All eyes on Postecoglou in the Premier League this weekend? Not quite
Mention Ange Postegoglou’s brief tenure as Nottingham Forest manager and the phrase “seeks first win” is rarely far behind. But amid the focus on whether the Australian’s eighth game in charge will finally bring a first win, it may come as some relief to Postecoglou that he will not be the only Forest figure to come under the microscope when Chelsea come calling at the City Ground this weekend.
Elliot Anderson has been firmly in the spotlight following his recent performances for club and country, attracting rave reviews and transfer speculation in roughly equal measure. Talk of Chelsea rivalling Manchester City for the Forest midfielder’s services next summer seems curious, however, what with Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia already in situ at Stamford Bridge. Having spent roughly £173m to acquire those players, why splash a further £75m – Anderson’s mooted price tag – to acquire a third defensive midfielder?
While that question is unlikely to be uppermost in Anderson’s mind come Saturday lunchtime, Chelsea’s visit will afford the opportunity to make a direct comparison between the 22-year-old and Caicedo, who has arguably been the Premier League’s most effective operator in the role so far this season.
The numbers suggest that while Anderson offers more going forward, Caicedo brings more defensively. Even that may seem surprising, given that the Chelsea man has scored three goals to Anderson’s one this season. Yet no player in the league has made more successful passes or passes into the final third than the Forest anchorman, who outstrips Caicedo for touches in the opposition box (18 to Caicedo’s three), shots inside the box (three to one) and crosses (10 to one).
Defensively, however, the Chelsea midfielder has few peers. Caicedo has made more tackles and interceptions this season than any other midfielder in Europe’s top five leagues. The 23-year-old Ecuadorian has made 28 tackles – almost a quarter of Chelsea’s total so far – to Anderson’s 21, and 18 interceptions to his Forest counterpart’s five. Caicedo also has five blocks to Anderson’s one.
More intangible but no less important has been Caicedo’s ability to stamp his authority on games. Like Ryan Gravenberch for Liverpool and Declan Rice at Arsenal, he is the man who sets the tone in the engine room; the player who reads the play, breaks up attacks, wards off danger and gives those ahead of him the platform to express themselves. If Anderson can eclipse him on Saturday, the prospect of a £75m investment might just begin to seem cheap at the price.
Will Arsenal sink or swim by the Thames on Saturday night?
On paper, Arsenal look strong favourites to emerge from this weekend with their advantage at the top of the Premier League table intact. Only Liverpool and Manchester City have taken points off Mikel Arteta’s men this term, and while Fulham have yet to lose at home this season, London away days hold few fears for the Gunners, who have lost just one of their past 18 derbies.
That sole defeat came at Craven Cottage, however, where Fulham ran out 2-1 winners in December 2023. Given that Arsenal went on to lose the title race by just two points the following May, the importance of marginal gains will not be lost on Arteta, whose side again dropped points on Thameside last term as Fulham secured a 1-1 draw. Should the pattern continue on Saturday, it will mark Arsenal’s worst run of results at Craven Cottage since the early 60s.
While it is too early to suggest the league leaders are suffering from a Craven Cottage hoodoo, a total of 14 draws proved costly for Arsenal last season. The detail-obsessed Arteta will be all too aware that, if his side are to bridge the 10-point gap that earned Liverpool the title last term, some of those stalemates must be converted into wins this time around. Fulham would be a good place to start.
Who will change the narrative when Liverpool take on Manchester United in the Premier League this weekend?
Liverpool, apparently, are teetering on the brink of crisis. They have suffered three straight losses. They have been overtaken at the top of the Premier League table by title hopefuls Arsenal. Defeat to bitter rivals Manchester United at Anfield would be the worst run of Arne Slot’s managerial career, and Liverpool’s worst in the league in four years.
The list goes on. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, signed this summer at a combined cost of £241m have yet to find their feet. Mohamed Salah, winner of the golden boot last term with 29 goals, has not found the net since the opening day of the season, while goalkeeper Alisson will not return from injury for at least a fortnight.
All things considered, then, Liverpool don’t appear to be doing too badly, given that they remain just a point off the top of the table. Crisis? What crisis? It seems to have been forgotten that before the current run – if it is even legitimate to call it current after a two-week hiatus for the latest round of internationals – Slot presided over seven straight victories. Lost in the noise too is the fact that Liverpool’s defeats to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea all came away from home. Speaking of which, as mentioned above, Arsenal travel to Craven Cottage on Saturday, where they have just taken one point from their past two visits; a continuation of that streak, combined with a Liverpool win against United on Sunday, would see the Merseyside club reclaim top spot. Whose form pattern holds the greater relevance, Liverpool’s or Arsenal’s?
