Ten KEY questions for Matchweek 23's fixtures

Can Carrick’s Sir Alex-inspired tactics blow the title race open?

Manchester United’s brilliant performance in victory over Manchester City last weekend put a spanner in the works - but Arsenal will be fully aware of how quickly the narrative can change again.

After drawing 0-0 at Nottingham Forest anything less than a victory on Sunday would let Pep Guardiola’s side back in and leave pundits questioning the Gunners’ staying power.

It could happen. Arteta has lost to Michael Carrick before (3-2 at Old Trafford in December 2021 during Carrick's first stint in charge) but more importantly this is, counterintuitively, an inviting fixture for Carrick because it allows him to keep channelling that Sir Alex Ferguson energy.

Carrick’s tactical strategy for the 2-0 win in the Manchester derby centred on sitting behind the ball in a 4-4-2 formation, instructing his players to play sharp vertical passes into Bruno Fernandes and Bryan Mbeumo (to overwhelm Rodri), and then switching the ball quickly out wide to counter-attack at speed down the flanks.

Interestingly, it was the sort of football that not long ago was considered too defensive; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer coached like that and was seen as too cautious. However, that isn’t the case anymore in the post-possession age.

Possession is no longer synonymous with attacking football and sitting in a mid block is mainstream again, hence why former United captain Gary Neville can say things like this, which would have jarred just a couple of years ago:

“You’ve just watched 90 minutes of … what I think this club plays like when it’s actually at its very best,” he said on the Gary Neville Podcast on Sunday, speaking at length about the club’s attacking DNA.

“And that’s sometimes unashamedly being without the ball and just being behind the ball and saying, go on, knock us down. We’ll just counter-attack on you.”

He’s right. Ferguson often sat his team in a cautious midblock and focused on counter-attacks. That is the real basis of the “United Way” and its attacking traditions. It is also the best way to approach a swarming possession team like Arsenal.

However, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi, along with an inverting fullback - likely Jurrien Timber - will work diligently to ensure there are no midfield gaps like the ones left by a passive Man City team who asked too much of Rodri alone in the middle.

The challenge for Man Utd is much harder then but after last Saturday’s performance they cannot be written off.

Can Haaland end goal drought to get Man City back on track?

Man City haven’t won any of their last four matches in the Premier League and although one could posit multiple tactical theories for why that might be, there is a basic correlation that’s hard to ignore.

Erling Haaland has scored just one goal - a penalty against Brighton and Hove Albion - in his last eight matches in all competitions, among those games failing to score in 45 minutes of the 10-1 victory over Exeter City in the FA Cup.

His substitution at Old Trafford was a symbolic moment, though not as significant as Man City’s shock 3-1 defeat at Bodo/Glimt in the Uefa Champions League on Tuesday.

Fortunately for Haaland and Man City, bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers are one of Haaland’s favourite opponents; the Norwegian has scored more Premier League goals against them than any other team (with 10).

Man City ought to be able to win at home to the side 20th in the table and Haaland can certainly ends his goal drought. With Arsenal facing a tough game against Man Utd, the title race could feel very different by Sunday evening.

But the pretty-much disastrous scenario for City, of failing to beat Wolves and extending the winless run to five, is not out of the question.

Wolves are unbeaten in their last four Premier League games. They are quite simply in better form than Guardiola’s injury-hit side.

Can Villa avoid getting dragged into a battle for UCL spots?

The fixture computer is not Aston Villa’s friend this weekend. They could hardly have picked a worse opponent, or a worse ground to visit, to try to rebuild momentum after a stodgy performance in defeat to Everton last weekend.

Newcastle United are unbeaten in their last 17 home league games against Villa, winning the last four by an aggregate score of 13-1, plus Eddie Howe’s side are unbeaten in their last eight at St James' Park.

What’s more, Villa – who have failed to score in their last two league matches – face one of the most intense pressing sides in the division. Newcastle on home soil are precisely the kind of side to race out of the blocks and capitalise on any Villa fatigue, just as they did in the 3-0 win in this exact fixture last season.

Defeat for Unai Emery’s side could leave them as little as six points clear of the side in sixth, which is no gap at all with 15 rounds left to play.

Will West Ham build on Spurs win against high-flying Sunderland?

Callum Wilson’s late winner at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend has to be the catalyst for a run of good form.

West Ham United, still five points behind 17th-place Forest, need the end of their 10-game winless run to be a defining moment of the Nuno Espirito Santo era, not least because their next few fixtures aren’t the easiest.

After this weekend they play Chelsea (A), Burnley (A), and Man Utd (H) in their next three, a sequence that suggests West Ham really need three points at home to Sunderland.

Sunderland haven’t won away from home since the end of October. They have collected just 10 points from 11 away Premier League games in total this season, the sixth-worst record in the competition, making this, theoretically, one of the most winnable remaining fixtures in West Ham’s season.

The key player could be Crysencio Summerville, who has now scored in his last two appearances for West Ham in all competitions to end a run of 28 matches without a goal.

The left winger’s battle with Sunderland right-back Nordi Mukiele, one of the standout players in Regis Le Bris’ team, could be decisive.

