Saturday Arsenal 2-1 Man City 1.45pm This fixture comes a month after Arsenal overran City 3-0 in the Community Shield. However, seventh-placed Arsenal have failed to reach the same high notes, drawing their last two league matches and losing French striker Olivier Giroud to injury, while Aaron Ramsey is a doubt from with ankle injury. But Arsene Wenger will be more worried that his side have picked up just 26 points out of a possible 90 against the top guns. This is a must-win for Arsenal if they are going to turn around the humiliation they suffered in the hands of the top four sides last season. Jacobs 0. Seaman City come into the fixture on the back a home loss to Stoke City and will want to get going, but they could be without in-form striker Stevan Jovetic. Sergio Aguero will be expected to start his first game of the season, just like Danny Welbeck, signed from Manchester United, is expected to start for Arsenal alongside Alexis Sanchez. Even without Ramsey, Arsenal have the edge. Saturday Chelsea 1-1 Swansea 4pm Something is just not right about Diego Costa. He has proven his worth in front of goal and buried the ghosts of Mateja Kezman, Adrian Mutu, Demba Ba and Fernando Torres. Four goals in the first three games have seen Costa bad the August player of the month gong, but his injury woes are not about to end. On Monday, he pulled out of Spain’s Euro qualifier and is a doubt. In Costa’s absence, who will shoulder the scoring burden considering that Andre Schurrle and Didier Drogba are also nursing injuries? The same thought we are having could also be with Swansea manager Gary Monk, the manager of the month of August. His Swansea side are also the only other with maximum points, but unlike Chelsea, the Swans have come through some tough games, including the opening day victory at Old Trafford. If Costa fails to recover in time, French striker Loic Remy, a new arrival from local Queens Park Rangers, could make his debut. Saturday Palace 3-0 Burnley 4pm Bottom of the table clash. Palace manager Neil Warnock will want to end the bad runs and how better to start it than against a relegation candidate Burnley? Palace fought tooth and boots for a draw in the six-goal thriller at St James Park ten days ago and will want to pick on that fight to beat Burnley, the only other team whose stats reads: LLD. But Burnley, too, have some confidence after holding Manchester United in their last outing. Still, Crystal Palace have the shouts. Saturday Southampton 2-0 Newcastle 4pm The closest Newcastle have come to winning their first match of the season, they blew it at the death. And, unless Allan Pardew’s side have buried the hard luck that saw the 3-all draw with Crystal Palace, St Mary’s Stadium will not be the place to just walk in and out with all three points. A draw will be such a big relief for Pardew, who risks coming under pressure again this season. The Saints, though, opened their account on the third try, beating West Ham United 3-1 away and will want this derby to start a run of fine form. Saturday Stoke City 3-1 Leicester 4pm Leicester City are still looking for their first win in top flight after starting the season facing only the big guns. This should be their first ‘easiest’ fixture, but then again, nothing is easy in the top flight. Not even the hard-fought 1-all draw at home to Arsenal will be compelling enough to say they will make Mark Hughe’s side sweat it out. Stoke City, meanwhile, come into the fixture fired up after holding off champions Manchester City at Etihad. The question is, can Stoke score more than a goal in a game? This is their first chance to prove it. Saturday Sunderland 2-3 Spurs 4pm Mauricio Pochetino started his Spurs tenure on a high, winning two in two before Liverpool came knocking. That run ended as the Kop opened Spurs up at White Hart Lane. But Pochetino will consider the 3-0 loss as one of those against the big guns. Excusable. He will probably not be thinking about dropping a point at Sunderland, a team that needed a miracle to survive relegation last season but appears to have lost that mojo already. Struggling Black Cats need some exorcism to beat Spurs at home. Saturday West Brom 1-2 Everton 4pm Strange but true: Everton are yet to win a game. Their stat, like for their familiar foes today, reads: LLD. The Marseysiders also have the worst defensive record so far, having let in 10 goals in three games. Although their strikers are finding the back of the net, the defenders are not doing any favours. They will need the shore the defence because Naismith, Lukaku and Eto’o will not stop scoring goals so soon. The Toffees should get up running at The Hawthorns. Saturday Liverpool 3-0 Aston Villa 6.30pm Daniel Sturridge is out and Mario Balotelli, apparently, has shaken off a bug and will be ready for his Anfield debut. In this fixture, last season, Brendan Rodgers went out as if experimenting. He started Steven Gerrard in deep holding role alongside slow midfielder Lucas Leiva. Liverpool paid the price as Villa ran out 2-0 up. The Kop had to reshuffle their set up in the second half to force a draw. Guess Rodgers learnt his lesson and will field a strong side. However, Henderson is a doubt and Emre Can is out injured. Should Raheem Sterling maintain the form he has been in, then the absence of SAS will not daunt Liverpool. Sunday Man United 2-1 QPR 5pm Manchester United face QPR with manager Louis van Gaal looking to accommodate a squad that includes strikers Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and new loan signing Radamel Falcao. There is already an air of mystery at Carrington, with only Wayne Rooney assured of his starting place by virtue of wearing the armband. Dutch striker Van Persie, who is the likely man to lose his place to Falcao, is confident Van Gaal will find the right blend to reignite a disjointed United side that have claimed two points from their first three matches. Angel Di Maria’s arrival also means Juan Mata will have the same problem that forced him out of Chelsea as he will likely be a second choice playmaker henceforth. Barring the strange 3-5-2 system that Van Gaal has persisted with despite fetching negative returns, United should brush aside the emotional return of former defensive linchpin Rio Ferdinand in the QPR shirt. QPR bad boy Joey Barton believes the United side are very beatable and he will be eager to prove his words by exploiting the midfield Van Gaal will line up that could include new signings Blind, Herrera and Di Maria. Marcos Rojo finally got his work permit and could get his debut in leftback, meaning United will only struggle to fill the righback. Regardless, we have waited long enough for United to pick up their first win. This should be it. Monday Hull City 0-2 West Ham 9pm Hull City have been placed on sale. From trying to change name to the current issues, the team continues to struggle but on the pitch, they have not been finding that many difficulties. Of the four deadline day signings, only making Mohamed Diame looks certain to start against his former employers. Abel Hernandez is doubtful as he awaits the correct work permit documentation and both Hatem Ben Arfa and Gaston Ramirez are short of full match fitness. Sam Allardyce will likely throw Alex Song straight into action after the Cameroonian ended his Barcelona cold with a switch to West Ham. Seaman is a Liverpool fan
