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MANCHESTER – Arsenal’s Premier League title aspirations face an early test away at bogey team Aston Villa on Saturday, while Manchester United’s defence are set for a stiff examination at Brighton.
After a chaotic summer at Stamford Bridge and an opening defeat to Manchester City, Chelsea are looking to steady the ship and give manager Enzo Maresca his first Premier League win at Wolves.
AFP Sports looks at some of the key games of this weekend’s action.
– Arsenal seek Villa revenge –
Arsenal’s two defeats to Villa last season cost them the chance of a first league title in 20 years.
The Gunners are gearing up to again try to dethrone Manchester City but a trip to Villa Park begins a tough run of fixtures so early in the season.
Arsenal will also travel to north London rivals Tottenham and City in their opening five games.
Mikel Arteta’s men got off to a winning start at home to Wolves as Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz showed no sign of fatigue from their exertions at Euro 2024.
Arsenal need more of the same against a Villa side that also got off to an encouraging start by winning 2-1 away at West Ham.
Villa have strengthened their squad in preparation for their first Champions League campaign since the competition was the European Cup back in 1982/83.
Doubts remain over Villa’s ability to maintain a fight for the Premier League top four alongside their European commitments, but with just one game a week early in the season they are well capable of dealing an early blow to Arsenal in the title race.
– Two sides to Man Utd start –
Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Fulham on the opening night of the season could be read one of two ways.
After finishing eighth in a torrid campaign last season, Erik ten Hag’s men badly needed a winning start as a sign that a new era off the field at Old Trafford will be accompanied by an improvement on the pitch.
The fact new signing Joshua Zirkzee came off the bench to score the winner helped raise belief United have sufficiently strengthened to at least threaten the top four with defenders Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt also arriving in the transfer window.
Yet, the ease with which Fulham created chances was eerily reminiscent of how United were consistently cut open last season.
A truer test of United’s credentials come at the Amex on Saturday against a Brighton side themselves flying high after a 3-0 win at Everton.
The youngest ever manager in the Premier League Fabian Hurzeler, 31, takes charge of his first home match for the Seagulls, who have Kaoru Mitoma back fit and could hand a debut to new £40 million ($52 million) signing Georginio Rutter.
Chelsea’s expensive ‘mess’
Chelsea boss Maresca’s task of trying to foster a team spirit from what City boss Pep Guardiola described as a “double squad” has been exposed this week.
Raheem Sterling has been added to the list of star names cut out from first-team training and had his squad number handed over to Pedro Neto after the England international’s representatives communicated his displeasure at being left out of the squad for last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to City.
“I am not working with 42 players, that is something from outside. I’m working with 21 players. The other 15 or 20, they are training apart,” said Maresca this week.
“They are Chelsea players but they are not working with me. I don’t see them. It’s not a mess like it looks from outside, absolutely not.”
The Blues squad has continued to grow in the week with Joao Felix joining on a permanent deal from Atletico Madrid after spending a short spell on loan at Stamford Bridge in the 2022/23 season.
Neto could also make his full Premier League debut against his former club after leaving Wolves in a £54 million move earlier this month.
Saturday
Brighton v Man Utd
Man City v Ipswich
Crystal Palace v West Ham
Fulham v Leicester
Southampton v Nottingham Forest
Tottenham v Everton
Aston Villa v Arsenal
Sunday
Bournemouth v Newcastle
Wolves v Chelsea
Liverpool v Brentford
By Kieran Canning
AFP
English