Premier League Preview: Matchweek 7/8

After an unfortunate turn of events led to the postponement of Premier League football this past weekend (regardless of your opinions on the Royal Family, we can all agree the postponement of football was indeed unfortunate), we are back this weekend with a slightly skewed but all-important weekend of Premier League fixtures.

Aston Villa vs Southampton

The first of our two Friday afternoon fixtures sees Southampton travel to Villa Park. Aston Villa experienced some sort of resurgence when they managed to take a point off of the Champions two weekends ago. However, Steven Gerrard's side is still underperforming, sitting in 17th place, having failed to keep a clean sheet in their past nine matches. Southampton has been up and down, with some big performances like their 2-1 win against Chelsea, accompanied by slightly toothless showings like their 1-0 loss to Wolves. However, Southampton have been doing well overall, with new signings like Romeo Lavia and Armel Bella-Kotchap adapting nicely, along with Southampton mainstays like skipper James Ward-Prowse and top scorer Che Adams staying in good form. Aston Villa are favourites to win this one, and again you'd say anything but a win would put Steven Gerrard in hot water, but Southampton are far from pushovers, and I'd say it's more likely that the Saints get something out of this one than they don't.

Nottingham Forest vs Fulham

In the second Friday afternoon matchup, Nottingham Forest host the second of the newly promoted sides after a disappointing 2-3 loss to Bournemouth after going up 2-0 in the first half. That loss made it three in a row for Forest, a downward slide in form they will be desperate to slow. Fulham are the opposite of an easy opponent, though, sitting in 10th place, having beaten Brighton and Brentford and keeping it close with Arsenal and Tottenham in their last four matches. In addition, while Fulham haven't been great at keeping clean sheets, Forest haven't been good at scoring goals, sitting 17th in the League in goals scored per match with 0.7. So while the odds are even for this one, Fulham are far the better team, in my opinion, and unless Forest manages to put at least two goals past Bernd Leno, I favour an away win in this one.

Wolves vs Manchester City

Wolves host Manchester City in the early kickoff on Saturday, in a match you'd expect them to struggle. Wolves rank second to last in the Premier League for goals scored per match with 0.5, while City rank first with 3.3. This struggle in front of goal for Wolves has largely been due to the lack of a fit striker, which they are attempting to remedy with the acquisition of Premier League super villain Diego Costa. Costa scored 52 goals in 89 League matches for Chelsea between 2014 and 2017, winning two League titles. However, the striker is now 33 and has seen his goalscoring form dip in recent years, so whether or not he'll be able to capture a glimpse of his ancient Premier League form with Wolves is uncertain. City bounced back from their 1-1 draw with Aston Villa by thumping Sevilla 0-4 in the Champions League, with Premier League top scorer Erling Haaland netting another two goals. It's likely to be a tough afternoon for Wolves, and fans will be hoping to see a bit more of a threat in attack even if they don't expect to get anything from the game.

Newcastle vs Bournemouth

In the lone mid-day game of Saturday, Newcastle host Bournemouth at St. James' Park, a match the home side will expect to win. Bournemouth showed character last time when they managed to come back from 2-0 down to beat Nottingham Forest away, but Newcastle is a more formidable opponent. In addition, Bournemouth are still without a manager since they sacked Scott Parker following their 9-0 defeat to Liverpool, a move that led to differing opinions. While Newcastle haven't won in the Premier League since the first game of the season, they've delivered memorable performances like their 3-3 draw with City. They have only lost to Liverpool, who got the winner in the 98th minute of a match with five minutes added on. I'd back Newcastle to get back to winning ways against Bournemouth, who haven't defended well enough this season to have a platform to get a result at a tough ground like St. James' Park.

Tottenham vs Leicester City

In the final Saturday match Tottenham host the struggling Leicester City at home. Brendan Rodgers' side looked pretty abysmal against Brighton, where they once again capitulated and conceded three late goals to lose 5-2. Tottenham away is even more difficult, as the home side rank second in the League at home and fifth in the League in goals scored per match with 2, while Leicester ranks 19th in goals conceded per match. The home side will hope they can respond well after conceding two late goals midweek in Portugal when they lost 2-0 to Sporting Lisbon. I'd expect Spurs to put this behind them and win the game, but for their sake, they need to put in a more dominant performance than they have in their other League matches this season to show they mean business.

Arsenal vs Brentford

The first of our Sunday matches should be exciting, as Brentford and Arsenal rank second and fourth in goals scored per match this season. Brentford thumped Leeds 5-2 last time, with Ivan Toney leading the way with a brilliant hat-trick. While Arsenal's winning start to the season was brought to a firm halt by Manchester United's as their solid counter-attacking play led them to a 3-1 victory. While Arsenal are the favourites, Brentford away is a tough fixture, as displayed by United's 4-0 crushing at the Brentford Community Stadium not long ago. This fixture will also bring up some bad memories for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal fans, as it was the site of their opening day defeat last season that had many fans calling for the boss's head. Arsenal will need to be on their game if they hope to get a result here, as the comparative lack of pressure on Brentford to win combined with their high tempo, goalscoring style of play could prove to be a deadly combo for Arsenal. For the neutral fan, this should be one to look forward to.

Everton vs West Ham

If the first match on Sunday should be a high-scoring affair on paper, the second should be a low scoring one, as Everton and West Ham match up on Merseyside. Everton and West Ham have scored the 17th and 19th most goals in the League this season, respectively, with both picking up four points from their opening six. Everton are yet to win a match this season but have shown significant improvement under former West Ham player Frank Lampard as they are undefeated in their last four. After losing their opening three, West Ham have also shown improvement in recent weeks, beating Aston Villa and drawing with Tottenham, before an unlucky loss to Chelsea after Jarrod Bowen's late goal was ruled out for a controversial (not) foul on Edouard Mendy. This match should gauge how these teams are progressing, and I'd expect a tightly contested affair at Goodison Park.