LONDON, Sept. 3– Liverpool visits newly promoted Ipswich Town on Friday night to open the weekend’s Premier League fixtures, with Andoni Iraola still searching for his first win as Liverpool coach.
Liverpool travels ahead of next week’s Champions League opener at home to Atletico Madrid, with questions persisting over its defense. Late-window signing Bradley Barcola, who joined from Paris Saint-Germain, is likely to start on the bench on Friday but should feature at some point.
Manchester City also spent big in the transfer window, with midfielder Enzo Fernandez reunited with Enzo Maresca following his big-money move from Chelsea.
Fernandez could feature in City’s home game against Coventry, which is still seeking its first points since returning to the Premier League.
Tottenham’s summer spending has so far failed to dispel doubts following last weekend’s 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle. Tottenham needs to avoid a third consecutive league defeat when it visits Nottingham Forest, which will look to build on the hard-earned point it took at Anfield a week ago.
Newcastle’s win at Tottenham suggested the players are adapting well to new coach Matthias Jaissle, and the team now hosts Bournemouth, which has shown signs of improvement under Marco Rose but must stop conceding late goals.
Brentford and Sunderland have both looked solid at the start of the season, with Brentford continuing to make progress under Keith Andrews, while Sunderland claimed its first points with a 1-0 win over Fulham last weekend.
New Fulham coach Alvaro Arbeloa is still searching for his first point, although new striker Gonzalo has impressed since arriving from Real Madrid.
Fulham hosts Crystal Palace in a south London derby, with Palace also coming off consecutive defeats. New coach Pierre Sage will need new arrivals Ben Chilwell and Quinten Timber to make an immediate impact.
Leeds United visits Brighton in what promises to be an entertaining game, while Hull City will try to continue its impressive start to the season at home to Aston Villa, which has suffered two defeats but produced an improved display against Arsenal last week.
Hull completed five deadline-day signings to take its total number of new arrivals this summer to 18, but will continue its policy of allowing opponents possession while looking to cause damage on the counterattack and from set pieces.
Sunday features two fixtures: Manchester United makes the short trip to Everton, whose fans remain underwhelmed by the club’s transfer business, while Arsenal hosts Chelsea in a major test of Chelsea’s fragile defense. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
