We know that at the end of the current international break you’ll all be counting the days until the next one, and fortunately there’s not long to wait, with another Premier League hiatus from November 10.
There’s plenty of football to be played in the meantime though and we’ve made a prediction for every Premier League club in the Nations League gooch, including the obvious for Manchester United and a bump back down to earth for Liverpool.
Arsenal: Player ‘knocks’ vs Chelsea
Martin Odegaard is still out after his injury for Norway in the last international break, when Riccardo Calafiori was also sidelined, while both Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka have had injury issues in the latest round of international fixtures. Strange that the Arsenal ‘dark arts’ haven’t yet stretched to their key players suffering ‘knocks’ in the game directly before they’re set to represent their countries. We expect them to remedy that in November.
Aston Villa: Top of the Champions League
A 100% record so far after a comfortable victory over Young Boys and that sensational Jhon Duran winner to get the better of Bayern Munich, and neither Bologna nor Club Brugge will offer much resistance.
Bournemouth: In the ‘dogfight’
Andoni Iraola continues to receive plaudits, quite reasonably, but their only two wins so far this season have come over Everton and Southampton. Hard to see them picking up many – if any – points against Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Brentford, meaning they could have eight points from 11 games and therefore find themselves very much in the relegation dogfight.
Brentford: Thomas Frank ‘talks’ with Man United
He’s either brilliant or rubbish, there’s no in-between, but there’s no doubt we are currently in a Frank sweet spot after all those early Brentford goals. Certainly wouldn’t be considered a coup were United to snag him but then beggars can’t be choosers. Guys, it’s not going to be Zinedine Zidane.
Brighton: Liverpool double
They’ve lost just two of their last nine meetings against Liverpool and did a Premier League/cup double over them in 2023, in games in similarly quick succession as looming now, with the Carabao Cup clash at the Amex on October 30 just four days before a trip to Anfield.
Chelsea: Enter ‘the title race’
Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United and Arsenal will provide an Acid Test for a title challenge that we expect Chelsea to pass by winning more games than they lose, leading to laughably premature talk of title races and numbers of horses.
Crystal Palace: Oliver Glasner backed
They’ve got Wolves away and Fulham at home just before the international break which Steve Parish will see as winnable fixtures as he publicly backs Glasner on the back of no wins in ten games at the start of the season after Nottingham Forest, Tottenham and Aston Villa.
Everton: Unbeaten run continues
After conceding 13 goals in their opening four games, Everton have shipped just three in their last four and are unbeaten in that time. They’ve only scored seven and none of Ipswich, Fulham, Southampton or West Ham are by any means prolific so it’ll be goalless draws abound.
Fulham: Marco Silva’s head turned
Marco Silva is a man renowned for having rather a loose neck when it comes to managerial vacancies and games against Everton, Brentford and Fulham offer excellent opportunity for pundits to question whether he is too good for Fulham. Spoiler: he’s not.
Ipswich: Liam Delap earns England call-up
A Has Everything striker who’s been hugely impressive so far this season. Scoring in his first two England U21 games under Lee Carsley does his cause no harm given the caretaker manager’s desire to promote and trust in players he knows. Probably needs an injury to one of Harry Kane, Ollie Watkins or Dominic Solanke, but the odds are good on that front.
READ MORE: Ranking the chances of all 50 uncapped England starters: Newcastle pair in top six
Leicester: Vardy saves Cooper at Old Trafford
Leicester won their first game of the season last time out but thanks to his affiliation to another East Midlands club, Steve Cooper is only ever seemingly one poor result away from the Foxes fans’ bad books and Manchester United away in the last game before the break has big El Sackico energy. Vardy to save Cooper’s skin with a late winner that spells trouble for his opposite number.
Liverpool: A dose of reality
They’ve got a rotten run of fixtures all the way to Christmas and it starts now. They play Chelsea, RB Leipzig, Arsenal, Brighton (twice), Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa before the next break, at which point we very much doubt they’ll be top of either league and we can all hail Richard Keys as a soothsaying genius.
Manchester City: Pep Guardiola extension
Other than Proper Football Men who insist the England manager should be English and those who also support Manchester City, every England fan wants Guardiola to be in charge for the World Cup. But because England fans aren’t allowed nice things, at the point where it looks as though the unthinkable may actually happen, Khaldoon Al-Mubarak will be in Pep’s ear to ruin the chances of a) England winning a major tournament and b) a Premier League title race next season.
Manchester United: Ten Hag sacked
We understand that sacking Ten Hag seven games after he was handed a contract extension and £200m more of His Players would have been a bit embarrassing for the new Manchester United brains trust, but retaining him in a month’s time after what will definitely be no discernible improvement in the interim will be more embarrassing.
READ MORE: Man Utd XI of players sold by Ten Hag would give current team a hiding
Newcastle United: No wins
They’ve bungled their way to 12 points and we can’t see them winning against any of Chelsea, Brighton, Arsenal or Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest: Dreaming of European football
Hard not to be impressed by Nottingham Forest and the return of the Wolves version of Nuno Espirito Santo. Only Liverpool (2) have conceded fewer than the six goals they’ve shipped so far this season and three home games, against Crystal Palace, West Ham and Newcastle, as well as an away clash with Leicester, represents a relatively gentle run that should mean they’re looking up the table rather than down.
Southampton: Closing on Sheffield United record
Yet to win a game and although they play three of the bottom five in Leicester, Everton and Wolves, nothing we’ve seen thus far from Russell Martin’s side suggests they’re going to beat any of those relegation candidates. Sheffield United went 17 games at the start of the 2020/2021 season without a win and Southampton will be six off that record come the next international break.
Tottenham: Radu Dragusin for Cristian Romero
We’re of the controversial opinion that to be a brilliant defender you’ve got to love defending and although Romero is a hugely talented and entertaining footballer, we doubt he will ever be considered a top-class defender because he can’t be arsed with it most of the time. And while his manager appears to have a matching mindset, Ange Postecoglou looked close to a breaking point after Brighton and more Romero brain farts – which are sure to come – will force his hand.
West Ham United: Jarrod Bowen recalled
England Need Proper Wingers again after the latest showcase of No.10s getting in each others’ way and Bowen remains one of the best despite a relatively slow start to the season. Tottenham’s high line, Everton’s ageing line and Manchester United’s line in general offer excellent opportunities for him to prove his worth to Lee Carsley.
Wolves: Gary O’Neil sacked
We all managed to convince ourselves that O’Neil is some sort of football coaching Mensan after he allowed us behind the curtain on Monday Night Football almost exactly a year ago. No team that’s played every Premier League game (36) since that appearance has won fewer than Wolves’ 36 points. They’ve had a horrible run at the start of the season but you can’t concede five against Brentford and hope to retain any sort of confidence ahead of Manchester City and then Brighton. The writing’s on the wall.
