CHELSEA v LIVERPOOL
Chelsea sit eighth in the league table with Liverpool still top despite their loss to Crystal Palace last weekend.
Arne Slot is having his first real hiccup since taking over at Anfield after suffering a midweek Champions League defeat to Galatasaray.
To make matters worse, the coach says Allison will not be between the posts for this match after limping off following a save from Victor Osimhen.
Giorgio Marmadashvili will step off the bench after joining Liverpool from Valencia for £29m in the summer transfer.
Slot was less clear about Hugo Ekitike, who also limped off the field, but I am told his injury is far less worrying than Allison’s.
Ekitike has impressed with five goals in his first 10 games for Liverpool, and the Kop fans have supported him.
With the arrival of Alexander Isak, the coach has to choose which striker to start or if he could play them together.
When not travelling this week, Slot has been on the training pitch with his assistants, working with his defence, which has now become vulnerable after a long period during which they controlled opposition forwards.
Ibrahima Konate has been badly out of form and was exposed several times by Crystal Palace midfielders and forwards.
Milos Kerkez has yet to show the best of his fearless tackling and relentless drives towards the opposing final third of the pitch.
Florian Wirtz upfront is also not yet on form.
Chelsea have their own problems, having lost 3 of their first 6 games, and Enzo Maresca has come under some pressure.
He has more headaches for this match with Trevoh Chalobah out with a suspension.
Levi Colwill and Tosin Adarabioyo will also be absent, while Wesley Fofana is questionable for the match, and the same applies to Cole Palmer.
If Liverpool can hit form with Salah, Ekitike—if he plays—and Dominic Szoboszlai controlling the goal area, Chelsea could be in for a tough afternoon.
In many ways, this match is about confidence to bounce back. Both have lost last weekend, and the supporters are demanding better.
NEWCASTLE v NOTTINGHAM FOREST
This week, Bayern Munich’s advisor Karl Rummenigge said Newcastle were foolish to pay £69 million for Nick Woltemade despite the striker scoring three times in four games.
Coach Eddie Howe hit back, commenting that the German has had very little time to bond with his teammates and limited training, but is doing a very good job.
With Yoane Wissa still missing through injury and Anthony Gordon and either Jacob Murphy or Anthony Elanga operating down the wings, everything depends on how well Woltemade performs.
Newcastle have managed just four league goals this season and have only one win.
Forest are much more attack-minded under new manager Ange Postecoglou, but have still to record a victory since he took over from Nuno Espirito Santo.
Striker Chris Wood is struggling to find the net, but ex-Ipswich forward Omari Hutchinson introduced a spark into Forest’s performance when he came off the substitutes’ bench against Sunderland and will be pushing for a start.
The influential Callum Hudson-Odoi played as a sub last weekend, but he isn’t fully back up to speed, and Forest miss his incisive runs from the wing into midfield.
Forwards Dilane Backwa, James McAtee and Dan Ndoye will have a tough time getting anything out of Newcastle’s strong midfield of Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali.
Newcastle’s Tino Livarmento will be out for up to eight weeks after being taken off last weekend against Arsenal.
Club captain Jamaal Lascelles replaced him, and he remains an option for Eddie Howe.
Ot is in defence that Newcastle have performed best, and they have conceded only four goals in six matches.
Forest’s striker, Brazilian Igor Je
sus, has proved to be an excellent summer transfer, and he is now a regular starter, as is left back Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Newcastle coach Eddie Howe needs a comeback win after the home loss to Arsenal last weekend, but Ange Postecoglou knows that he has to start winning, as owner Evangelos Marinakis will not tolerate his club sitting in the bottom half of the table, and another loss could see them in the bottom three.
Things could get toxic at the City Ground after Nuno Espirito Santos gave Forest such a successful season last year before falling out with the Greek owner.
EVERTON v CRYSTAL PALACE
This match features two coaches who have dramatically improved their squads since taking over.
Palace astonishingly sit in third place in the league with Everton in ninth but only three points behind.
Step forward, coaches David Moyes and Oliver Glasner.
I am sure neither set of supporters will forget that Everton have a great record against Palace.
The Toffees are unbeaten against the Eagles since 2022, a record that dates back nine matches, and I will concentrate on them.
Much of Everton’s success has relied on their attacking line of Ilman Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall, Jack Grealish and Beto.
They also have a tough backline of Jake O’Brien, James Tarwoski, Michael Keane and Vitalii Mykolenko and the match could be spicy because they are aggressive and tackle hard.
Moye’s main decision is choosing between his strikers, new signing Thierno Barry, who joined from Villarreal for £27million and Beto.
Neither have they been at their best, and Moyes has mainly stuck with Beto, but he was almost unseen in the draw with West Ham.
Beto has struck only one shot on target in the last four matches, Barry is even worse, and that is with Jack Grealish providing more creative goal chances for the strikers than any other player in the league.
