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| Clockwise: Roberto Soldado, Mesut Özil, Christian Benteke and Chris Hughton. Photograph: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images |
1) A long overdue Premier League win for Arsenal at Old Trafford?
On the day Arsenal last beat Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League, Portsmouth were top of the table, Scissors Sisters were top of the charts, Pope Benedict XVI was top of a radical Muslim hitlist for quoting a medieval writer who called the Prophet Mohammed "evil and inhumane" and Connie Fisher was on top of the world after winning the lead role in a West End musical on a terrible TV talent show. It was in September 2006, a long time ago we're sure you'll agree, but considering the contrasting style in which they put Liverpool andBorussia Dortmund to the sword in their past two matches, you'd have to fancy table-toppers Arsenal to continue their impressive run through what many consider might be the defining point of their season. BG
2) Tottenham will start scoring soon, or too late
Newcastle successfully cut off the supply to Fernando Torres as they upset Chelsea last week and Alan Pardew will likely try to frustrate another Spanish striker this weekend, and you could be forgiven for thinking that will be easier bearing in mind that Roberto Soldado has not yet meshed properly with Tottenham's midfielders, who have so far failed to compensate for their striker's lack of goals. That's not for the want of trying: Andros Townsend has a tendency to shoot whenever he catches the faintest glimpse of the opposing goal and Paulinho continually surges into promising positions only to be let down by slightly awry passes to him. Despite the fact that Tottenham's new team has yet to click properly and tend to play at a tempo that makes them quite predictable (possibly because they are not yet familiar enough with each other to achieve real slickness), they have still managed to fire more shots on target than everyone in the Premier League apart from Manchester City and Arsenal. They're going to tonk someone soon. But on Sunday their fans may find themselves admiring the clinical finishing of Loïc Rémy. PD
3) Will Aston Villa jump-start their season … again?
Cautious optimism seems to be the prevailing mood among Aston Villa fans contributing to the pertinent thread on the Heroes & Villains websitein the buildup to what seems, on paper at least, a fairly underwhelming football experience. An admittedly less than forensic trawl through the comments suggests many Villa fans are expecting a nervy 90 minutes and with their team having failed to score in four Premier League excursions it's not difficult to see why. While few if any Villa fans appear overly worried by the possible threat of relegation, there appears a genuine concern that unless their side can cobble a decent run of results together, a season that started so full of promise with an away win at Arsenal will end with a whimper before Fairytale of New York resumes its position as festive radio playlist staple.
For all Paul Lambert's eminently sensible talk about how his talented young side is a work in progress, but one whose "fundamental principles are already clear", even before the goals dried up Villa under his stewardship seemed to resemble a car with some infuriating and unidentifiable clunking noise emanating from under the bonnet to spoil an otherwise pleasant driving experience. With an international break looming, another performance as laboured as that analogy will leave Villa fans with plenty of time to quietly seethe ahead of their next match, a potentially explosive derby against local rivals West Brom. BG
4) Millstones and milestones at the Liberty Stadium
There is little, on the face of it, to look forward to when considering this meeting between Swansea and Stoke, although it is mildly intriguing to note that two draws and four defeats in their past six matches mean the Potters now have only Crystal Palace beneath them in the Premier League form table. It is a sorry state of affairs that suggests Mark Hughes's side are genuine relegation contenders, although it's worth noting they had the same number of points at this stage last season and ended up finishing 13th.
