Second-placed Chelsea are behind United only
on goals scored and will look to extend their unbeaten start in a London derby
at Tottenham.
Liverpool and Manchester City will not expect
to be troubled when Crystal Palace and Southampton visit Anfield and the Etihad
respectively on Saturday.
But the pressure is on under-fire Arsenal boss
Mikel Arteta when the Gunners travel to fellow strugglers Burnley.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has demanded an immediate
response from United after the optimism engendered by Ronaldo's return was
punctured in Bern.
Solskjaer's side had won three of their first
four matches in an unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign, including a
Ronaldo-inspired rout of Newcastle on the Portuguese superstar's Old Trafford
return last weekend.
Ronaldo was on target again in Bern, but
United succumbed after Aaron Wan-Bissaka's red card to lose to the lowest seed
in their Champions League group.
"Our attitude is like you'd expect;
focused, a little disappointed but not too downbeat," Solskjaer said.
"It's a setback, we have to do better."
It was Jesse Lingard's woeful backpass that
condemned United to defeat against Young Boys.
Lingard is back at United after shining on
loan at West Ham in the second half of last season.
The Hammers were keen to sign Lingard on a
permanent basis, but Solskjaer convinced him to stay and retains his faith in
the England international.
"We really want to see the best of Jesse
this season and we hope to see him, we support him, and we hope to keep him
here with us. He's a Red through and through," Solskjaer added.
Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku will go head to
head with Tottenham's Harry Kane in a fascinating shoot-out between two of the
Premier League's leading marksmen.
Lukaku has made a flying start on his return
to Chelsea following his club record £98 million ($135 million) move from Inter
Milan.
The Belgian has already scored four times in
four appearances, including a perfectly-timed header to break Zenit Saint
Petersburg's stubborn resistence in the Champions League in midweek.
After the debilitating struggles of Chelsea's
misfiring forwards last season, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel admits Lukaku has been
a breath of fresh air.
"He was the type of player and profile we
were missing," Tuchel said.
"He's also super humble. He is always
open to everybody and that creates a certain energy and atmosphere that we are
proud of."
While Lukaku is living out his dreams at his
boyhood club, Kane is having to make do with another season at Tottenham after
the England captain's failed attempt to engineer a move to Manchester City.
Kane, frustrated by Tottenham's 13-year trophy
drought, was desperate to join City, but Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy refused
to grant his wish.
With Tottenham looking to recover from last
weekend's chastening 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace, Kane's first Premier League
goal of the season would be timely for both the striker and his team.
Besieged by calls for his head after Arsenal
opened the season with three successive defeats and not a single goal, Arteta
earned a modicum of breathing space when the Gunners narrowly beat Norwich last
weekend.
But the Spaniard knows that 1-0 win will
quickly be forgotten if Arsenal lose to a Burnley side still looking for their
first win this term.
Arteta was given more money to spend than any
other Premier League manager in the transfer window and is adamant there are
better days ahead for his young squad.
"I can really see the light," he
said. "I'm telling you I'm very positive most of the time.
"There can be bumps in the road within
that light, but I can see a lot of light." -- AFP
0 comments:
Post a Comment