Are Man City or Liverpool

The fixture computer has seen fit to bless us upon this pre-interlull weekend with a veritable feast of mouthwatering fixtures to tide us over for the 13 empty days that lie ahead.

There’s a pair of Big Six clashes, one that will decide who gets to call themselves Arsenal’s theoretical title rivals for a little while longer and another, perhaps more entertainingly, will tell usw which one out of Spurs and Man United is currently the silliest of those six clubs.

Elsewhere there are relegation six-pointers to enjoy as well as the chance for signing-of-the-season Granit Xhaka to get one over his old club and give us all the chance of an actual title race.

It is in every way a Big Weekend.

Game to watch: Manchester City v Liverpool

Really does feel like it should be hyperbole to declare a meeting in early November between the only two teams to have won Premier League titles in the last eight years as must-win, but unless Sunderland have done something to halt the Arsenal express on Saturday then that is very much going to be the Super Sunday vibe.

The likelihood is that when these two kick off in the last Premier League game for 13 days they will do so nine and 10 points respectively adrift of Mikel Arteta’s runaway leaders. Whichever side remains that far adrift when the music stops at the Etihad a couple of hours later is going to be staring at a truly cavernous gap to contemplate overhauling, especially when the leaders have so perfected the art of defending that David Raya is currently making saves at the rate of approximately one per month.

It’s probably ‘must-win’ more broadly, too, because if neither of them do so they might both be screwed.

So, who’s going to win, then? It does feel like the answer ought to be Man City, with that ‘14’ in the goals conceded column for Liverpool offering little hope that the defending champions are in any kind of shape to stop Erling Haaland running all over them in his current pomp, even after the restorative and necessary nature of recent victories over Aston Villa and especially Real Madrid, whose assorted superstars were kept remarkably quiet.

Even so, it doesn’t feel too outlandish to suggest the team that’s won four of its last five in the league is probably more likely to prevail in this one than the team that’s one once in that time. Either way, it’s uncomfortably early in the season’s proceedings for these two to be facing the likely prospect of a another defeat – a fourth in City’s case or fifth in Liverpool’s – pretty much ruling them out as a serious player in this season’s title race.

Team to watch: Tottenham

Thomas Frank desperately needed something in midweek on the back of that unacceptable effort against Chelsea last weekend, and his team delivered in a freewheeling 4-0 victory over Copenhagen that featured a goal-of-the-season contender from Spurs’ leading goalscorer and at last some encouraging signs from summer arrivals Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani.

The nature of the opposition, though, means concerns remain about whether Tuesday night was a case of them and Spurs finding their feet or finding their level.

It was also a result that in any case only extended one of the more absurd home records flying around. Spurs’ last 22 European games at their own stadium have now delivered 17 wins and five draws, while their last 19 Premier League games comprise three wins, four draws and 12 defeats.

Yes, not all European opposition is particularly good but have you seen some of the Premier League teams of the last 12 months? We regret to inform you some of those are also quite cack.

Of the three teams Spurs have managed to beat across what is now an entire season’s worth of home league form, only one has been a Premier League team for the entirety of it. Southampton are no longer with us, Burnley weren’t around for the first 14 games of that run.

Manchester United are the exception after infamously contriving to lose to Spurs not once, twice or even thrice last season but in fact four times, culminating in the ultimate humiliation of managing to lose to actual real-life Spurs in an actual real-life cup final.

It is now over three years since Tottenham have lost any game against Manchester United, and over four years since losing one at home. That was a 3-0 defeat so long ago now that United’s scorers were Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford. It was also the game that brought an end to Nuno Espirito Santo’s brief and unhappy time at Spurs.

It’s still probably too early for defeat here to have a similar impact on Thomas Frank’s immediate career prospects, but it would leave him facing a deeply uncomfortable international break filled with questions and recriminations.

Player to watch: Granit Xhaka

The triumphant return of Granit Xhaka has been among the finest storylines of this Premier League season, his performances and leadership such an obviously crucial part of Sunderland’s staggering return to the top flight elevating Xhaka into the ‘signing of the season’ conversation.

Now the entire course of this season’s title race sits on his shoulders to an uncomfortable degree. Can he inspire another madness from his new team-mates, this time against some former team-mates?

Can Xhaka help Sunderland do something more improbable yet than all the other improbable antics they’ve been up to so far? Can they find a way to achieve either or both of the currently seemingly impossible tasks of stopping Arsenal at one end or managing to hurt them at the other?

Manager to watch: Daniel Farke

We don’t really quite understand this Leeds team yet. Every time we think we’ve got a decent handle on them, they turn up and play either eye-catchingly well, or so badly you wonder if they might after all be no better than two-thirds of the last promoted-and-relegated cohort.

What we do know is that Daniel Farke’s overall record in the Premier League is uncomfortably poor and that as the struggling managers at his relegation rivals have now all largely fallen by the wayside it is he who takes his turn at the head of the Sack Race and will face a deeply uncomfortable international break if Sunday afternoon’s six-pointer against Nottingham Forest doesn’t go to plan.

That plan would have felt far easier to execute and Farke’s own position less immediately uncertain were this still Ange Postecoglou’s Forest, but alas that’s not to be. Farke must instead cope with Sean Dyche’s version of the Tricky Trees, one where improvement and recovery is still tentative but also undeniable. They are at the very least now a tougher nut for the likes of Farke to crack.

Football League game to watch: Millwall v Preston

Two of the three teams currently in the top seven of a thrilling and wide-open Championship season who have never been in the top flight of English football since it was invented in 1992.

The fact last season’s bottom three were so rubbish was not great for last season’s Premier League, but the fact all three have remained quite rubbish has turned out to be an absolute boon for the Championship this season, one where all things seem possible.

European game to watch: Inter v Lazio

A non-vintage weekend of fixtures around the continent sees us land on this clash of styles from Italy, where Inter – who have scored at least eight goals more and conceded at least four goals more than any other team in Serie A’s current top six – take on a Lazio side that hasn’t conceded a goal in over a month but has managed only three of their own in that time since a 3-3 draw against Torino.

Women’s Super League game to watch: Arsenal v Chelsea

Back-to-back wins over Brighton and Leicester have got Arsenal’s WSL campaign looking distinctly less ropey than it did five games in, but they know from painful experience that they dare not let the gap to Chelsea – already five points – grow further.

In reality, anything less than victory for Arsenal probably leaves them with too much to do if the plan is still to try and reel in a side that hasn’t lost a league game since the 2023/24 season.

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