If they're to turn a corner, the omens that it will happen this weekend aren't good – without a win in their past seven Premier League matches, Stoke have lost three in a row on the road and have never won a top flight match in Wales in six attempts. If Jonathan Walters lines up for Stoke it'll be his 100th successive Premier League start (the longest active starting streak of any player in the top flight), while victory for his side, however unlikely, would be Mark Hughes's 100th as a top-flight gaffer. BG
5) A return to form for Demba Ba
In the absence of the injured Fernando Torres, José Mourinho could help his out of sorts striker Demba Ba rediscover his mojo by picking him to face West Brom. The Senegalese striker's opportunities have been limited this season, but having scored his first of the season against Schalke in the Champions League on Wednesday, history suggests he might well fill his boots if given a run out at Stamford Bridge. Ba's first ever Premier League goal came against the Baggies in February 2011and he has scored six league goals against them for West Ham, Newcastle and Chelsea. Just as losing against West Brom seems to bring out the worst in trigger-happy club chairmen, playing against them seems to bring out the best in Ba. BG
6) Sunderland's now traditional 1-0 win at home against Manchester City
Assuming he's always had a passing interest in English football and has borne witness to some of Sunderland's performances this season, it's amusing to imagine the look of total bewilderment that will have crossed Manuel Pellegrini's features when he discovered Manchester City have lost on their past three Premier League visits to the Stadium of Light.Following his side's emphatic win over CSKA Moscow in the Champions League, the Manchester City manager will be attempting to put an end to his predecessor Roberto Mancini's remarkable run of 1-0 defeats on Wearside, albeit against a resurgent Sunderland juggernaut currently roaring its way up the table fuelled by victory against Newcastle, a creditable 45-minute performance in defeat against Hull with nine menand a not particularly emphatic Capital One Cup win over Southampton's under-14s. Gus Poyet's side can be confidently backed at insulting odds of around 7-1 to triumph on Sunday afternoon, although it behoves this column to advise punters that the value of investments can go down as well as up. BG
7) Palace must not hit Rams' bottom
Derby County's class of 2007-08 were the worst team in Premier League history. They were utter bobbins. But here's the thing: after 10 matches of the season in which they set the record low points tally, they had double the number that Crystal Palace currently have. Oh Palace! The Eagles excelled to get to the top flight but, by Ian Holloway's own admission, rather botched their preparation for it. Staying up is looking nigh-on impossible, and even attracting a new manager seems fraught with difficulty, so the immediate task facing Palace's players when they take on Everton this weekend is to provide people – mostly themselves – with a reason to believe they are at least capable of overtaking Derby's eventual haul of 11 points. It's good to have targets. PD
8) Bruce's your uncle
The best way to irritate Southampton is to treat them with respect (or to get your goalkeeper to lash one into their net from 100 yards, but something tells us that it'll be a while before Artur Boruc falls for that one again). The sides who have most frustrated Mauricio Pochettino's men this season are Norwich, who beat them at Carrow Road, and West Ham, who bored them scoreless at St Mary's; they did this by defending deep and diligently, ensuring that even if Southampton pressurised them into losing the ball in their own half, they would have enough players back to plug gaps before Saints could exploit them. Throw in a few heroic saves, timely blocks and strong heading and concentration and bob's your uncle. This weekend your Uncle Bob could be played by Steve Bruce, who will have Hull as well primed as anyone to make things awkward for Southampton. PD
9) Fulham most welcome to Anfield
If you ever find yourself forced into an old-fashioned duel, make sure it's with Martin Jol. Judging by the way his Fulham side play, he would be a marvellously chivalrous adversary, nobly ensuring that you enjoyed plenty of time to get off a few shots before he deigned to return fire, possibly while bleeding profusely. Fulham, to be sure, are the nicest side to play against in the Premier League. Liverpool could not wish for a better fixture to help them get back on track after their humbling at Arsenal. PD
10) Nil-nil would not be much good to Hughton
Chris Hughton is in a dilemma. Most managers would be certain that a 0-0 draw would constitute good progress the week after a 7-0 annihilation but such a result against West Ham this weekend would probably not alleviate the pressure on Norwich's manager. Because it is not the fact that a previously solid defence seems to have become brittle that most appals Norwich fans, it is the fact that their team seldom look like scoring. So while Hughton talks of the need to "get back to basics" against West Ham, successfully shoring things up at the back would not be sufficient, especially as the Hammers tend to be blunt too. What Hughton really needs to do is find a way to convince supporters – and probably also his employers – that he can make his team pose a creditable attacking threat. The enforced absence of Ricky van Wolfswinkel may or may not help. PD
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