Nor do the arguments against suggestions that Liverpool are in trouble stop there. It is true that, Hugo Ekitike aside, the expensive roll call of summer signings is taking longer to bed in than Slot would have hoped. But the collective pedigree of Isak, Wirtz and company is undeniable and, with Liverpool still adjusting to a new style of play, it seems inevitable things will click at some point. Given Liverpool’s position in the table, it is not a moment to which their title rivals will be looking forward. As for Salah, whose record of 19 goal involvements against United is the best of any player in the Premier League era, it seems reasonable to assume the visitors won’t be straining at the leash to renew acquaintances.
Just as the perceived sense of peril around Liverpool is largely a matter of perspective, so too you can spin it both ways with United. Nothing gets the competitive juices flowing quite like a trip down the East Lancs Road and, having left Anfield with a point in each of the past two seasons, the latest visit comes at a difficult moment for Liverpool, who last suffered four straight losses in 2014. The incentive for United to twist the knife could not be greater, and a win against Sunderland last time out, including a clean sheet for debutant goalkeeper Senne Lammens, means United will travel to Merseyside in more positive mood than they did in January, when a 2-2 draw ended a run of three straight defeats. The visitors can also draw encouragement from the knowledge that only Arsenal and Newcastle have faced fewer shots this season. The onus will be on Liverpool to create opportunities.
At the same time, history old and new is stacked against United. It has been 117 years since the club beat the reigning top-flight champions across two consecutive seasons, suggesting it could be tough to back up last season’s victory at then-title holders Manchester City. Nor can it be overlooked that the visitors last came away from Anfield with three points in 2016, and have yet to secure back-to-back victories under Ruben Amorim almost a year into his Old Trafford reign. For all Jim Ratcliffe’s talk of giving Amorim three seasons to prove his worth, negative scrutiny is only ever a defeat away, given his record so far.
For both Liverpool and United, events on the pitch will determine which of these various narratives prevails come Sunday evening.
Over to you, Callum
West Ham may have lost part of their soul when they moved from Upton Park to the London Stadium, but one thing the club has not lost is its proud tradition of bringing through domestic talent. Is Callum Marshall about to become the latest graduate of the fabled Academy of Football? The 20-year-old Northern Ireland international was a hit at Huddersfield Town last term, making the most of a season-long loan deal with a 10-goal haul that earned him the club’s player of the year award, and the striker could be poised to make a first Premier League start at home to Brentford on Monday night.
Much will hang on the fitness of Niclas Füllkrug, who is set to undergo a scan on a thigh injury that prevented him from joining up with Germany over the international break, but the auspices are encouraging for the youngster. It was Marshall that Nuno Espírito Santo, the recently appointed West Ham manager, turned to when he needed an attacking replacement at Arsenal earlier this month, leaving Callum Wilson, signed as a free agent this summer following the expiry of his Newcastle contract, on the bench. Should we conclude that he is about to give youth its head?
Nuno has described the competition between the two Callums as “a healthy fight for a position” between “two different players, two different generations”. Yet he has also spoken of the need to solve problems up front and, at 33, Wilson is perhaps not a solution for the long-term. If he gets the nod, Marshall will be ready.
“I came over from Belfast when I was 17,” he said in an interview earlier this year. “I didn’t think it was ideal being away from home, but I knew, if I want to do this, it’s a sacrifice I have to make. I’ve given it my all because I want to make it work. I don’t want to be one of those players who goes back to Belfast at 20 and feels like they wasted their chance. I’m determined to make a career for myself here.”
That process could be about to start in earnest.
Fans in the driving seat
One more thing to look out for at the London Stadium on Monday: empty seats. Hammers United, a West Ham fan group, have called on supporters to boycott the game in protest at the way the club has been run by chairman David Sullivan and executive vice-chair Baroness Brady.
“It’s more important than ever for the fans to let them know that we will never forgive, and nor will we forget, all of the damage they have done to our club,” the group said in a statement last month. “Stand together. Boycott Brentford.”
The timing is unfortunate for Nuno, who will be taking charge of his first game at the London Stadium. The Portuguese has handled the situation with trademark grace, however, expressing hope that supporters will attend the game while acknowledging the need to build bridges.
“I wish they’re all there, I wish,” he said. “I hope that all our fans could join us and help us facing Brentford, because it’s going to be very tough. It’s up to us now to give back to the fans so that they can come closer and support us.”
