The Manchester Derby
Saturday afternoon’s Manchester Derby is our first Top Match of the weekend. It promises to be a tight affair as both hosts United and visitors City are heading into the fixture on the back of good recent results.
City are hot on the heels of league leaders Arsenal and will be desperate to take all three points. United, meanwhile, are starting to finally look like a cohesive and even dangerous team now that manager Erik ten Hag (52) has them dancing to the beat of his Dutch drumline, they've won six competitive matches on the bounce since the World Cup break.
Here are the two players that could make the difference in the battle for Mancunian supremacy.
Marcus Rashford
United’s, and possibly the league's, most in-form attacking player, Marcus Rashford (25) has been sparkling of late on the back of some striking performances at the World Cup for England.
The local lad, and academy product, has scored in all of the last six competitive fixtures for United, netting seven goals in those games and registering two assists, as well. A standout in that run of goals was the one Rashford bagged in the EFL Cup against Burnley.
Another highlight for Rashford since the break was the clash with Wolves. He came on at halftime to net the winner after being benched by Ten Hag for being late to a team meeting. It seems like nothing can derail Rashford’s form at the moment and he’d love to bag a goal against City in front of the Old Trafford faithful.
There were some murmurings that Rashford might be on his way out of the club this transfer window but it may be, on the contrary, that we are just entering the true era of Marcus at United.
Riyad Mahrez
Before the World Cup break, it was all about Erling Haaland (22) at the Etihad. The big Norwegian started life in the Premier League in absolutely terrifying form. He has similarly bagged four goals since the break but he’s been a little less dominant than earlier in the season. That can only be said thanks to the incredibly high bar he has set for himself. Before the World Cup, he was scoring more than a goal a game in the league, now he's down to merely a goal a game.
Another player who has come to the forefront recently for Pep Guardiola's slick City is Riyad Mahrez (31). The crafty Algerian international has also scored four goals since club football returned, with an assist to boot.
Recently, Mahrez came on to score the winner against Chelsea in the league and then, in the FA cup match between the same sides, he scored a brace to demoralise Chelsea further in the 4-0 demolition job.
When he’s good, it’s an absolute delight to watch Mahrez wave his wand of a foot around the field and he's proven that he is a true threat from set pieces, too. Can he conjure up some more magic in the big one this weekend?
The North London Derby
Sunday’s North London derby sees Spurs and Arsenal meeting in quite different form.
Antonio Conte’s Tottenham are having a funny old season. In the league, they aren’t doing terribly and are still very much in the race for the top four despite failing to convince fans and pundits alike with their streaking and often laboured performances. Since the break, they’ve recorded a draw, a loss and then a 4-0 destruction of Crystal Palace away.
Just when you think the wheels are finally falling off, they suddenly aren’t. Which Spurs will show up when it matters on Sunday is anyone’s guess.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, on the other hand, are sitting pretty atop the table and five points clear. Their dream of a return to the glory days is starting to look less like a dream and more like an expectation with every passing round of fixtures.
But can they handle that pressure with a slightly depleted squad? The atmosphere in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday will surely ask them all sorts of new questions as well.
Here are two players who could determine who grabs the bragging rights in North London.
Harry Kane
Harry Kane (29) is so good for Spurs that it’s almost becoming boring to mention him and his impact on the side. In their four competitive fixtures since the break, he’s scored four goals and played every single minute.
What's more, he's already scored 15 goals in the league this season. Tottenham's next-best player in that metric has just four - that says it all, really.
This weekend's match could offer up another significant milestone for Kane. He is just one away from Jimmy Greaves' record of 266 goals for Tottenham. It would be spectacular for him to equal, or even better - break, that record at home against the Gunners.
Kane's importance for his club is both his strength and the weakness of the team as it only demonstrates just how dependent they are on him for success.
If Kane fires this weekend, Spurs could upset their local rivals and hand City a massive favour in the title race. If not, expect them to struggle to break Arsenal down and create chances.
Eddie Nketiah
Arsenal have not lost a competitive match in five, have only lost once in the league all season and are five points clear at the top of the table, as mentioned. As opposed to Spurs, Arteta has turned Arsenal into a team that doesn't rely on the form of a single player.
Unfortunately, they lost first-choice striker Gabriel Jesus (25) over the break to an injury which was a huge blow. The key question as the league came back was who will step into that void?
It’s fair to say all three of the current first-choice attacking line - Bukayo Saka (21), Gabriel Martinelli (21), and Eddie Nketiah (23) - have been in fine touch as has captain Martin Odegaard (24) pulling the strings behind them.
Nketiah, however, has really stepped up in the absence of Jesus, netting four goals in four games since they returned to action.
Few doubted his talent but many doubted that he could provide a steady supply of goals. He’s gone and proved those critics wrong and, as a Gunner through and through, he’d love nothing more than to extend that scoring streak against Spurs on Sunday.
Follow all the action from the Premier League this weekend on Flashscore.
