Matchweek nine of the Premier League starts at 12.30pm on Saturday, when Chelsea host Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. It ends, for the purposes of the title race, at 4.30pm on Sunday, when Liverpool meet Arsenal at Anfield. Between those two games, Manchester City play Brighton for the second time in four days.
The table after eight matches is tight at the top and ugly at the bottom. Manchester City and Arsenal are level on 21 points. Brighton are third on 16, Liverpool fourth on 15, Chelsea fifth on 13. Manchester United are 16th on seven points, one point above Nottingham Forest in the relegation places. Coventry and Sunderland, both on six points or fewer, complete the bottom three. Sunderland have five.
Why Anfield is the game that resets Arsenal's week
Arsenal are still the champions, and they are still second. They are also the side that lost a penalty shoot-out at Fleetwood Town on Tuesday, after a 1-1 draw with a League Two club. Conor Haughey scored the winner after Jay Lynch saved from Bruno Guimaraes. Mikel Arteta's players were far enough below their level that the result has followed them into the weekend.
A win at Anfield would put that night back in its box. Martin Odegaard has asked his team-mates for a show of character against fourth-placed Liverpool. Andoni Iraola's side can move to within three points of Arsenal if they win and the champions lose. Liverpool reached the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday by beating Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw, with Wesley Fofana's miss the decisive kick. Xabi Alonso's Chelsea side are at home to United on Saturday, with that Anfield night still fresh.
Matchweek Nine Kick-off Times (GMT)
- Saturday 31 October, 12.30pm: Chelsea v Manchester United (TNT Sports).
- Saturday, 3pm: Bournemouth v Leeds, Brentford v Nottingham Forest, Coventry v Sunderland, Hull v Ipswich, Manchester City v Brighton.
- Saturday, 5.30pm: Tottenham v Crystal Palace (Sky Sports). 8pm: Aston Villa v Fulham (Sky Sports).
- Sunday 1 November, 4.30pm: Liverpool v Arsenal (Sky Sports).
- Monday 2 November, 8pm: Newcastle v Everton (Sky Sports).
Carrick, Chelsea, and a United side one point above the drop
Michael Carrick has been given time. Saturday will show whether that time includes a result at a club five places and six points above his own. United's form is one win, four draws and three defeats. Bruno Fernandes is the player the weekend previews keep naming: a performance is owed, and Stamford Bridge is a hard place to pay a debt.
Chelsea have won four, drawn one and lost three. They are fifth, which is a European place, and they have just lost a shoot-out at Anfield. Alonso's side are good enough to punish a nervous United and recent enough in defeat to be caught if the game turns. For Carrick, a point would be a stay of execution with a number on it. A defeat would put United level with the bottom three if Forest take something at Brentford.
City, Brighton, and the fixtures around them
Enzo Maresca's Manchester City are top on goal difference, with 20 goals scored and a record of seven wins and one defeat. They are also a club found guilty of serially breaching the league's financial rules, with a sanction still to be settled. Since that verdict they have won four games, including Wednesday's Carabao Cup shoot-out against Brighton, and lost two. Saturday's league meeting with the same opponent is the immediate test of whether the case has become a distraction.
Wednesday at the Etihad finished 2-2. Malick Yalcouye and Georginio Rutter scored for Brighton. Mateo Kovacic and Vitor Reis replied for City. Geronimo Rulli then saved from Yasin Ayari and Lewis Dunk to send the holders through, 4-3 on penalties. Maresca has called Brighton brilliant, and said they will want the league game as an answer. Brighton are third, with a goal difference of plus 16, the best in the division. A slip by City would let Arsenal go top if they win on Sunday, and would pull Brighton closer to a side that has already needed penalties to get past them once this week.
The rest of Saturday is a relegation map. Coventry host Sunderland at 3pm, a game between two of the bottom three. Hull host Ipswich, Bournemouth host Leeds, and Brentford, sixth and hard to beat, host Forest. Tottenham, 14th, play Crystal Palace at 5.30pm. Aston Villa, pushed to 8pm because of a Champions League match on Tuesday, host Fulham. On Monday, Newcastle host Everton, who beat them 3-1 in the Carabao Cup in midweek and will arrive with a quarter-final to look forward to.
The weekend's cleanest story is still the one at the top. City and Arsenal are level. Liverpool are close enough to join the argument if Sunday goes their way. United are close enough to the bottom that Saturday lunchtime is no longer a fixture they can drift through. Matchweek eight left the table like this. Matchweek nine has to move it.