Premier League Treble: Trouble for Man City, Villa to shock United and expect goals at the Emirates
- Andy Morgan
- 25 September 2021
Chelsea host Manchester City in the televised early kick-off on Saturday and this forms part of our treble, while at the same time, Aston Villa face Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Our friends at Football365 have put together an interesting looking treble for this weekend's Premier League action. Then our colleagues at Planet Sport Bet decided to boost the odds!
There may be trouble ahead for Man City
This season is likely to be one of the most competitive in Premier League history, with all four of the top clubs capable of getting over 80 points. This means dropped points are likely to have increased significance, so it's not hyperbole to suggest that Manchester City's poor early form is of considerable concern.
With tough trips to Chelsea and Liverpool on the horizon, should City lose these, they would endure their worst start to a Premier League season since the takeover from the Abu Dhabi Group. Ten points from seven games is a poor return, as was their rather lacklustre performances against both Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur recently.
Both Saints and Spurs took advantage of a lack of quality in midfield, frequently piercing through the middle on the break. They also frustrated City by sitting deep, content in allowing them to pass the ball from side to side in non-dangerous areas. City's continued reliance on Fernandinho or Rodri, along with the age of the squad, suggests things are likely to continue in this vein.
Chelsea are expected to play in a similar fashion to Southampton, with manager Thomas Tuchel not interested in pressing high or asserting dominance in possession against the big teams. The Blues are likely to outnumber City in the midfield, quell the threat from Jack Grealish, and use Romelu Lukaku to steal behind City's high defensive line.
The home win is therefore favoured and could reopen the wound of City's defeat to the same opposition in the Champions League final at the tail-end of last season. In truth, City have not bounced back from this blow, and should they lose to both the Blues and Liverpool then they could find themselves in real trouble in mid-table, nine points off the summit.
Betting: Back Chelsea to win at 8/5
Villa could boost European challenge at Old Trafford
Aston Villa have had something of a slow start too, but last week's 3-0 victory over Everton could put rocket launchers under their campaign. They had been tipped for a European place at the start of the season and narrowly losing to Chelsea on penalties mid-week has only bolstered that view.
Should Villa get a result at Old Trafford on Saturday, their European challenge would be back on track and they face a side who were quite fortunate to have beaten both Wolves and West Ham so far this season. United have struggled to break down more defensive sides and with Leon Bailey starting to fire, along with some new-found cohesion, expect Villa to take at least a point back to the Midlands.
North London Derby highlights thin line between crisis and redemption
Following Arsenal's poor start to the season which left Mikel Arteta the favourite in the Premier League sack race, coupled with Spurs' 100% record after three games, it's interesting to note that should the Gunners beat Spurs on Sunday, they will leapfrog their local rivals.
This would suggest that Arsenal are starting to find their form while Nuno Espirito Santo's Spurs are falling apart. Or perhaps things will even themselves out over the course of a 38-game season and little can really be gauged from the opening month of the campaign.
Should Spurs lose on Sunday, Nuno faces an unprecedented crisis early in his reign at White Hart Lane, a crisis that won't be aided by a Jose Mourinho-style of play that could result in the crowd turning, perhaps permanently, on the manager.
Should Arsenal lose, it'll be back to square one for Arteta, who won't be able to recover from a derby-day defeat and the board will look to replace him, probably with Antonio Conte.
There is just 90 minutes to save both clubs and the game could go either way.
Seriously, though, it's fair to say that Arsenal are looking more cohesive than they did in the opening games of the campaign, with their signings embedding into the first team nicely. They are capable of understanding the tactical complexities demanded by Arteta and this may only improve in the coming weeks.
Betting: Back over 2.5 goals at 20/21
