(Football news) The International break is finally over and the Premier League is back with matchweek 8. Chelsea and Liverpool are joint top of the table followed by Manchester United and Manchester City at number 3 and 4.
Liverpool play Watford at Vicarage road in what will be Claudio Ranieri's first game in charge of The Hornets. Liverpool will welcome back Trent Alexander Arnold who is fully fit to start again. There are doubts over Diogo Jota who was called up by Portugal for the international break but didn't fully train with the team. The game comes too early for Thiago Alcantara who will not be available. Watford on the other hand will have Joshua King, Christian Kabasele, Francisco Sierralta and Oghenekaro Etebo. Liverpool will have a lot of tired legs with many players playing over 90 minutes in the past week of international duty. They also have an important UCL clash with Atlético Madrid on Tuesday which may force Jurgen Klopp to rest his key players. Ranieri wouldn't think of a better way to start his new job than beating the table toppers.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has a very big game to focus on as Manchester United take on Leicester City away from home. Leicester City away in itself is a tricky fixture but it is definitely the easiest fixture United will have for a while. Their next fixtures are Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham in the league and Atalanta twice in the UCL. It's make or break time for Manchester United's season and a good win at the King Power stadium will set the foundation for this tricky period. United have been handed a fresh injury with Raphael Varane set to be out for a couple of weeks in addition to Harry Maguire. Marcus Rashford is on his way back and may feature on the bench. Leicester City will be without Wilfried Ndidi, Wesley Fofana and Nampalys Mendy through injury while Jonny Evans remains a doubt. Manchester United's Portuguese duo Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo have had a very productive international break and will be hoping to carry that form into the club level.
Manchester City will host 18th placed Burnley who have had a terrible start to their season with no wins with 7 games. It's too early to say but this might be the season Sean Dyche's Burnley finally gets relegated. A point at the Etihad might shift their fortunes but at this moment in time it looks very unlikely. Ilkay Gundogan and Oleksandr Zinchenko will not be available for selection for Manchester City while Burnley will be without Maxwel Cornet and Dale Stephens while club captain Ben Mee is also a doubt.
Also read: Barcelona host Valencia to try and get their season back on track
Chelsea travel to Brentford for a tricky away fixture. Chelsea players Reece James, Romelu Lukaku, Antonio Rudiger, N'golo Kante and Christian Pulisic are all in doubt for the fixture due to injury and illness issues. Brentford defender Kristoffer Ajer's involvement is also in doubt. Brentford have already held Liverpool at home this season and will be hoping to get a result against Chelsea as well.
Tottenham Hotspur will be in the loudest stadium in Europe this weekend. Newcastle's St. James' Park will be roaring after the recent turnover in the club. A week ago, Newcastle completed a takeover from the Saudi’s who are 10 times richer than the Manchester City owners. Ever since the move was made official there has been celebrating Geordies all around Newcastle and the game against Spurs will be a festival. The situation will be a hostile one for Tottenham. Spurs will be without Steven Bergwijn while Matt Doherty and Ben Davies remain doubtful. Callum Wilson is back in training and could start the game. Jamal Lascelles and Joe Willock's involvement remains doubtful.
After a disastrous start Arsenal's season looks to be back on track now. They face their very own Patrick Veirra's team Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium. Crystal Palace are currently 14th on the league table and would be hoping for at least a point. Anything less than 3 points for Arsenal will be a failure as they are the in-form team. Granit Xhaka is the only absentee for Arsenal while Eberechi Eze and Nathan Ferguson remain long term absentees for Palace.
