Premier League fixtures today – your guide to Saturday’s games

The Premier League returns with a bang on Saturday after the international break, with a massive slate of eight games to be played across the day.

It all starts with the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton, one of four deeply intriguing matches scheduled to take place. The headline act of the five fixtures kicking off at 15:00 BST is certainly Manchester City vs Brighton.

In the evening, fans can settle in for back-to-back games as Chelsea take on Arsenal before Manchester United’s trip to Sheffield United.

Here is all the information you need to enjoy Saturday’s Premier League action.

The build-up to this fixture can often be more interesting than the reality, given Liverpool so routinely take all three points. It’s always worth tuning in, however, as the spectacle can be one of the best the Premier League has to offer.

The Reds are certainly the overwhelming favourites as Everton have had such a rough start to the season. Having secured a morale-boosting win against Bournemouth before the international break, there will be a little more belief than normal in this Toffees team as they head to Anfield.

Neither of these teams have enjoyed the sort of start to the season they would have hoped for. Brentford in particular were challenging for European qualification last season but with just one win so far, this is the sort of match Thomas Frank’s side need to win.

As for Burnley, there has been plenty of promise so far and people are willing to give Vincent Kompany time, but four points from eight games points to a long season for the Clarets. A win for either team would be incredibly welcome.

Despite having quite a promising summer in the transfer market, Bournemouth have not made a very good start to the season and serious concern was sparked when they lost 3-0 against Everton before the break. They sit 19th with just three points, so matches like this need to result in victories.

Wolves have become an incredibly hard team to read, given they are down in 14th but have produced some quality performances, including the win over Manchester City. A victory at the Vitality would give fans a bit of assurance that there are a handful of teams worse off than Wolves in the Premier League.

Two sides that many expect to be down near the bottom of the table come the end of the season, there is certainly more hope for the home team as things currently stand.

Nottingham Forest will be the favourites to beat a Luton side with just four points so far, but a loss would cause some alarm bells to ring.

It is amazing the difference one win can make down at the bottom, especially at this stage of the season. Luton are outside the bottom three and while it will be tough, it’s certainly not impossible for them to win at the City Ground.

The pick of the 15:00 kick-offs, the champions take on the neutral’s favourite at the Etihad in what could be a really interesting game. Brighton are buoyed by the recent news that Kaoru Mitoma has signed a new contract, so he will want to mark that with a big performance.

The great news for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola is Rodri’s return from his suspension. They quite staggeringly lost all three domestic games he was out for, but whenever this Man City team endures a bad patch, some poor team tends to get punished for it.

Brighton will hope they don’t have an off day and find themselves on the receiving end of a City side making up for lost time.

These two teams probably didn’t expect to be separated by just one point after eight Premier League matches.

Newcastle’s shaky start to the campaign while dealing with a tough fixture list means they are trying to climb back up to the top four places, where they would expect to be.

Crystal Palace will be very happy to be in ninth at this stage, with some good performances and a decent buffer already created ahead of those at the bottom of the table. They will find it hard to get much of a result here though, with Newcastle particularly strong at home.

Certainly one of the biggest games of the day, television coverage in the UK continues with Chelsea hosting Arsenal in one of the many London derbies. Having beaten Man City before the international break, the Gunners will be desperate to build on that and ensure they finish the day at the top of the table.

Chelsea, meanwhile, know they need to build on their recent two victories if they are to have a real chance of getting into the top four this season. They have to be the underdogs for this one, but the Blues are looking more settled now than they did a month ago.

In the simplest terms of table positioning, this is the game Manchester United need right now. They have failed to build a run of form at any point this season but after the win against Brentford, facing the Blades – albeit away from home – is the golden ticket to back-to-back wins.

Nothing is ever that simple, though, and Sheffield United will have created a plan to frustrate this Man Utd team. The away side have to be the favourites to take all three points but it could certainly be a frustrating night in Sheffield for Erik ten Hag.

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