Big Weekend Preview: Liverpool v Man United Showdown, Villa’s Form, Gyokeres, Der Klassiker and Postecoglou
The Premier League has returned! Congratulations to all of you; you made it through another international break. And before the next one arrives, you have about a month to indulge in delectable Barclays. We are fortunate.
While there is plenty of other exciting stuff to be found throughout the nation and even the continent, the football gods have decided to give us a special treat this weekend as Liverpool and Manchester United bring their current, very real, albeit very different crisis experiences to an Anfield matchup that can only end with at least one team in the deepest despair.
And as you can see, Ange Postecoglou is still around. Who would have guessed? Not us. After a full two weeks away, large weekends always feel a little bit bigger, but this one would be worthwhile at any time of year.
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The match everyone has been waiting for: Liverpool vs Manchester United
Regarding the fixture computer, we don’t know much. We prefer to believe that it is actually some sort of enormous piece of industrial equipment.
It is essentially Bertha in our minds. It’s most likely simply a laptop in practice, isn’t it? That is really dull. Thank you very much; we would rather imagine Bertha spitting out the fixtures.
Normally, we are aware that the fixtures computer is a cunning prick with a sharp sense of humour. We also question if it has a “post-interlull” setting of some sort.
Because as a small reward for making it through the dreary two weeks, the fixture computer always manages to give a proper huge bastard of a Super Sunday primetime game.
In September, it was the Manchester derby. The North London Derby is next month. Finally, we have the big one. El Crisico. Maximum crisis versus mini-crisis. Manchester United versus Liverpool. You’re spoiling us, Bertha.
With the exception of Manchester United and Liverpool, it has truly arrived at the perfect moment for everyone. We all win, regardless of who loses.
Either Liverpool’s mini-crisis is improved, or Manchester United loses the chance to win the Premier League for the second time in a row.
This is because the manager has publicly acknowledged that they are incapable of doing something as simple as winning two straight Premier League games. No, Sir Jim would never let that happen. However, it does exist.
Or, as is most likely the case given that Manchester United isn’t playing well and Liverpool is suddenly not very confident, neither team gets the game-changing victory they require, and the result will likely be a draw, as it has been in each of the previous two seasons.
And that really isn’t good for either of them. In summary, this game is ideal for the first weekend following the international break.
Manager to observe: Ange Postecoglou
Until it’s not, it’s him. Even if he hasn’t won, he still manages to have a job; if he can’t pull off a victory against Chelsea, he probably won’t. most likely won’t manage to pull off a victory over Chelsea.
This season’s Nottingham Forest watching has already progressed to the awkward point where you feel guilty about even looking, as if you’re prying into someone’s very private life.
It might be best for all of us to just not watch. Allow them to resolve whatever it is they are going through in a peaceful manner.
Rather, we are forcing our manager, Ange Postecoglou, to watch once more because it is incredibly exciting to watch something go horribly wrong in real time that everyone knew would go horribly wrong in the exact same way—on, if nothing else, an expedited timeline—and it is going horribly wrong.
Team to observe: Aston Villa
A previously depressing atmosphere at Villa Park has been considerably brightened by back-to-back home Premier League victories against Fulham and Burnley, along with a few nice early Europa League victories.
Villa and Forest—more on them later in the most straightforward manner possible—have provided us with nearly satirically flawless examples of how the Europa League may help or hurt a struggling team.
If you’re Aston Villa, you can watch the Europa League help you regain your winning streak, boost your confidence, and see it come through in players who are suddenly energised and view the Thursday–Sunday schedule as more of an opportunity than a chore.
Or, like Forest, you could be humiliated and embarrassed twice a week rather than once, and European competition would only serve to emphasise and exacerbate all of your current issues, which are, let’s be honest, mostly self-inflicted.
Being Villa is unquestionably preferable. So, after enjoying the break as much as any of us can due to a far more positive set of outcomes than had been the case before, it’s time to get serious.
Has Villa truly made progress, coming out of the depression that had gripped them since they lost out on Champions League football so expensively at the end of the previous season?
Or have they simply had a few home Premier League games mixed in with a few of Europa games that they may win? Both sides should learn a lot from Villa’s Sunday afternoon trip to Spurs.
Tottenham’s home record in the league is simply incredible, even if they crushed Villa 4-1 at WHL 2.0 last November in a pre-collapse match. And not in a positive manner.
Only clubs as completely outmatched as Southampton and Burnley or as completely absurd as Manchester United have failed to depart with anything at all in the 11 months since they handed Villa that thrashing; they have only won three of 17 Premier League games at their home stadium.
