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Last week we got a glimpse of how the changes made in the offseason have revamped a number of teams.
Heading into the second week of the season we have all 20 teams in action. There are some highly anticipated match-ups and here are some games to look out for.
Arsenal vs West Ham: Sunday, 5:00 am (AEST)
There is no doubt that the pressure is on early for David Moyes and West Ham. With a difficult schedule early on, they could certainly dig themselves a deep hole to survive relegation.
However, if there is any incentive for a team to turn up and give it their all, a London derby is a good place to start. Any derby never fails to surprise us.
Arsenal have been dominant over West Ham in general. In their last ten meetings, Arsenal have only lost once.
The Gunners will be hoping to reinforce their solid performance against Fulham. If they can keep another clean sheet while stringing together a couple of goals, it can be the catalyst to developing some positive habits.
With congested fixtures early on, it will be interesting to see who lines up for each team. With the likes of Alexander Lacazette and Willian looking solid up front, will Mikel Arteta continue to run with those two or will he rotate the squad and bring in players such as Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka or Eddie Nketiah?
Arsenal should be able to handle West Ham fairly easily especially at home, but don’t be surprised if the Hammers get up for this game.
Southampton vs Spurs: Sunday, 9:00 pm (AEST)
With both teams suffering a 1-0 loss, they’ll be looking to bounce back and secure three points.
The Saints have had some success against Tottenham in recent times as during their last five Premier League meetings, they have won twice and drawn once.
(Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
Southampton were coming off a hot finish having only lost one game when the 2019-20 season restarted in June. They’ll be hoping to rectify their performance against Crystal Palace and get back on track by giving Spurs more issues to deal with.
Tottenham are making moves to improve their team. With reports mentioning that the arrivals of Gareth Bale and Sergio Reguilon are imminent, those two will be key players to feature in their squad.
Should Daniel Levy complete the deals in time, it is possible they could be available for the game against Southampton. It will be on everyone’s radar to see how the Real Madrid duo does under Jose Mourinho, especially the returning Gareth Bale.
Chelsea vs Liverpool: Monday, 1:30 am (AEST)
These two teams may potentially battle for the title come season’s end and we’ll be getting an early look to see how they’ll match up.
Chelsea had a busy summer and have certainly made moves to spoil Liverpool’s plans of repeating. We saw Timo Werner and Kai Havertz make their debut last week but the intriguing aspect to Chelsea are the players that are still to come.
Missing from Brighton’s game were Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva while having Tammy Abraham, Cesar Azpilicueta and Ross Barkley on the bench. Chelsea have developed a depth which could rival the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City.
A win for Frank Lampard against the defending champions could lay the foundations for bigger things to come. Liverpool will certainly need to be on their game at Stamford Bridge.
(Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Leicester vs Burnley: Monday, 4:00 am (AEST)
Leicester will be facing a physical and scrappy Burnley team who will be excited to kick off their new season.
The Foxes will have their work cut out for them as Sean Dyche and his men certainly don’t give anything away easily. Burnley was another team that ended the season strong as they had lost only three games in their last 17, which placed them in the top half of the table.
Burnley was tied second for most clean sheets last season and they’ll be going up against one of the top goal scorers in Jamie Vardy, who had a brace last week.
These two teams both split their head to head series last season with each team winning 2-1 at their respective home grounds.
It will be interesting to see how Leicester handles the Burnley defence while the Clarets try to conjure offence in an attempt to at least get a point away from home.
Wolves vs Man City: Tuesday, 5:15 am (AEST)
One of the things you have to love about Wolves is their fearlessness no matter who they play against. They play with power and speed and always dig themselves in for a fight.
Last season, Wolves suffered nine losses. Six of those were by a margin of one goal. Additionally, Wolves were one of only two teams to defeat Man City twice in the 2019-20 Premier League season.
There was drama aplenty last season when these two teams faced. In the first game, Adama Traore scored two goals in the final ten minutes to dispatch City. Meanwhile, the second game saw Ederson sent off and Wolves scoring three goals in the second half snatch a victory 3-2.
This match-up should be a fun, free-flowing game with the potential to be a goal-fest.
Manchester City for the most part is healthy and will be looking to start their season off with a bang. But the Wolverhampton Wanderers might have other plans in mind.
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