RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Five Premier League games to watch this weekend
The Premier League returns this weekend as Arsenal look to get their title defence off to a perfect start, Manchester City look to right last weekend’s wrongs, and Hull face a stern test on their top-flight return.
1. Arsenal v Coventry City
As mentioned, Arsenal will be looking to retain their Premier League title this season, and they are well placed to kick off the season with a win as they host last season’s Championship winners, Coventry City.
The Gunners cruised past Manchester City in Cardiff this past weekend to lift the Community Shield. Free-flowing counters allowed Mikel Arteta’s side to hit City with devastating breaks throughout the match and ease to a comfortable win. Riccardo Calafiori opened the scoring after just 25 seconds, before Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard netted either side of the break.
Coventry romped to the Championship title last year, winning promotion back to the top flight with three games to spare. A busy Summer at the CBS Arena has seen Frank Lampard look to strengthen his side ahead of their first Premier League season since 2000/01. The headline signing has arguably been Caleb Yirenkyi, who arrives after an impressive World Cup with Ghana.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 8pm BST on Friday evening, and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
2. Hull v Manchester United
In May, Hull City became the first side in 16 years to win promotion to the Premier League after finishing sixth in the regular season, thanks to their last-gasp promotion-winning goal from Oli McBurnie in the play-off final. Whilst that is a remarkable achievement, the Tigers drastically overperformed to even reach the play-offs last season, let alone win them, and a lack of real quality or Premier League experience is noticeable throughout the squad as well as their transfer business this Summer. Of the 11 signings Hull have made this Summer, just Matt Targett, Joe Gelhardt and Jack Butland have ever made a Premier League appearance. Simply, survival is the aim for Hull this term, but that is something they have not done since 2013/14, when they finished four points above the drop.
Meanwhile, Manchester United enjoyed a superb second half of last season under Michael Carrick, which saw a resurgence from the Red Devils to ensure they brought Champions League football back to Old Trafford for the first time since the 2023/24 season, where they rather embarrassingly finished bottom of their group behind Bayern Munich, FC København and Galatasaray. Carrick’s side will be hoping for a much stronger performance in the competition this time around, perhaps one reminiscent of his playing days.
In the league, however, United will likely fancy themselves to finish in the top four and potentially even flirt with the title picture as they look to bring the glory days back to the red side of Manchester.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 12:30pm BST on Saturday afternoon, and will be broadcast live on TNT Sports.
3. Manchester City v Bournemouth
Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City reign got off to a false start this past weekend, when his side were dismantled by Arsenal at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. However, a home game to kick off the season could be exactly what is required to right those wrongs and get his side up and running with three points. Key players such as Erling Haaland, Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guéhi, Rayan Cherkí and Elliot Anderson could see their minutes managed this weekend, having not been present for the vast majority of pre-season due to their World Cup exploits; however, all four did feature in some capacity in the Community Shield, and will be expecting to do so again this time out.
There’s also a new gaffer in town for Bournemouth, with Marco Rose replacing Andoni Iraola, who has joined Liverpool. Rose comes to The Vitality Stadium off the back of a two-and-a-half-year stint with RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, which saw them secure two top-four finishes, only coming up short on the title by five points in 2023. The Cherries somewhat overperformed last season, registering their best-ever finish as a club by coming 6th in the Premier League and securing Europa League football for the first time in their history. Rose will of course have a tough job on his hands to repeat that feat, but with young and exciting talents such as Kroupi Jr. and Rayan on the books, there’s no reason why Bournemouth can’t do well once again.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 2pm BST on Sunday afternoon, and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
4. Newcastle United v Liverpool
A common theme of new managers continues, with Iraola and Matthias Jaissle going head to head at St.James’ Park come Sunday afternoon. Iraola will be taking charge of his first competitive Liverpool game following a mixed bag in pre-season that was rounded off with the side’s 2-0 win over Como on Sunday at Anfield. However, losses to AS Monaco and Leeds United will have potentially caused some concern amongst fans as to what sort of Liverpool side will show up this season.
Meanwhile, the Magpies have only registered one pre-season win, which came against Valencia earlier this month, after Eddie Howe departed following a shock 4-1 defeat to Championship side Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Since that win, they have lost to Everton and Bayer Leverkusen as well as only managing a 1-1 draw and a penalty defeat to Strasbourg in their final friendly.
This is a game that could go either way, and is a complete unknown, which should make for an entertaining clash in the North East. Kick-off is scheduled for 4:30pm BST on Sunday, and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
5. Fulham v Chelsea
Monday Night Football returns with the West London Derby in three days’ time, as Fulham welcome Chelsea to Craven Cottage. Once again, both sides are under new management, with Fulham appointing Álvaro Arbeloa following Marco Silva’s exit and The Blues hiring Xabi Alonso. Both ha...
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