• United’s injured players are gradually returning and Ten Hag is only four short of a full squad — Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and Victor Lindelof.
• The combination of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz is providing a new threat for Liverpool.
Image: XINHUA
Manchester United V Tottenham Hotspur
Suddenly, things are starting to go right for Erik Ten Hag at United but over at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou’s vision for the season is proving difficult to achieve.
Fortunately, they secured a win against Brentford 3-1 last weekend to ease the pressure.
Despite that win, Postecoglou still had some hard words for his team; “We should have won by a fair bit more, but we still got the job done. You’re always keeping the opposition in the game and that has been the story of our season so far.”
Midfielder James Maddison is back in form but keeper Vicario is undoubtedly vulnerable. United strikers plan to pressure him.
Tottenham's defence is holding up well with Cristian Romero and Van de Ven commanding central defence and they will match up to United’s Joshua Zirkzee if he starts and Alejandro Garnacho.
Marcus Rashford is again in contention and Ten Hag will decide on Saturday morning who starts but he will feature at some stage in the match.
Christian Eriksen did well alongside Kobbie Mainoo but the coach might use Manuel Ugarte. Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke— who both scored against Brentford — and Son Heung-Min will start despite the captain’s lack of form.
United’s injured players are gradually returning and Ten Hag is only four short of a full squad — Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and Victor Lindelof.
Mason Mount could play and Harry Maguire and Rasmus Hojlund will be on the bench for late substitutions.
Newcastle V Manchester City
Pep Guardiola could not confirm on Thursday if Kevin De Bruyne will be fit enough for City’s visit to Newcastle.
De Bruyne limped off against Inter Milan in the Champions League and whereas he said he felt better in midweek, he did play against Arsenal.
Ilkay Gundogan took De Bruyne’s place and Phil Foden came off the bench. City will be without midfield lynchpin Rodri, who will be sorely missed.
Newcastle are under siege with infighting and chaos at the club. Arsenal and Liverpool are circling Anthony Gordon and Newcastle are about to offer him £170k-a-week to make him their highest earner.
Gordon will again play on the wing. He has scored 12 goals and made 10 assists since the start of last season, making him one of six players to have achieved double figures in both categories.
Alexander Isak is expected to be fit after suffering a toe injury against Wolves. He missed the Fulham defeat last weekend. Harvey Barnes has returned and made a good impression.
He will likely move out to the wing. 21-year-old forward William Osula, signed from Sheffield United for £10million — who is yet to make his debut — will be on the bench.
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Wolves V Liverpool
Liverpool were once defined by Mo Salah and Sadio Mane and their goalscoring is legendary.
The combination of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz is providing a new threat. Darwin Nunez has taken time to settle. He is an emotional player but is fearsome in full flight.
Diaz has that killer instinct and motivation which he converts into energy and total commitment, shooting at the goal at every opportunity, even if passing to a teammate is a better option.
Wolves sit bottom of the Premier League table with one point from five games. Manager Gary O’Neil confirmed this week that the knee injury to Yerson Mosquera is serious and it’s unlikely he feature again this season.
That is bad news for under-siege coach O’Neil and word from inside the ground is that if Wolves do not improve results, he is likely to be sacked in the coming weeks.
Losing Max Kilman and Pedro Neto in the summer weakened the Wolves. The problem is they have taken the lead in their last two games — against Newcastle and Aston Villa — but still lost.
They scored two against Chelsea, Newcastle and Brighton only to miss out on maximum points. Facing Nunez and Diaz without keeping a clean sheet since February reveals what an uphill battle the Amber and Blacks have.
Ipswich Town V Aston Villa
Villa fans are enjoying the club’s third place in the league with 12 points, one behind leaders Manchester City. Manager Unai Emery revealed this week that substitute Jhon Duran might start.
However, he has scored seven of his goals in late appearances off the bench. No player can match those stats in the Premier League. He will compete with crowd favourite Ollie Watkins for a place.
Watkins came off in the second half of the Champions League win over Young Boys of Switzerland and was nursing his ankle with an ice pack but Emery confirmed that he should be able to start.
Ipswich are proving they can live in the Premier League but still chase a first win.
Upfront, Liam Delap and George Hirst have shared pitch time as the main strikers but starter Sammie Szmodics is yet to show what he can do on a regular basis.
Captain Sam Morsey saved Town from defeat with a spectacular last-minute goal against Southampton and controls the centre alongside Kalvin Phillips — who will take a late fitness test.
The defence does need work with Leif Davis, Axel Tuanzebe and Jacob Greaves linking up across the back and combining well. But they will face a challenge to hold Watkins, who is returning to form and confidence after scoring last weekend.