Back in business this weekend

Kick off begins this weekend with the resumption of the Premier League after yet another international break and we have ten matches to enjoy.

The two title favourites Man City and Arsenal head the league table but look who is in third place with 10 points after five games…The Seagulls of Brighton! Fabian Hurzeler’s team are punching well above their weight sitting 3rd in the table and this weekend travel virtually the length of England to meet Sunderland who are in 14th place.

Chris Kavanagh will referee what promises to be a powder-keg match at Anfield. Liverpool face Manchester City on Sunday and, understandably, all eyes will be on this one.

The crowd will not be kind to the light blues after being found guilty of breaching financial rules.

Liverpool are one of the teams most affected by City’s dominance of the Premier League when the won the title in 2013-14 and 2018–19 and again in 2021–22 which saw Liverpool finish second.

Both United and Tottenham need a vital win

Both Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi and Manchester United’s Michael Carrick must feel that a good luck charm sits on their shoulders. Instead of the Nations League break seeing them pulled apart by the media for their club performances so far this season, the pressure was off them due to the storm surrounding Manchester City.

Now the Premier League is back and all eyes will again be on United and Tottenham at Old Trafford.

Do you remember when Jose Mourinho was the United boss and he held up three fingers in front of the crowd to remind them of his three Premier League titles as his United team lost 3-0 to Spurs. Since then, the rivalry between the two clubs has intensified and Mourinho was later in the Tottenham dugout at United when Spurs beat the Reds 6-1 in October 2020.

A year later and Spurs lost 3-0 which was the end of Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign and Antonio Conte walked through the manager’s door.

United are now 12th and Michael Carrick’s honeymoon period at Old Trafford is well and truly over. He needs results to remain in charge. Tottenham on the other hand are sitting bottom of the league after spending big during the summer. Both men therefore need results quickly if they are to quieten the growing pressure around their positions.

Players are innocent victims

After a successful Nations League campaign players such as Elliot Anderson, Marc Guehi, Erling Haaland and Nico O’Reilly, if he has recovered from injury, have to return to the Premier League and must be dreading running onto the pitch at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium. Rival supporters can be cruel and City have given the Kop all the ammunition they need to hurl abuse at the light blues after Manchester City have been found guilty of more than 100 financial-rule breaches following the Premier League investigation.

City have lodged an appeal so the case is not yet finished but the damage to the club’s reputation has already been done.

Everyone associated with City now faces the uncomfortable reality that the club’s reputation has been affected by events dating back to 2009, even though the current players cannot be held responsible for what happened behind the scenes.

Yaya Toure was lured away from Barcelona in 2010, Sergio Aguero, scorer of that fantastic goal at the end of the 2011-12 season came from Atletico Madrid, David Silva from Valencia, John Stones from Everton. None of those players should be blamed for the club’s conduct, yet the uncomfortable truth is that reputations can become collateral damage when a club is accused of systematic wrongdoing.

On Thursday the City players assembled for the first time since the international matches began and were addressed by Enzo Maresca and senior figures at the club.

A big question being discussed by millions of football supporters around the world is whether or not Pep Guardiola’s legacy will stand the test of so much criticism. He has of course now left City. Would he have won so many trophies if City had not given him huge amounts of money to buy the best players in the world? City fans will argue that the club won many trophies during the “clean” times such as their treble in 2023 and these should still remain in the club’s bulging winner’s cabinet. The club is accused of breaking rules up until 2018 and they won 15 trophies after that. Where, however, did all the money come from to set up the club with the players capable of achieving such success? Arsenal and Liverpool fans are furious that they could have won during those years but were at a disadvantage.

The players of course were in no position to know what was going on behind the scenes but they are in a terrible position, stained by association. If any of them demand a transfer now how could blame them?

Arsenal’s injury headache

Arsenal look forward to bringing back several players and will field a strong team against Leeds this Saturday lunchtime following their last match which they lost to Brighton 3-0.

Ben White who Mikel Arteta thinks will be fit to link up again with Bukayo Saka down the right side of the field, Cristhian Mosquera, Jurriën Timber, Noni Madueke and Piero Hincapie all managed some training last week. Declan Rice withdrew from the England international squad in order to manage his playing time more carefully and should be available. After watching England’s defeat to Spain he then flew to Dubai for a short holiday but he trained there whilst relaxing.

Club captain Martin Odegaard was given time to rest by Mikel Arteta after playing in every one of Norway’s four Nations League matches and despite a minor injury should be fit for Saturday. Gabriel Magalhaes and Bruno Guimaraes were also resting after a punishing Nations League schedule. Arsenal are hoping to field them against Leeds. Kai Havertz, Christos Tzolis and Ezri Konsa all returned early from their national squads due to injury problems. Havertz and Tzolis are expected to miss the game this weekend. Arteta is considering Viktor Gyokeres to replace Havertz who could be out for up to four weeks. The Swedish striker performed well in the Nations League.

