Chelsea’s derby drought and Spurs’ anxiety

Chelsea have not tasted victory in this west London derby since Brentford’s first Premier League campaign. Ben Chilwell settled that October 2021 meeting 1-0; every trip across the capital since has ended level. The pattern tells its own story.

The clubs now feel like opposites. Brentford lean on continuity and a well-drilled core. Chelsea arrive in yet another new era, trying to bend themselves into Xabi Alonso’s latest shape. His back three is a bold throwback: only one side have ever won the Premier League using that system as their base – Antonio Conte’s 2016-17 Chelsea.

This version is still learning how to defend it. Kevin Schade will like the look of that. Fresh from two sharp finishes at Bournemouth, the forward has the speed and timing to punish a defence still adjusting to Alonso’s demands.

At the other end, Alonso’s attacking patterns are clicking faster than his back line, which throws up a serious test for Jannik Schuster. The 20-year-old centre-back, in for Nathan Collins, was given a proper working over by Bournemouth’s Evanilson on his first Premier League start yet came through with credit. This is a different level of scrutiny.

Chelsea’s main creative spark, João Pedro, sits on three goals and three assists, but his fitness is in doubt. That could open the door for Danny Welbeck’s first league start of the season. Another layer of uncertainty for a club that still feels like it is searching for itself while Brentford quietly get on with being Brentford.

Spurs and Villa search for a pulse

What happens when a very stoppable force meets an extremely movable object? Tottenham Hotspur Stadium might provide the answer. Nineteenth-placed Aston Villa head to north London with Spurs, and between them they have mustered just one league goal. Both are still hunting a first Premier League win.

Spurs feel jittery. No starting XI in the division looks less settled. Almost every player seems one mistake away from the bench, and it shows in a team that plays as if gripped by fear, always choosing the safest pass, the safest run.

Pedro Porro’s return is huge for Roberto De Zerbi. It should finally end the Archie Gray Experiment at right-back, a stopgap that has lasted too long. With Porro restored, Spurs regain a natural outlet on that flank and a bit of tactical sanity.

James Maddison, injury-plagued and used only from the bench against Everton and Liverpool in the past week, is pushing hard to start. Tottenham badly need someone willing to grab the game, to play forward, to take responsibility. Right now, that looks like Maddison or nobody.

Brighton’s structure and a new No 10

When Fabian Hürzeler praised Brighton’s “well structured” performance after their stirring comeback at Old Trafford, he could have been talking about one player in particular: Malick Yalcouyé.

The 20-year-old Ivorian only arrived on the south coast in 2024, via a brief stint at IFK Gothenburg, then loans to Sturm Graz and Swansea. He had to wait for his Premier League moment. It has been worth it. With Jack Hinshelwood out until after the international break, Yalcouyé has stepped into the No 10 role and already scored twice in the league.

Brighton have exploded out of the blocks with 13 goals from four matches, the division’s top tally. Arsenal are next, the champions facing a fourth straight away game, and Mikel Arteta will not need telling how dangerous this side have become between the lines. Yalcouyé is no longer just a prospect. He is a problem to solve.

Mykolenko leads Everton’s defensive stand

Vitalii Mykolenko’s form has improved quietly, almost in spite of his critics. It may never fully silence them, but David Moyes will not care. At a time when Everton’s manager needs hardened, reliable performers in a thin squad, his left-back has stepped up.

A new three-year contract in the summer, some added muscle and a run of assured performances have underpinned a defence with four clean sheets in six games. The worry is depth. With Adam Aznou loaned to Málaga for the season, there is precious little cover at left-back. For now, Mykolenko’s consistency has eased the nerves that surrounded his position in pre-season.

Ipswich’s new forwards, Emersonn and Zian Flemming, will examine that defensive record. If Everton sign off before the extended international break with another win, Moyes can head into the pause feeling his side have laid solid foundations.

Jaissle refuses to blink at Newcastle

Matthias Jaissle does not do long speeches when a short answer will do. Asked on Thursday if Newcastle’s 4-1 thrashing at Leeds and a growing injury list might tempt him into a back five or a rethink of his beloved “vertical” game before Hull’s visit, he needed just one word.

