – Palace are still to find the fluency that saw them end last season in sparkling fashion. Losing the likes of Joachim Anderson and Michael Olise were blows for manager Oliver Glasner who will be hoping the arrival of striker Eddie Nketiah from Arsenal will give the Eagles a lift.
Leicester have also managed just a single point after the opening weekend draw with Spurs was followed by successive 2-1 defeats against Fulham and Aston Villa. After the latter defeat, manager Steve Cooper insisted that he has “seen more than enough in the three performances to feel like we’re going to be OK” this season.
Prediction: Palace 2 Leicester 1
Fulham v West Ham (6pm)
Fulham in 12th take on 13th-placed West Ham in this London derby at Craven Cottage. The Cottagers are a point ahead after beating Leicester and drawing with Ipswich in their previous two games and will be looking for Adama Traore to maintain the exciting form he showed against the Tractor Boys.
It's been a mixed bag so far for West Ham and new manager Julen Lopetegui after starting the campaign with a narrow defeat to Villa, followed by the fine win at Palace before coming up against a rampant Erling Haaland and Manchester City last time out. An injury during the break to big German striker Niclas Fullkrug, signed in the summer, is a blow for the Hammers.
Prediction: Fulham 1 West Ham 1
Liverpool v Nottingham Forest (6pm)
One of only two teams left enjoying a 100 per cent record – Manchester City being the other – new Liverpool manager Arne Slot should be delighted with his team's start, having scored seven and conceded none from three matches. Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah already has three goals and three assists in the bag.
Forest are unbeaten after drawing two and winning one so far, with the deadline-day arrival of James Ward-Prowse and his dead-ball skills – on loan from West Ham – giving their midfield options a boost. Nuno Espirito Santo's side drew 1-1 at home to Wolves last time out.
Prediction: Liverpool 2 Forest 0
Manchester City v Brentford (6pm)
Pep Guardiola's reigning champions have come flying out of the blocks with three wins taking them to the top of the table, the last of which was a 3-1 victory at West Ham that saw Haaland score yet another City hat-trick. The Norwegian striker has seven goals already this campaign.
Brentford have two wins sandwiching a defeat from their three games, all played without star striker Ivan Toney who was sold to Saudi side Al Ahli on deadline day. A double from Bryan Mbuemo helped the Bees beat Southampton 3-1 last time out as the team continue to settle into life without Toney.
Prediction: Man City 3 Brentford 0
Aston Villa v Everton (8.30pm)
Both of Villa's wins so far – 2-1 against West Ham and Leicester – have seen Jhon Duran come off the bench to score the vital second goal, while their England striker Ollie Watkins has now gone seven top-flight games without scoring. Villa's other match saw them lose 2-0 at home to Arsenal.
Everton's start can safely be described as “dismal” with Sean Dyche's side bottom of the league without a point while conceding 10 goals along the way. The Merseysiders were 2-0 up in the 86th minute at home to Bournemouth only to lose 3-2. “It is the third game we have thrown away this season,” said Dyche after the match.
Prediction: Villa 4 Everton 1
Bournemouth v Chelsea (11pm)
Buoyed by their sensational last-gasp comeback win against Everton, after drawing their first two games, Bournemouth will be looking to maintain their rise up the table. Goals from Antoine Semenyo, captain Lewis Cook and Luis Sinisterra in nine chaotic minutes sealed the victory at Goodison Park.
Chelsea failed to build on their 6-2 thrashing of Wolves by being held to a 1-1 home draw by Palace before the break, despite Nicolas Jackson putting the Blues in front. New manager Enzo Maresca's focus is now solely on the pitch after seeing 13 players arrive and 37 leave (permanently and on loan) in another transient summer at Stamford Bridge.
Prediction: Bournemouth 2 Chelsea 2
Sunday: Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal (5pm)
Spurs sit mid-table after one draw, one win and one defeat so far going into this North London derby. A lack of ruthlessness up front meant they lost 2-1 at Newcastle after enjoying 66 per cent possession and having 20 attempts on goal. “It's three good performances but not the results that reflect that,” said manager Ange Postecoglou at St James' Park.
Arsenal lost their perfect start when they drew at home to Brighton, which saw Declan Rice sent off meaning the England midfielder is banned for this game. And their midfield looks set to have been weakened further with captain Martin Odergaard picking up an ankle injury playing for Norway.
Prediction: Spurs 2 Arsenal 2
Wolves v Newcastle (7.30pm)
Wolves have one point, following the opening defeats to Arsenal and Chelsea with a battling draw at Forest that saw Jean-Ricner Bellegarde score for Gary O'Neil's side. This is the start of a tough run for Wolves who face Villa, Liverpool, Brentford, Manchester City and Brighton in their next few games.
Newcastle are unbeaten on seven points despite unconvincing performances following a summer of discontent on Tyneside. Manager Eddie Howe admitted he was delighted to see the back of a “turbulent” transfer window: “That's shut now, so hopefully we can just concentrate on the football."
Prediction: Wolves 1 Newcastle 2
