Premier League: 10 things to watch this weekend

Bees sensitive to constant crossing

Brentford have scored nine goals and conceded six in their last two Premier League home games. Their faltering defense did not cost them wins against Wolves and Ipswich, but they were shown by Harry Wilson’s double in injury time on Monday night at Fulham to suggest things must improve at the back. Wilson’s goals both came from crosses. Brentford allowed Fulham to cross the ball 43 times, although Thomas Frank wasn’t too worried about it and was surprisingly relaxed that they were two goals ahead. With Ethan Pinnock and Nathan Collins he has centre-backs capable of dealing with the majority but it is a dangerous game to play. Bournemouth will have taken note of this and their excellent wingers and full-backs will likely target the space left out wide. Will lose

Kamada, the main man with Eze sidelined

The news that Eddie Nketiah is expected to remain on the sidelines after injuring his hamstring in training this week may have given Oliver Glasner less of a headache over whether to favor the 30-year-old signing million to its main striker, Jean-Philippe Mateta. But the Crystal Palace manager goes into Saturday’s crucial home game against Fulham short of firepower, with just three fit attackers to choose from. With Eberechi Eze still out with his own hamstring problem, the onus to get creative could fall on Daichi Kamada after scoring the winner in the League Cup win over Aston Villa last week. The Japanese striker – the club’s highest-paid player – has taken time to settle in London despite his time under Glasner at Eintracht Frankfurt, but appears to have found his form in the last two matches. Ed Aarons

Paquetá is in turmoil

It’s no coincidence that West Ham improved after bringing off Lucas Paquetá at half-time in their win over Manchester United two weeks ago. The Brazilian’s decline has been dramatic, but not very surprising. Paquetá, once a Manchester City target, has been accused of breaching Football Association betting rules and faces a lengthy ban. Playing in these conditions cannot be easy and the midfield has often looked unclear this season. Still, West Ham need Paquetá to play. He remains West Ham’s most creative talent and needs to step up for the visit of Everton – assuming, that is, he retains his place in Julen Lopetegui’s starting XI. Jacob Steinberg

Fernandes gives Saints a sporting chance

With each passing week, the signing of Mateus Fernandes is looking more and more profitable for Southampton, including the decision to tie him down to a five-year contract upon his arrival in August. The light-footed central midfielder who played under Rúben Amorim at Sporting distributes the ball judiciously and has an impressive motor, evidenced by his crucial role between defense and attack in Saturday’s precious victory last against Everton. “Top talent, but nowhere near ready to play for anyone else. He needs a few good years here for us first,” joked Russell Martin of the 20-year-old’s form, which will no doubt attract attention from elsewhere. Aaron Ramsdale was also outstanding in goal for Southampton last weekend. The nineteenth meets the 20th at Molineux and bottom-bottom Wolves are understandably desperate to win: their finish will need to be calm and clinical. Luc McLaughlin

Brighton look to take advantage of City’s crisis

Brighton’s record against Manchester City is not pleasant reading. It wasn’t since a 3-2 victory at the end of the 2020-21 season that they tasted victory against Pep Guardiola’s side, when Dan Burn scored to cap off a famous comeback victory after two goals ahead and end City’s winning streak in 12 away matches. Fabian Hürzeler will have his first opportunity to claim the biggest scalp in the top flight after failing to build anything in back-to-back games against Liverpool in the League Cup and Premier League. The 31-year-old will fancy his side’s chances against a City side who have suffered three successive defeats in all competitions. Brighton’s array of attacking threats should make it a testing afternoon for the visitors. EA

Will Díaz continue as central striker?

Unai Emery must hope Aston Villa learn quickly from their collapse at Tottenham last week given Liverpool’s considerable and decisive second-half improvements against Bayer Leverkusen and Brighton. Arne Slot’s deployment of Luis Díaz as a central striker against Leverkusen proved a resounding success, with the Colombian recording the first hat-trick of his Liverpool career. The decision was influenced by the absences of Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa (both likely to be absent again on Saturday), Darwin Núñez’s recent workload and Díaz’s ability to trouble Leverkusen central defender Jonathan Tah with races behind. The temptation to leave Díaz in the lead will be strong, given that the 27-year-old has scored more goals in one night than Núñez has scored all season. Andy Hunter

Van Nistelrooy prepares to bid farewell to Old Trafford

Manchester United’s match against Leicester marks the farewell of Ruud van Nistelrooy – it is the last of his four games as caretaker manager – and the start, 24 hours later, of Rúben Amorim’s tenure as their new permanent manager . Van Nistelrooy has repeatedly stated that he wants to remain under the Portuguese in some capacity, but it remains unclear how valuable a victory over Leicester would be to his continued employment at Old Trafford. A fourth league win of this difficult campaign for United would certainly help, against the visitors who arrive on 10 points, just two points and two places behind their hosts. Jamie Jackson

Burning wood to increase the heat at Howe

It seems crazy to think things can get better for Forest. They enter the weekend in third position in the table, eight places above Newcastle. One of the key factors in Forest’s success is Chris Wood’s impressive form; No one expected him to score eight goals in 10 games, but the New Zealand striker was clinical. After a slow start to his career at Forest since joining the visitors on Sunday, Nuno Espírito Santo is helping Wood flourish by consistently having wingers who know where to find the man in the middle of the box. Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi are exciting and effective, while Jota Silva and Ramón Sosa come off the bench to keep things fresh. Wood will be extremely keen to show Newcastle what happens when a team plays to their strength, having scored four goals in 35 league appearances for the club before being sold. Wood scored a hat-trick at St James’ Park last season, so he knows how to hurt them. WU

Cajuste ready to succeed Phillips

After two consecutive 4-1 home wins, Ange Postecoglou host the second worst defense in the league in north London. Kieran McKenna will need something akin to a cunning plan if Ipswich are to secure a first win of the season on Sunday. The manager will have to decide who to combine in midfield after Kalvin Phillips was dismissed in the draw against Leicester. Jens Cajuste is the obvious choice to replace the Manchester City loanee and sit alongside Sam Morsy. The Swede has started twice and made the same number of appearances off the bench in the league since arriving for the season from Napoli. Having made 71 career starts and 56 substitute outings at four clubs, he will be desperate to secure a place in the team managed by McKenna. Cajuste showed brief promise and Phillips has yet to indicate a return to his best, so this is a great opportunity for the 25-year-old to prove he can be counted on. WU

Chelsea players must step up if Palmer is out

Chelsea could have another opportunity to prove they are not Cole Palmer FC this weekend. It was Mauricio Pochettino who coined the phrase, when England’s best creative player was absent for the trip to Arsenal last April. Pochettino wanted his players to shine without Palmer, but the ploy did not work out. Chelsea were humiliated in a 5-0 defeat and will hope they fare better if Palmer is absent when Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The England international was lucky to escape serious injury after being brought down by United’s Lisandro Martínez last Sunday and has not trained fully this week. He is doubtful and Pochettino’s replacement Enzo Maresca may need Chelsea’s other attacking midfielders to take on more responsibility. Although Maresca has many options, a lot goes through Palmer. J.S.