Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, on Sunday, desperately needs a reversal in the club’s Premier League fortunes against an Aston Villa team on a high after beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City will all be confident of three points heading into the international break, with last season’s top three setting the pace once more.
A the bottom, all three promoted sides are yet to register a win, with Ipswich hoping to pile more pressure on new West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui.
Aston Villa relived their greatest-ever night on Wednesday as Jhon Duran fired them to a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich – a repeat of the result in the 1982 European Cup final.
By contrast, United are going through another severe slump in their 11-year spiral since last becoming English champions.
Champions League: Lille beat Real Madrid as Aston Villa stun Bayern
The Red Devils sit 13th, having won just two of their opening six league games of the season, to put Ten Hag’s future firmly in the spotlight once again.
The Dutchman survived an internal review after an eighth-placed finish last season – United’s lowest in the Premier League era.
Hopes that an FA Cup win and another transfer splurge would lead to better things have so far proved misplaced as United have been schooled at home by Liverpool and Tottenham.
On Thursday, Ten Hag needed an injury-time goal from Harry Maguire to salvage a 3-3 draw with Porto in the Europa League.
Villa’s resurgence under Unai Emery began with a 3-1 win over United in the Spaniard’s first match in charge in November 2022.
Ten Hag can ill afford a repeat, which would leave his superiors with two weeks to stew over whether the time has come for a managerial change at Old Trafford.
West Ham are another club yet to show results from a heavy recruitment drive during the summer transfer window.
The Hammers brought in German international striker Niclas Fuellkrug, last season’s Championship player of the year Crysencio Summerville, and experienced Premier League defenders Max Kilman and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
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But they have lost their opening three home league games of the season for the first time in the club’s history, putting Lopetegui under pressure just months into his reign.
The Spaniard has admittedly had a tough run of fixtures, with Villa, Manchester City, and Chelsea the three sides to win at the London Stadium this season, AFP reported.
But those excuses end on Saturday when newly promoted Ipswich are the visitors, looking to turn positive performances into a first Premier League win for 22 years.
Since losing to Liverpool and City in a baptism of fire, Kieran McKenna’s men have drawn four games.
Liverpool can open up a four-point lead at the top, for a few hours at least, when they travel to winless Crystal Palace for Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.
Arsenal and City begin the weekend just one point back.
The Gunners are strong favourites to beat winless Southampton at the Emirates Stadium, but City face a tough test against Fulham, who sit sixth after just one defeat in their opening six games.
Below are Premier League fixtures scheduled for the weekend:
Saturday
Crystal Palace v Liverpool
Arsenal v Southampton
Brentford v Wolves
Leicester v Bournemouth
Man City v Fulham
West Ham v Ipswich
Everton v Newcastle
Sunday
Aston Villa v Man United
Chelsea v Nottingham Forest
Brighton v Tottenham
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