Will Burnley's low block frustrate Frank's Spurs?

The 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday could be a watershed moment for Spurs and Thomas Frank. Or it could be a red herring.

Spurs’ tactical problems relate to a difficulty playing through teams, with Frank’s side struggling to find fluency in possession and only looking comfortable when allowed to counter-attack, reflecting the most common way that Frank’s Brentford played.

This is backed up by simple data analysis: in 2025/26 Spurs are averaging 1.5 points per game in which they have less than 50% possession and 1.0 points per game in which they have more than 50% possession.

That explains why 67% of Spurs’ Premier League points this season have come in away games (18/27), the highest share in the division. It is easier to control a game without the ball when visiting and harder for Spurs to justify a non-progressive style of football when playing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

This is also why Spurs have lost four of their last eight Premier League games against sides in the relegation zone (W3 D1), including the 2-1 defeat to West Ham last weekend.

Burnley will encourage Spurs to hold most of the ball, happily sitting deep to frustrate the visitors, as they did in 1-1 draw with Liverpool last time out.

Spurs may struggle to pick the lock and create chances as freely as Liverpool did.

How will reactive Rosenior fare against Glasner’s Palace?

Chelsea’s first league game under head coach Liam Rosenior was defined by a pragmatic approach to dealing with the specific strengths of Brentford, including hitting longer balls forward and negating their counters with a more reserved pressing game.

What we learnt was that Rosenior is going to be more reactive than the ideological Enzo Maresca, which gives us clues regarding how he will approach the challenge of visiting Crystal Palace.

Chelsea will likely look to shut down Palace counter-attacks by dropping deep instead of pressing high, which of course comes with its own risks as Rosenior looks to ingratiate himself with a club that expects to dominate games.

Indeed, there is a danger of overthinking a game like this. Palace are winless in 16 Premier League games against Chelsea and currently only Burnley (13 matches) are on a longer winless run than the Eagles (seven).

Will Bournemouth be accommodating to goal-shy Liverpool?

Liverpool have drawn four consecutive Premier League matches and have scored one goal or fewer in three of those games, reflecting a goalscoring issue that is dragging Arne Slot’s team back into the scramble for a Champions League spot.

A photo of Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper with a question mark in the background alongside a photo of Mohamed Salah in Liverpool kit clapping the crowd

Andoni Iraola’s side have won just one of their last 13 Premier League games (drawing six and losing six) and since the start of this run in November have earned fewer points (nine) than all but Wolves (six) and Burnley (four), as well as conceding the most goals in the division, with 30.

Florian Wirtz (four goal involvements in his last six) and Hugo Ekitike (eight goal involvements in eight), can expect to find joy against a wide-open Bournemouth side happy to take part in end-to-end games.

Could Brighton wonderkid Kostoulas strike again at Fulham?

A sensational stoppage-time overhead kick has thrust 18-year-old Charalampos Kostoulas into the limelight.

Kostoulas, signed for a reported £30-million in the summer, had already scored a Premier League goal at Old Trafford earlier in the campaign but his equaliser against Bournemouth on Monday night will give Fabian Hurzeler confidence that the young striker is ready.

Brighton & Hove Albion could really benefit from an injection of energy and magic following their recent downturn in form. They have won just one of their last nine Premier League games, plummeting from fifth to 12th in the process.

Victory at Fulham could see them climb all the way back up into the European places - and with Kostoulas in the team they stand a good chance of doing just that.

Brighton rank second in the Premier League for high turnovers, with 185, while only Villa (180) and Spurs (178) have had more high turnovers against them than Fulham (162). Hurzeler’s tactical approach is likely to bear fruit and create quality chances for their new star.

Can Brentford use home form to stay close to Chelsea and Man Utd?

Managerial changes at Chelsea and Man Utd looked likely to threaten Brentford’s hopes of European qualification and so it has proved. Wins for United and Chelsea last weekend have pushed Keith Andrews’ side out of the top six.

If they are to maintain their challenge alongside those more established big six teams, Brentford will need to rely on their excellent home form.

Only the current top-three sides - Arsenal (29), Man City (26) and Villa (25) - have earned more home points than Brentford's 24, who have lost just one of their 11 Premier League games at the Gtech Community Stadium - a 1-0 defeat to Man City at the start of October.

Furthermore, Brentford face Villa, Newcastle, Man Utd, Man City, and Liverpool in five of their eight remaining away games this season. Points on the road are going to be extremely hard to come by, making games like Sunday’s all the more important.

Can Everton push for Europe after Villa victory?

In this congested Premier League season, a surprise 1-0 win at Villa Park last weekend is all it has taken for Everton to be lured in by the prospect of European football. They are a mere three points behind fifth-placed Man Utd.

It will require a significant run of form to really challenge, though, and more specifically an improvement in their home form. Everton have won just seven points from their last seven at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Only Burnley (5) and Wolves (3) have fewer away Premier League points in the Premier League this season than Leeds United, meaning this is a good opportunity for David Moyes to start correcting Everton’s performances on home soil.

Everton’s next four home Premier League matches are all against sides currently in the bottom half. They can make a charge for Europe – but they must seize the moment.