Ten KEY questions for Matchweek 10's fixtures

Can Man Utd build on dramatic European win when they host Villa?

A stunning comeback from 2-0 down at home to Roma in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening could be the electrifying win Manchester United need to kickstart their season.

Matheus Cunha’s dramatic late winner was certainly one of the great Old Trafford moments in recent times.

Michael Carrick will be desperate to ensure his side bottle that feeling and ride the momentum into Sunday’s headline game – which might not be as tricky as it looks.

Aston Villa supporters dread this fixture. Man Utd have lost just two of their 31 Premier League games against Villa at Old Trafford. A pair of 1-0 wins for the away side – in 2009/10 and 2021/22 – are the only two times in Premier League history that Villa have emerged with three points.

In all competitions, both home and away, Villa have won four of the last 55 meetings, stretching all the way back to August 1995 when the infamous 3-1 win for Villa prompted the former Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen to famously declare "you’ll never win anything with kids".

Man Utd used that line as inspiration, lifting the title that season. Unai Emery would dismiss any talk of a curse, though. His team won the meeting at Villa Park 2-1 last December, after all, while Man Utd are winless in their last seven Premier League games.

However, history suggests this fixture could provide the perfect opportunity for Man Utd to start building some momentum.

Will Forest finally find their cutting edge as they face Man City?

On paper, playing the club currently sat 19th in the Premier League table looks like an ideal occasion for Manchester City to bounce back from consecutive league defeats. But there is more to this fixture, and to Nottingham Forest, than meets the eye.

Opta’s "expected points" table, which orders the Premier League based on Expected Goals (xG) for and against, has Forest all the way up in third, a remarkable 16 places higher than the real table.

Their 15.6 expected points, instead of their actual points tally of six, is based on an xG of 14.3 (10.3 higher than their actual four goals scored) and an xG against of 9.3, which is the second-best record in the Premier League behind Arsenal.

Under-performance of this magnitude tells us Forest have been unlucky and results should soon improve – perhaps as soon as this weekend.

Oliver Glasner typically coaches a style of football founded on getting bodies behind the ball and counter-attacking quickly once possession is won, a tactical approach best suited to facing possession-heavy managers, who will hog the ball and leave space in behind.

Enzo Maresca is exactly that kind of coach, which explains why Glasner led his former side Crystal Palace to three draws in four league matches against Chelsea when they were managed by Maresca. Palace averaged just 37% possession across those fixtures.

Forest, then, are a potential banana skin for Man City, especially if confidence has dipped following those back-to-back defeats to Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Judging by those xG numbers, Forest just need one big win to kickstart the Glasner era. Saturday could be the day.

Will Sunderland's physicality cause Chelsea problems?

Like Forest, Sunderland’s start to the season isn’t as bad as the league table suggests.

If you compare their results this season to the corresponding fixtures in 2025/26 (excluding promoted clubs), when Sunderland finished seventh, Regis Le Bris’ side are actually two points better off, having won just two points from the same seven matches last year.

As for this weekend’s fixture, Sunderland beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Stadium of Light in May to clinch European football.

If we consider Sunderland to be at about the same level as last season, then Chelsea ought to fear the physicality in their central midfield, especially after Xabi Alonso’s side were roughed up in the middle of the park in the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The Spurs midfielders made 16 recoveries to the Chelsea midfielders’ three.

Chelsea have won three of their last four Premier League matches, but it is clear they are still in transition under Alonso, with performances fluctuating as much as their formation and team selection.

Sunday’s game is a significant test of the progress Chelsea are making — and of Sunderland’s ability to hold steady to their principles in the face of narrative-changing defeats.

Can Palace upset the odds and trouble Liverpool again?

Palace have lost their last three Premier League games by an aggregate score of 9-0 and have plummeted into the bottom three. Pierre Sage could do with a big scalp to halt the decline.

The visit of Liverpool could be just the opportunity they need. Liverpool’s title hopes took a major hit in the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal last weekend, and they lost in the Champions League for the first time this season on Wednesday night, 3-2 at Fenerbahce. If those results have affected their confidence then a trip to Selhurst Park comes at a bad time.

Liverpool have won just three of their last eight Premier League matches against Palace, scoring only nine goals in those eight games, and although all of those were against a Glasner-managed Eagles, Sage uses similar tactical principles.

Then again, Palace are leaking goals, conceding more (21) than anyone else in the division. That is hardly good preparation for facing Liverpool’s new-look front four, who will fancy their chances of scoring against that defence.

Can Leeds get back on track against resurgent Spurs?

Ever since Daniel Farke changed to a back three at half-time against Chelsea in December 2025, turning the game around, Leeds United have been consistently excellent, losing just seven of their subsequent 34 games.

But that form is in danger of finally fading, almost a year after it started.

