Chelsea's Struggles Continue Against Brentford in West London Derby
Chelsea’s latest reboot meets Brentford’s old rhythm in a west London derby that has quietly tilted away from Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have not won this fixture since October 2021, when Ben Chilwell settled it 1-0. Every visit to Brentford since has finished level.
The contrast this season is stark. Brentford lean on continuity and a clear identity; Chelsea arrive under Xabi Alonso with another new structure, another new idea, and a defence still learning its lines. That back three comes with history – only one side has ever won the Premier League using it, Antonio Conte’s Chelsea in 2016-17 – but it is far from fully formed.
Kevin Schade will sense an opening. Fresh from two composed finishes at Bournemouth, the forward faces a Chelsea backline still adjusting to Alonso’s demands. Brentford’s front line will test the spaces and hesitations that remain in those new configurations.
At the other end, Alonso’s attack has clicked more quickly than his defence, which gives Jannik Schuster a significant assignment. The 20-year-old centre-back, in for Nathan Collins, came through a stern first Premier League start against Bournemouth’s Evanilson with credit. This is a different level of scrutiny. João Pedro has three goals and three assists already, but if doubts over his fitness persist, Danny Welbeck could be handed his first league start of the campaign. One misstep from either side, and the derby’s recent run of draws may finally crack.
Tottenham v Aston Villa: fear, fragility and a first win up for grabs
What happens when a very stoppable force meets an extremely movable object? Tottenham Hotspur Stadium may provide the answer. Nineteenth-placed Aston Villa head to north London with Spurs, between them, having scored just once in the league. Both are still hunting their first Premier League win of the season.
The return of Pedro Porro is a major boost for Roberto De Zerbi and should spell the end of the Archie Gray experiment at right-back. Spurs have looked like a team permanently on trial. No starting XI in the division feels less settled; most players seem one mistake away from the bench. The result is a side playing with the handbrake on, taking the safe option again and again.
James Maddison could change that mood. After two appearances off the bench against Everton and Liverpool, the injury-hit playmaker will be desperate to start, to grab the game and force Spurs to show some ambition. With both clubs desperate to shake off early-season anxiety, this could be less a tactical duel and more a test of nerve.
Brighton’s new No 10 rises as Arsenal loom
When Fabian Hürzeler praised Brighton’s “well structured” performance after their comeback at Old Trafford, he might as well have been talking directly about Malick Yalcouyé. The 20-year-old Ivorian has slipped into the No 10 role and transformed Brighton’s early weeks.
Yalcouyé arrived on the south coast in 2024 after a brief spell with IFK Gothenburg, then disappeared into the loan system: Sturm Graz in Austria, Swansea in the Championship. He had to wait for his chance. With Jack Hinshelwood injured until after the international break, that chance finally came – and he has taken it, scoring twice in the Premier League already.
Brighton are the division’s top scorers, with 13 goals from four matches, and now face Arsenal in what is already a statement fixture. Mikel Arteta’s champions, on the road for a fourth consecutive league game, know all about Brighton’s patterns and rotations. Yalcouyé adds something else: unpredictability between the lines. Ignore him, and Arsenal could be chasing shadows again.
Mykolenko steps up as Everton lean on experience
Vitalii Mykolenko’s resurgence has slipped under the radar, which may suit him. It will not, however, escape David Moyes. In a small, stretched Everton squad, the left-back has quietly become one of the constants.
Mykolenko signed a new three-year deal in the summer and looks physically stronger. The Ukraine international has helped anchor a defence that has kept four clean sheets in six matches. Concerns remain about depth on that flank – Adam Aznou’s loan to Málaga leaves little cover – but Mykolenko’s form has eased some of the pre-season anxiety around his position.
Ipswich’s new forwards, Emersonn and Zian Flemming, will probe that resilience. If Everton sign off before the extended international break with another clean sheet and a win, Moyes will feel his side have laid a solid, if unspectacular, platform.
Newcastle stick to the plan as Jaissle refuses to bend
Matthias Jaissle does not do waffle. Asked on Thursday if Newcastle might abandon their “vertical” football or shift to a back five after Monday’s 4-1 hammering at Leeds and a run of injuries, he needed only one word.
