• Havertz has Arteta’s confidence and is likely to continue the hunt for goals even though the club is considering bringing in a recognised No9.
• Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee enjoyed a perfect debut last weekend, scoring the winning goal against Fulham. He has earned his place.
Image: FILE
Unai Emery spent much of the week working with Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana, who will battle Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and, maybe, Declan Rice in Saturday’s encounter.
Controlling the centre of the field in this one is vital. Two of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League are in fine form with Emiliano Martinez showing us why many consider him the best in the world.
Home advantage at Villa Park cannot be underestimated and will give Emery an upper hand. However, Mikel Arteta thinks this is the best Arsenal team in many years and expects to lift the Premier League title this season.
Bukayo Saka, despite being tired from the Euros, has returned with his amazing skills and energy. Upfront, Arsenal fans are still divided on who starts between Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
Havertz has Arteta’s confidence and is likely to continue the hunt for goals even though the club is considering bringing in a recognised No9.
Tottenham V Everton
Ange Postecoglou will likely play against Everton with his line-up from Saturday’s game at Leicester City.
Newly signed striker Dominic Solanke was less than effective and even Son Heung-Min was not his usual lethal self. Richarlison came on as a substitute but contributed little and James Maddison did not hurt his old employers.
It was left to Dejan Kulusevski to come off the bench and take the game to Leicester, winning balls in midfield and helping in defence but still striving forward when the chance presented itself.
He was the outstanding player in pre-season matches and Tottenham are certainly a better team with him on the pitch. It is easy to see how the coach could bring him back into the starting line-up for this match.
Everton coach Sean Dyche has plenty of problems after a 3-0 beating at home to Brighton.
Ashley Young is not available after being sent off. Jack Harrison is Everton’s best player at the moment and defender Michael Keane is back on form.
The two will start. Jarrad Branthwaite could well be crossing Stanley Park to Liverpool FC according to bookmakers, who have cut the odds of him going to 2-1 although I cannot find any evidence for this.
Man City V Ipswich Town
It is difficult to see City losing this one but Ipswich will have learned valuable lessons from their opening day loss to Liverpool. Fitness is key and teams do not come any fitter than City.
Ipswich did well by taking the game to Liverpool last weekend but got tired in the second half. If that happens against City, they will be punished. Erling Haaland says he is in the best shape for years and anticipates scoring regularly.
Axel Tuanzebe, Luke Woolfenden, Jacob Greaves and Leif Davis will be stretched to contain him. Jeremy Doku and Savinho will test the two full-backs, who did well against Liverpool.
Pep Guardiola will likely retain Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji in the centre of the backline which will be difficult for Town’s new strikers, Liam Delap and Amando Broja (from Chelsea) — who could play from the bench.
Liverpool V Brentford
Life goes on successfully at Brentford and will do after Ivan Toney leaves, possibly for Saudi Arabia. He was left out of the squad against Crystal Palace which gave Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa a chance to step up as they previously did when Toney was banned for eight months.
However, facing Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Jarell Quanash and Trent Alexander-Arnold is quite different. Brentford have started well but their defence of Mads Roerslev, Nathan Collins, Ethan Pinnock and Kristoffer Ajer will have a difficult afternoon in front of the Kop.
In form Mo Salah — man of the match against Ipswich — will link up with the energetic Luis Diaz, Dominik Szoboszlai and either Diogo Jota or Darwin Nunez.
Wolves V Chelsea
This is a big chance for Wolves — who lost 2-0 to Arsenal in the opening weekend.
Chelsea are in disarray with dressing room unrest, too many players in their squad and a team struggling to get to grips with new coach Enzo Maresca’s style of play.
With Cole Palmer out on the wing, which limits his involvement, Enzo Fernandes blowing hot and cold, and Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson proving no match for City’s defence, the Wolves backline is confident they will easily stop the Blues from scoring.
Coach Gary O’Neill has promised big things from Wolves this season even without big household names. This Wolves squad is organised and trained. Defenders Toti Gomes and Mosquero are confident.
Jorgen Strand Larseon, Rodrigo Gomes, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Hee-Chan Hwang will threaten the fragile Chelsea defence. With so many players arriving at Stamford Bridge, Maresca will not name his line-up until the weekend…he possibly doesn’t know how to spell all their names yet for the teamsheet!
Brighton V Man United
Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee enjoyed a perfect debut last weekend, scoring the winning goal against Fulham. He has earned his place.
Leny Yoro cannot play due to injury but Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt could start with Harry Maguire, who has been excellent recently, dropping to the bench.
Mason Mount is being given every chance to show what he can do and Marcus Rashford and Casemiro were used last weekend. The Brazilian could make way for incoming players this weekend.
Brighton were surprise 3-0 winners at Everton and although United are a different proposition, the Toffees confidence is sky high. The Seagulls are flying.
Danny Welbeck is showing he not yet over the hill and Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh out on the wings will give Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot plenty to do. The evergreen James Milner brings experience, respect, quality and leadership to the Brighton team. He is an inspired buy.