Chelsea versus Liverpool would have headlined this weekend’s Premier League action on Sunday, but with the Queen’s funeral on Monday a number of games were postponed.
Also called off is Manchester United’s home game against Leeds, while Crystal Palace’s trip to Brighton will be rescheduled because of a train strike.
What’s left is an interesting battle at the top of the standings between the top three Arsenal (with 15 log points), Manchester City (on 14) and Tottenham (also on 14).
Champions City will be the first in action this weekend when they travel to face Wolves and their new striker Diego Costa for Saturday’s 1.30pm kickoff.
After being forced to come from behind in midweek to beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 to top Champions League Group G after two games, coach Pep Guardiola warns his span that they have to fire from the word go and can’t wait for their bench to win them matches.
Crediting replacements Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez for the roles they played against Dortmund, Guardiola says: “Hopefully we can learn a lesson for Saturday [when we play] against one of the toughest opponents in Wolves.”
Spurs, meanwhile, hosts Leicester at 6.30pm later in the day, with coach Antonio Conte reportedly forcing his players into training hours after Tuesday night’s 2-0 Champions League defeat at Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday night.
Table-topping Arsenal, who are fresh after their Thursday night Europa League clash with PSV was postponed by the Royal funeral, are at Brentford for a Sunday 1pm clash.
Having crashed to a 2-0 defeat at the Bees on the opening day last season, Gunners defender Ben White is keen to show how far Mikel Arteta’s span have come and stay top going into the international break.
He says: “This season has been very different… the attitude and the spirit that we're all together is completely different.”
🎙 Mikel is about to speak to the media ahead of #BREARS...
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Weekends Prem fixtures
Friday: Aston Villa v Southampton, Forest v Fulham (9pm)
Saturday: Wolves v Manchester City (1.30pm), Newcastle v Bournemouth (4pm), Tottenham v Leicester (6.30pm)
Sunday: Brentford v Arsenal (1pm), Everton v West Ham (3.15pm).
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