William Saliba, or “Wilo” as Arteta calls him, is still doubtful after sustaining a back injury during this summer’s World Cup. He is making good progress but he is still being managed very carefully by the medical team and will not be ready for the Leeds game.

Caicedo a big loss to Alonso

It is fair to say that Moises Caicedo was the Chelsea midfielder new head coach Xabi Alonso was most excited to work with.

He was genuinely excited. The pair linked up for Chelsea’s pre-season tour and Alonso is reported to have said, “You see his quality, his heart and his mentality.”

“I know Ecuadorian players, they are different and I had heard a lot, I spoke with him on the phone but it was first contact and he’s a top, top player, for me one of the best holding midfielders in the world, no doubt.”

That was in the summer but Alonso has been disappointed not to have used Caicedo more because of his injuries and Chelsea have undoubtedly suffered from his absence. Often the team have played well because of their strong forward line but in midfield they have often been punished. Caicedo has managed only 14 minutes because of his persistent calf injury and Alonso has said publicly that he made a mistake rushing Caicedo back into the team for the match against Brighton on August 20th and he lasted only 14 minutes. He has vowed not to make the same mistake again however he is hoping to get some minutes from his star midfielder against Bournemouth this weekend.

He’s the best midfielder in the world

Jude Bellingham strengthened his claim to being one of the world’s best midfielders during England’s Nations League matches.

Bournemouth’s Alex Scott who played alongside Jude for England said, “Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. He’s even better in person, seeing it up close and being on the same pitch as him…he’s the best midfielder in the world, one of the best players in the world and a great human being.”

Bournemouth are understood to value Scott at around £80m, while Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United remain interested.

Chelsea had an offer rejected by Bournemouth during the recent summer transfer window.

Scott would be delighted to link up again at Liverpool with ex-Bournemouth manager Adoni Iraola. Chelsea believe he could be the player to replace Enzo Fernandez.

Scott has returned from the Nations League injured and could be out of Bournemouth’s team for several weeks.

Foden is lost at the moment

Phil Foden was shocked to be left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad in the Nations League matches. The midfielder had a sweetener from City when they gave Phil a new four-year contract on July 26th.

Foden is a young man in turmoil right now. Despite City’s unbeaten seven match run to put them top of the table in front of champions Arsenal, the young attacking midfielder has suffered a scoring drought. His last goal for City was way back in December 2025 against Crystal Palace. When the England manager came to watch the Man Utd versus City match last month he was sent off for a kick out at Enzo Fernandes. That was punished with a three match ban which means he is not available to play against Liverpool this weekend.

Make no mistake, Phil Foden is City through and through, rising through their academy and he proudly wears his heart on his sleeve proving week after week that he is City, City, City through and through from a little boy into manhood. City’s current legal problems have nothing to do with him but he has benefitted from the golden years of Pep Guardiola and no one at the club has won more honours but all that will be forgotten when he finally makes it back into the team and I wonder how it will affect him.

Arsenal cancel expansion plans

Tickets for Arsenal’s home matches are usually sold out weeks before a game with the Emirates Stadium hosting 60,704 fans.

Plans were drawn up to increase the capacity to nearly 80,000 but a decision not to go ahead with the expansion has been made and the club reports that it is their intention to improve current facilities for the fans. The idea is to focus on improving current hospitality, their retail operation, facilities for visitors and a better matchday enjoyment.

The Emirates is one of the Premier League’s largest club grounds behind Manchester United’s Old Trafford 74,158, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 62,850, West Ham United’s London Stadium 62,500, Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium 61,470 and

Liverpool’s Anfield 61,276.

Kovacic rumoured to be looking to leave City

Mateo Kovacic joined Manchester City during the summer of 2023. He left Real Madrid looking for more playing time however he now has the same problem with Enzo Maresca who has placed him in the rotational squad but he feels that he is again not getting enough game time.

Mateo had a meeting with the manager several months ago and said he was happy to stay at the Etihad however with his contract ending in June next year he is rumoured he is looking for a way out of City. Juventus could be a way out for the Croatian international but the Nations League 7-0 defeat to England has humiliated both Kovacic and Luka Modric who were supposed to control midfield together. Juve have not made contact with City as yet as far as I am aware.

Martinez says losing World Cup prompted Villa exit

Emiliano Martinez says Argentina’s exit from the World Cup was an important part of his decision to leave Aston Villa and move to Chelsea. He wanted a fresh start he said and Villa had signed Japan international goalkeeper Zion Suzuki to replace him.

Chelsea had concerns over Robert Sánchez’s form, and Alonso ultimately decided Martínez was the answer.

For a low fee of only £7.5million Chelsea were getting a top-class goalkeeper and Emi was in no doubt that the move was exactly what he needed.

He said, “It took a lot out of me losing a World Cup final. The pain stayed with me for a long time. I needed a fresh start at my club to get over the heartache I felt after that final.”