Leeds are winless in their last five Premier League games, drawing three and after a 2-0 loss to AFC Bournemouth last time out, they could be about to lose back-to-back league matches for the first time since March.

It’s easy enough to isolate the problem. Since beating Newcastle United 4-1 in September, their most recent win, Leeds have scored the joint fewest goals (two) and amassed the second-lowest xG (4.96).

Leeds need to start scoring again, which makes this a pretty unfortunate time to be facing a rejuvenated Spurs side who have won each of their last three in the Premier League, keeping clean sheets in their last two.

A win for the hosts won’t come easy. But pull it off and it could be the most significant of the Farke era since that 3-1 win against Chelsea almost a year ago.

Could Hull cause a major shock away at Arsenal?

All of the statistics point towards a home win for the champions.

Arsenal have won 18 of their last 19 Premier League games against promoted sides. They have won each of their last seven home league matches, while Hull City are winless since their second game of the season, back in August.

But the Premier League is capable of throwing up huge surprises, and after Arsenal enjoyed the high of beating Liverpool at Anfield last weekend it would be in keeping with the unpredictability of this league if Hull were to somehow pull off a shock result.

Is it really so unlikely? It’s noteworthy that Hull’s declining form has coincided with a run against clubs outside the "Big Six", whereas they beat Man Utd 2-0 at the beginning of the campaign and drew 2-2 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge more recently.

A defensive performance, and the free hit of fearlessly travelling to the Emirates, could well inspire something special.

Will a trip to Everton provide one of Coventry's toughest tests so far?

After a challenging start to the season Coventry City are certainly finding their feet, although a tough critic might argue we are yet to find out whether Frank Lampard’s side can match this level for a full campaign.

That’s because two of their three victories so far have been against Forest and Sunderland, who currently sit 19th and 20th in the Premier League. Beating Newcastle 4-1 at home could yet prove to be an anomaly, especially since that result was in the middle of a sequence of five defeats from seven for the Magpies.

That analysis is a tad harsh. Coventry have been impressive, scoring nine goals in their last five Premier League games, winning three of them.

Nevertheless, a difficult away trip to seventh-place Everton is a valuable test of Coventry’s longevity.

Are possession-based Fulham the perfect opponents for attack-minded Newcastle?

Matthias Jaissle hasn’t been getting the results he wants but he has already shown the Newcastle supporters what he is all about: bold attacking football.

However, so far they have arguably been a little over-zealous in their approach, as reflected in the fact they have allowed more "fast breaks" (20) than anyone else in the division. In a bid to pour bodies forward, Newcastle can leave themselves open on the counter.

That is why a visit to Craven Cottage could be just what Newcastle need.

Jaissle’s fast attacking football appears to work better when his team play a little deeper, or at least face opponents who would rather take their time in possession, thus limiting Newcastle’s exposure to counter-attacks.

For evidence of this, note that Newcastle’s two best performances of the season were also their lowest possession shares of the campaign, a 2-2 draw against Liverpool (39%) and a 2-0 victory over Spurs (43%).

Fulham are all about possession under Alvaro Arbeloa: they rank third for most 10+ open-play pass sequences per game (17.2), behind Man City (20.6) and Spurs (17.9).

Fulham’s control of the ball could work in Newcastle’s favour — and help Jaissle get results back on track.

Can Bournemouth beat Ipswich and improve their record against promoted teams?

Bournemouth’s incredible run, including three consecutive Premier League wins to nil, has swept away a tough start under Marco Rose and put the Cherries in contention for another season of European qualification.

Few would have thought it possible to outdo their sixth-place finish under Andoni Iraola last season, but there is one area Bournemouth can clearly improve from 2025/26.

The Cherries didn’t win any of their six Premier League games against promoted sides last season. That is a striking record, because if they had won just two of those matches, they would have finished fifth, qualifying for the Champions League.

This weekend’s visit to Ipswich Town is Bournemouth’s first game against a promoted side this season. Victory would tell us if Rose can, against the odds, improve on Iraola's work.

Can Brentford's backline keep out Brighton's prolific attack?

Brentford seem to be full of contradictions. Keith Andrews’ side have lost just one of their last 11 Premier League games (W3 D7) but they haven’t won back-to-back games since February. They are sixth in the table, but they have won just two of their last eight in the Premier League.

In other words, the shape of Brentford’s season is yet to reveal itself.

Having ended a four-game winless run in all competitions with a 2-0 victory against Forest last weekend, Brentford are now seeking a second successive win for the first time in nine months.

Brighton remain one of the most in-form teams in the country and continue to score freely.

How Brentford’s defence fares against Fabian Hurzeler's side may offer us important clues about whether or not the Bees can go one step further this year and qualify for Europe.