Arsenal target Man City scalp as Man Utd seek spark

By AFP

Arsenal could leapfrog Manchester City in an early season showdown for the Premier League

title on Sunday as crisis-hit Manchester United seek some respite at home to Brentford.

Tottenham have the chance to go top when they travel to Luton on Saturday thanks to a

controversial win over Liverpool last weekend.

The Reds are looking to channel their fury at being wronged by a VAR error at Spurs to

bounce back at Brighton.

AFP Sport picks out three talking points ahead of the action in the English top flight.

Arteta sweats on Saka fitness as City looms.

Arsenal's dreams of a first Premier League title since 2004 were shattered by City's strong

finish to last season.

That included two victories for Pep Guardiola's men over the Gunners and Mikel Arteta's

record against his former mentor does not read well.

Arteta has lost all seven league games against Guardiola during his time in charge at the

Emirates, with the aggregate score reading a painful 19-3.

Arsenal smashed their transfer record to beat City to the signing of Declan Rice with the aim

of wrestling the title away from Manchester.

And City gave the contenders to their crown a huge boost when the champions suffered a

shock 2-1 defeat by Wolves last weekend.

But the Gunners could be without the talismanic talent of Bukayo Saka for Sunday's clash.

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The England winger, who has started 87 consecutive league games, limped out of the

midweek Champions League defeat by Lens.

City are also without one of their key men as Rodri completes a three-game ban for his red

card against Nottingham Forest last month.

Man Utd at low ebb

United were supposed to be in the middle of a run of winnable fixtures that would get their

season back on track.

Instead, they find themselves battling to avoid a third straight defeat when Brentford visit Old

Trafford on Saturday after painful home losses to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray.

Erik ten Hag's men are already seven points of the top four after losing four of their opening

seven games of a Premier League season for the first time.

Brentford have only beaten United once since 1938 but that came last season when Thomas

Frank's men won 4-0 at their London ground.

Ten Hag did not expect an easy ride after an encouraging first campaign at the helm but the

problems are piling up.

An injury-ravaged defence and error-prone goalkeeper Andre Onana continue to leak goals,

while Marcus Rashford looks a shadow of the player who scored 30 goals last season.

United desperately need a win to settle their restive fans and avoid their season spinning out

of control.

Brighton face fuming Liverpool

Liverpool travel to England's south coast full of righteous anger after falling victim to an

embarrassing VAR blunder last weekend.

Jurgen Klopp's men were wrongly denied an opening goal at Tottenham and went on to lose

the match 2-1 -- their first defeat of the season.

The German manager wants a replay of that match but accepts that he is unlikely to get his

wish.

More likely is that he will try to channel a sense of injustice as he targets a sixth win in eight

Premier League games.

It is tricky to judge which Brighton team will turn up.

The Seagulls beat Newcastle, Manchester United and Bournemouth by a combined score of

9-3 but have now failed to win in three games in all competitions, including a chastening 6-1

defeat at Aston Villa last week.

Manager Roberto De Zerbi admits he is playing a "different sport" this season as he grapples

with a crowded fixture list and growing injury concerns in the club's debut European

campaign.

The Italian hopes last week's pummelling will be a one-of after an impressive start to the

season.

"I don't speak about the result, but the attitude and the passion we will show from now until

the end of the season will be completely different," he said.

"The defeat against Villa was important, it could be a crucial day for us."

Fixtures

Saturday (1400 GMT unless stated)

Luton v Tottenham (1130), Burnley v Chelsea, Everton v Bournemouth, Fulham v Sheffield

United, Manchester United v Brentford, Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest (1630)

Sunday (1300 unless stated)

Brighton v Liverpool, West Ham v Newcastle, Wolves v Aston Villa, Arsenal v Manchester City

(1530)