No.
The German is adamant his young team will stay loyal to the broader project as they host Hull on Saturday. Newcastle signed eight players aged 24 and under this summer and are adjusting to life after Bruno Guimarães, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon. There will be bumps; Jaissle insists they were expected.
“It’s a brave journey the club is going on and I’m fully committed in that,” he said. One setback, he argued, is no reason to “delete” the vision. Hull arrive knowing Newcastle will not compromise. The question is whether that conviction now brings a response or another painful lesson.
Forest, Delap and a club on the rise again
Many scoffed when Nottingham Forest paid £45m for Liam Delap. The City Ground might yet prove them wrong.
Forest thrived with Chris Wood as their focal point last season, and Delap looks like a younger echo of the New Zealander: powerful, sharp in the box, willing to link play. In the win at Villa, his understanding with Morgan Gibbs-White already looked promising. Both will fancy their chances against a Coventry defence that has shipped eight goals in two games.
Off the pitch, optimism is growing too. Plans to expand the City Ground from 31,000 to 52,500 seats, at a projected cost of £790m, were approved by the local council on Wednesday. After a jittery previous campaign, Forest suddenly feel upwardly mobile again – on the pitch and in the planning office.
Iraola returns to Bournemouth with Liverpool and history behind him
Andoni Iraola watched Bournemouth’s first European outing from afar, in San Sebastián, a city he knows intimately. On Sunday, Liverpool’s head coach walks back into his old club, the place where he built his reputation and launched the Cherries into Europe with a best-ever sixth-place finish.
His assistants, Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper, have deep Bournemouth roots too. Elphick captained the club into the Premier League in 2015. That shared history guarantees a warm reception. It will not guarantee an easy afternoon.
Marco Rose has made a slow start as Iraola’s successor, but his Bournemouth side remain awkward opponents. Rose even spent a couple of hours with Iraola before officially taking over in June, a passing of ideas before the passing of the torch. Both managers favour high-tempo, all-action football. Eddie Howe never beat Bournemouth in eight league attempts as Newcastle manager; Iraola and his staff know exactly how uncomfortable this fixture can become.
Calvert-Lewin chases history as Leeds fly out of the blocks
Dominic Calvert-Lewin walks into Elland Road on Saturday with a target that has stood since 1932. One more goal against Crystal Palace and he becomes the first Leeds player since Arthur Hydes to score in six consecutive home league games.
The turning point came last November. Daniel Farke’s shift to a 3-5-2 system rescued Calvert-Lewin from the isolation of leading the line alone. Paired with Noah Okafor or Lukas Nmecha, he suddenly had company, combinations, space. The goals followed. Leeds still switch to 3-4-3 or a back four at times, but Calvert-Lewin has hammered home the value of striking partnerships.
With eight points from four games, Farke’s side have made the club’s best top-flight start since David O’Leary’s 2001-02 team. Palace now stand between Calvert-Lewin and a slice of history – and between Leeds and the question that is starting to form: how far can this go if 3-5-2 keeps turning droughts into runs?
City perfect, Maresca calm – but Sunderland’s Le Bris plots a sting
Manchester City have opened with four wins from four, but each has had a different flavour: 1-0 against Coventry, another 1-0 in the derby with Manchester United, a 2-1 edge over Bournemouth, then a 4-1 dismantling of Crystal Palace. Eight scored, two conceded. Only Arsenal, with the same goals for and just one against, can claim a marginally tighter record from their own perfect start.
It all points towards Enzo Maresca’s side being serious title contenders. The structure is sound, the margins under control. Sunderland’s Régis Le Bris, though, has reason to believe he can disrupt that rhythm. Last season he led Sunderland to a draw against City in the FA Cup at the Stadium of Light. The return fixture at the Etihad ended in a routine 3-0 City win, a reminder of the gulf when Pep Guardiola’s old club hit their stride.
Now Le Bris takes his Sunderland to the champions’ home again, this time with Maresca in the opposite dugout and the Premier League table already taking shape. City look ominous. Sunderland have nothing to lose. Is this where the first crack in a flawless start appears, or just another step in a title march that already feels inevitable?
