Premier League Week 3 Preview

Anfield is the site on Sunday for a battle between reigning Premier League champion, and current table leader, Liverpool and the league’s runner up for the past three seasons, Arsenal. Liverpool has been living dangerously, relinquishing two goal advantages in each of the past two matches before capturing wins with late heroics by Manager Arne Slot’s deep bench. Federico Chiesa provided what proved to be the winning goal in Week 1 while sixteen-year-old Rio Ngumoha grabbed the headlines with his Week 2 stoppage time winner. New signing Hugo Ekitike has scored in each of Liverpool’s victories for a Reds attack which frighteningly looks improved for a squad which led the Premier League in scoring last season. That vulnerable defense is worrisome, however, as the current club might remind Liverpool supporters of the early Jurgen Klopp years when the manager’s high-octane attack would engage in shootouts with opponents capitalizing on a flawed Red defense.

Arsenal supporters were feeling better about their attack after Viktor Gyokeres, quiet on opening weekend, found his form with two goals in Arsenal’s 5-0 romp over Leeds. Unfortunately for the Gunners, injuries to Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard have added to an early season casualty list which already included Kai Havertz. Havertz, expected to transition back to a midfield role with Gyokeres’ arrival, could be facing surgery on his knee. Saka is dealing with a hamstring injury which will keep him out for weeks. Odegaard, however, might be available for the Liverpool match as his shoulder injury appears less severe than initially feared. Cavalry will also arrive for the Gunners in the form of Eberechi Eze, the English international signed from Crystal Palace who began training with the Gunners on Monday.

While Gyokeres has already made an impact for Arsenal, Manchester United’s Benjamin Sesko has been largely inconsequential in his appearances for Manchester United. A non-impactful substitute in his first two Premier League matches, Sesko did nothing to recommend himself after getting the start in a midweek loss to fourth tier Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup. The former RB Leipzig striker seemingly melted away when the match went to penalty kicks. Sesko, a striker, dodged taking a penalty kick until ten teammates had already failed to decide the match which ultimately went in favor of a lower tier side whose supporters wave inflatable fish. Manchester United Manager Ruben Amorim has been heavily supported in this transfer window with new talents such as Sesko, Brian Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha joining the Red devils. Excuses are now running out for Amorim who has lost more than half of his Premier League matches as manager of the storied club and who seemed to have no answers after the embarrassing midweek loss to League Two Grimsby. Capturing three points from Manchester United’s visit to newly promoted Burnley this weekend seems essential for Amorim’s job security.

Vying with the Portuguese manager in the sack race is West Ham Manager Graham Potter. Unlike Amorim, however, Potter faces a more highly rated opponent this weekend when the Hammers travel to the City Ground to face Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees were the surprise team of last season as they hovered around the top four before running out of gas late in the season. The Trees still finished seventh, 22 points above West Ham. This season’s early table sees the Trees fifth after a win and a draw. The Hammers, meanwhile, have been horrendous in two early losses which continues an abysmal run with Potter in charge. The former Brighton and Chelsea manager has just six league wins in 21 tries at the helm of West Ham. Mounting frustration was evidenced in ugly fashion by a confrontation between captain Jarrod Bowen and West Ham traveling supporters after Tuesday’s Carabao Cup loss to Wolverhampton.

The struggles of Amorim and Potter sharply contrast with the success Enzo Maresca has experienced with Chelsea. There was doubt surrounding his appointment based on a short resume and fan discontent at Leicester despite the Foxes’ Championship title. Maresca, who took over the Blues in July of 2024, has returned Chelsea to the Champions League with a top four Premier League finish and won both the Europa Conference League and Club World Cup trophies in his 14 months in charge. Chelsea ownership continues to invest heavily in talent with new signings such as Joao Pedro, Estevao, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens. Alejandro Garnacho, the former Manchester United winger, has been signed this week as the Blues prepare to visit Craven Cottage for a London derby versus Fulham on Saturday. Cottagers’ manager Marco Silva has received little help to date this summer for a perilously thin roster, ownership having secured only a backup goalkeeper entering the final days of the transfer window. Despite this frustration, Silva’s men have clawed back to claim a late point in each of their first two league matches. The highly regarded Silva could eye greener pastures in his future if reinforcements do not appear at the Cottage before this window closes.

Joining Arsenal as the other London club with a perfect record is Tottenham Hotspur where new manager Thomas Frank has made the very best of first impressions by winning his first two games in charge. Bayern Munich loanee Joao Palhinha has added steel to the Spurs midfield and the club appears far more balanced in its approach under Frank. Bournemouth will visit Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday fresh off a midweek loss to Brentford in the Carabao Cup. Brentford won that match despite Manager Keith Andrews heavily rotating his Cup lineup from that which had defeated Aston Villa in league play last weekend.

The two wins in close succession using varying personnel will now present selection decisions for the new Brentford manager as he prepares to face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. After a glorious opening home win over West Ham, Sunderland came back to earth with a loss to fellow promoted side Burnley in the league last Saturday and a midweek loss to League One Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup during the week. Aston Villa, meanwhile, is one of two clubs not to have scored in the Premier League this season as Manager Unai Emery prepares to face Crystal Palace. Change is needed for a Villa club which has been hamstrung by self-inflicted problems with profit and sustainability rules. To meaningfully change the roster, Villa needs to generate funds from sales. Jacob Ramsey has already been offloaded, and a deal has been discussed for the sale of Morgan Rogers to Tottenham Hotspur. Crystal Palace is trying to quickly fill the hole created by the departure of Eberechi Eze to Arsenal. The Eagles have reportedly agreed to terms for Villareal’s Yeremy Pino, a 22-year-old winger who has appeared 15 times for the Spanish national team. Palace is expected to do further business in the waning days of the window, particularly if other players, such as Marc Guehi, leave the club in coming days.

Newcastle had largely been frustrated in its pursuit of incoming players this transfer window while desperately holding onto disgruntled Alexander Isak. The Magpies took the Premier League by surprise on Thursday by agreeing to pay top dollar for a player largely unknown to English fans. The Magpies have acquired Stuttgart forward Nick Woltemade after having bids rebuffed for Brentford’s Yoane Wissa and Wolverhampton’s Jorgen Strand Larsen. Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins was also a potential target connected with the Magpies. Instead, Newcastle lands the twenty-three-year-old Woltemade who scored 12 goals in 17 Bundesliga starts last season. It remains unclear if the Woltemade signing will soften Newcastle’s stance on Isak as the Magpies prepare for their visit to Leeds on Saturday.

Strand Larsen, meanwhile, is expected to take the pitch at Molineux Stadium for Wolverhampton’s match versus Everton on Saturday as the club refuses to part with its primary scoring option. No one knows what to expect from Manchester City as the Citizens head to the south coast for a match versus Brighton this weekend. Pep Guardiola’s men ran amok in a 4-0 defeat of Wolves in Week 1. A 2-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in Week 2 at the Etihad, however, caused many to rethink City’s prospects. Brighton, meanwhile, has yet to win in the first two weeks of the Premier League but should be in fine spirits at home following a midweek thrashing of Championship side Oxford.