Weekend in England: Guardiola against a cursed team, will Chelsea catch Brighton?

The first round of the Premier League in December offers three big games. Manchester United, in a similar state of mind and condition, will test a broken squad, while Chelsea will welcome Brighton.

Newcastle vs. Manchester United

Both teams have been dealt cruel slaps in the Champions League, with promotion no longer in their hands. Now the scales are fairly even, although the home environment gives the Magpies the advantage. St. James’s Park worked wonders a week ago against Chelsea as well.

However, there is a big but. Newcastle’s bloated squad should be a warning, the bench is now full of inexperienced talent, the healthy core of the team has had two tough games. The Red Devils, on the other hand, have someone to rotate the lineup with.

Chelsea vs. Brighton

Not much can be said about Chelsea, as they have been extremely unpredictable so far. One thing is for sure though, the Blues look better in games against strong teams. After all, besides the win against Spurs, they drew with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.

Brighton have done well to progress to the spring phase of the Europa League, Robert de Zerbi’s charges on the other hand are still getting used to the English weeks. The league is not so sovereign this season, the Seagulls’ squad is also wide.

Manchester City vs. Tottenham

A slam dunk, or maybe not. Although Manchester City lost last round to Liverpool and before that to Chelsea, Tottenham are in a terrible situation now anyway. This is evidenced by three league losses in a row, namely against Chelsea, Wolves and Aston Villa.

Spurs are missing injured mainstays Micky van de Ven and James Maddison, without them they look similarly miserable as last season. Heung Min Son is struggling at the top on his own, the midfield without Maddison is simply not clicking.

On the other hand, the Citizens are eager to return to the top spot taken from them by Arsenal as soon as possible. At home, they’ll be looking to overhaul Spurs. Tottenham, on the other hand, are their long-time unpopular opponents. Will Ange Postecoglou confirm his team’s ability to curse Manchester City, whatever form they are in?

Source: Premier League