Five things to look forward to in the Premier League
Plenty to watch out for with the return of Premier League action. David Moyes leads West Ham for the first time, Newcastle head to Manchester United and the North London Derby.
MITCH FREELEY
The Premier League returns following the international break, with Arsenal taking on Tottenham, Manchester United welcoming Newcastle to Old Trafford and David Moyes taking charge of West Ham for the first time against Watford. Ahead of the weekend's action, we decided to break down the must-see moments.
Will North London be red?
Arguably the match of the weekend in the Premier League is the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham, the early Kick-off on Saturday at the Emirates. Arsene Wenger who admitted earlier in the week that he is open to taking on a management role at Qatar 2022. Spurs have the recent pedigree in the match winning the last encounter 2-0 in the last ever North London derby at White Hart Lane. Arsenal is currently four points behind their North London rivals and will be hoping to register their first derby win since March 2014.
Moyes starts life at West Ham
West Ham moved quickly to replace Slaven Bilic over the international break with former Sunderland boss David Moyes. With the Hammers in the relegation zone, Moyes has a tough start with his new club with an away trip to Watford. The Hornets, who recently rejected an advance from Everton for the services of their manager Marco Silva have lost their last three matches in the Premier League and will be looking to get back to winning ways.
Bournemouth in need of a home win
Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth side are currently hovering above the relegation zone after picking up ten points from their opening eleven games of the campaign. The Cherries will be taking on a Huddersfield side who have only won once away from home this season, a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace on an opening day. With only One win in five home Premier League games, Bournemouth will need to make home advantage count if they are to pull away from the drop zone.
Return of Lukaku the flat-track bully?
Romalu Lukaku became Belgium’s all-time leading scorer at the tender age of 24 during the international break. However, despite reaching the milestone, Man United’s marquee summer signing has not scored a Premier League goal since the 30th of September. United take on Newcastle in the late kick-off and Jose Mourinho will be hoping that his “untouchable” number nine will be able to find the back of the net. Second place United are already eight points behind Manchester City and will be needing the goals of Lukaku if they are to make a credible title challenge.
Rock bottom Palace targeting Everton victory
Crystal Palace takes on a struggling Everton side at home knowing that a win would vastly turn around their fortunes. The South London club are six points adrift from safety and are now looking at a run of five winnable games to get them out of trouble. Roy Hodgson's side put in a spirited performance against Tottenham, and despite losing 1-0 will be confident of getting something from an Everton side who have only picked up one win from their last five Premier League games.