Spurs have only achieved four points from home games against Burnley, Bournemouth, and Wolves this season, although looking significantly less foolish than in previous years. They have also taken ten points from their four away games.
For Villa, this is a huge opportunity. There may not be a better fixture available right now for sitting in the sweet spot of a game where a win would feel like convincing proof that things have significantly improved and where a win would also be relatively easy to achieve.
Key Player to observe: Viktor Gyokeres
Gyokeres is simply unbeatable when it comes to modern football. He was a concept, not a player. The most obvious example of a player who was evaluated, weighed, and measured prior to joining Arsenal is Gyokeres.
A culture war has been declared, battle lines have been drawn, and no one is going to back down. He is either a huge failure or the last piece in the puzzle.
No other result will be taken into account or accepted, and above all, nothing he does or does not do on the pitch will change the perception that was established, solidified, and crystallised before he had even put on the shirt.
Depending on your stance, goals he does score are either completely disregarded or given far more weight than they actually deserve.
He scores the wrong goals, which is a criticism we’ve heard a little bit of already and anticipate hearing more of. In his first season, he might become the first Premier League failure to score 20 goals.
It’s a cunning ploy because, at first glance, it makes perfect sense when Troy Deeney or another loud-mouthed radio pundit claims that he must score in a “big game” or that Arsenal didn’t sign him in order to score late goals in 5-0 victories over Leeds.
But isn’t that simply guff? It would be nice to see him score in a “big game” against “top opposition” at some point. But when you really think about it, it’s a bumwash that Arsenal signed him for the express purpose of doing that and nothing else. A blatant bumwash, to be sure.
Additionally, the trip to Fulham this weekend is a prime illustration of the exact type of match in which they truly need him to have an impact.
The only reason Arsenal hasn’t won any of the previous three league titles is that they haven’t won every match against the top teams. Additionally, points lost at teams like Fulham are to blame.
Fulham hasn’t lost here this season, while Arsenal hasn’t won here in the previous two seasons. Something to keep in mind is that people who have already made up their minds will disregard Gyokeres’ winning goal from this weekend as being of the incorrect kind two weeks later.
European game to observe: Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund
In every Bundesliga season, the der Klassiker is a pivotal event, but this one already has a lot of weight.
Although it’s extremely early, it feels very accurate to suggest that this game will determine whether or not there is a chance for a real title competition in Germany this year, or just a parade of Bayern Munich.
With ten consecutive victories across all competitions and an absolutely ridiculous number of goals scored, Bayern has had an absolutely ridiculous start to the season.
In his first six Bundesliga games for the team, Luis Diaz has scored five goals, which is more than any other player in the division has this season. It’s still less than half of what Harry Kane has stolen.
Only three of the other seventeen Bundesliga teams have scored more goals than Kane, and Dortmund, with twelve, is almost on par with them.
More importantly, Dortmund has only given up four goals in their six games, or at least that is what they should hope.
Although it’s not exactly the unstoppable force colliding with an immovable object, it does provide a more difficult domestic obstacle than Bayern’s assault, which has scored three goals or more in each of its six consecutive league victories this season.
Dortmund’s victory adds interest and reduces the lead at the top of the table to one point.
A much more plausible scenario would see the champions move seven points ahead of Dortmund, at least six ahead of everyone else, and vanish from the horizon once more with another goal-filled Bayern triumph that includes a Kane penalty or three.
Football League match to observe: QPR v Millwall
It was terrible for the top-flight relegation struggle last season, but it is already proving to be a huge help for this season’s Championship promotion fight since the three teams that were promoted into the Premier League and then immediately relegated to the Championship were so miserable.
It goes without saying that relegated teams should have a significant edge when returning to the lower division.
On the pitch, where even obliterated teams will occasionally display a hint of Premier League brilliance, and off it, with your parachute payouts and all that.
The division is already unpredictable, but it is even more open than usual because none of the three teams that lost the previous season are in a position to start winning the Championship.
Though Leicester, who are third despite themselves, and Bristol City, who are in tenth place, are only two points apart, Coventry and Middlesbrough are a delightfully early Carling pair of possible Premier League returnees now setting the pace.
Between them are a number of teams attempting to return to the first division following varying lengths of absence and others aiming to savour a luscious, frothy pint of Barclays for the first time since football was created in 1992.
As QPR hosts Millwall, the highlight of Saturday’s lunchtime crop matches one team from each camp against the other in a London derby.
Going into the weekend, they are separated by just one point and two spots, and both teams have a tantalizing opportunity to gain the benefit of first move and pass this currently crowded group in and around the play-off spots.