“No.”

The German wants his young squad to trust the bigger picture. Newcastle signed eight players aged 24 and under in the summer and are learning to live without Bruno Guimarães, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon. There will be bumps. Leeds was one of them.

“It’s a brave journey the club is going on and I’m fully committed in that,” Jaissle said. One heavy defeat is not about to derail the plan. “We anticipated that something like that against Leeds would happen. It’s on us to respond. But while still believing. We don’t change.”

Hull arrive on Tyneside knowing exactly what to expect. Stopping it is another matter.

Delap and Forest on the front foot

Plenty scoffed when Nottingham Forest paid £45m for Liam Delap. The City Ground might prove them wrong. Forest have thrived before with a classic target man in Chris Wood, now injured, and Delap looks like the heir: powerful, instinctive, unselfish enough to bring others into the game.

In the win at Villa, a partnership already seemed to be forming between Delap and Morgan Gibbs-White. The understanding was there in their movement and link play. Both will fancy themselves against a Coventry defence that has shipped eight goals in its past two matches.

Forest, after a jittery season last time out, feel as if they are moving forward again. Off the pitch, the council’s approval of plans to expand the City Ground from 31,000 to 52,500, at an estimated £790m, underlines that ambition. The club is thinking big. Now the team has to match it.

Iraola’s homecoming, Bournemouth’s test

Andoni Iraola watched Bournemouth’s European debut from afar, in San Sebastián, a city he knows intimately. On Sunday, he goes back. The Basque coach, who took Bournemouth to their best-ever Premier League finish – sixth – and into the Europa League, returns to his old club as Liverpool manager.

His backroom lieutenants, Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper, both wore the Bournemouth shirt, with Elphick captaining them into the top flight in 2015. They will get a warm reception. They earned it.

Bournemouth, now under Marco Rose, have started slowly, but they remain awkward opponents. Rose even spent a couple of hours with Iraola before officially taking the job in June, a passing of the baton between kindred footballing minds. Both will expect a frantic, high-energy contest.

Eddie Howe never managed to beat Bournemouth in eight league games with Newcastle. Iraola and his staff know that statistic and will not be underestimating their former club.

Calvert-Lewin chases history at Elland Road

Dominic Calvert-Lewin walks into Elland Road on Saturday with history in his sights and Crystal Palace in his way. Leeds’ centre-forward is aiming to become the first player to score in six consecutive home league games for the club since Arthur Hydes in 1932.

The transformation began with a tactical tweak. Daniel Farke’s switch to 3-5-2 late last November changed everything for Calvert-Lewin. Isolated as a lone striker, he had laboured. Paired with Noah Okafor or Lukas Nmecha, he suddenly had company, combinations, space. The goals followed.

Leeds are not dogmatic. They will sometimes go 3-4-3 or revert to a back four, but Calvert-Lewin has underlined how much attacking partnerships matter. Eight points from four games mark their best top-flight start since David O’Leary’s 2001-02 side.

Now comes the next question: does Hydes’ record fall to a modern No 9, and does 3-5-2 become the blueprint for strikers trying to shoot their way out of droughts?

City’s perfect start faces Le Bris’s challenge

Manchester City have made a clean, controlled start under Enzo Maresca. Four games, four wins. The scores tell the story: 1-0 against Coventry, 1-0 against Manchester United, 2-1 at Bournemouth, 4-1 over Crystal Palace. Eight scored, two conceded.

Only Arsenal can better the defensive record, with one goal conceded and the same tally of eight scored in their own perfect opening. Early signs point to City as serious title contenders again, reshaped but still ruthless.

Régis Le Bris is tasked with stopping that momentum. He has a small piece of encouragement to draw on: his Sunderland side took a point off City in the league last season at the Stadium of Light. The flip side is the corresponding fixture at the Etihad, where City cruised to a 3-0 win.

Maresca’s team have the numbers, the rhythm and the confidence. Le Bris has the memory of how to disrupt them. Which will matter more when the whistle blows?