Adrian Mills’ selections from Saturday’s Premier League matches include wins for Manchester United and Chelsea.
Following the international break, there are no fewer than eight Premier League games to look forward to on Saturday.
The top three – Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton – are all in action, while both Everton and Southampton look to end their losing runs.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s 8pm game could be the most entertaining fixture of the gameweek, with Bournemouth playing host to Chelsea.
Best bets
Man Utd to beat Southampton and BTTS
Liverpool v Nottingham Forest: Diogo Jota to score first
Aston Villa v Everton: Draw HT/Aston Villa FT
Chelsea to beat Bournemouth
Saints offer Red Devils chance to get back on track
A 3-0 home defeat to major rivals Liverpool was far from ideal for Erik ten Hag going into an international break, but the fixture list looks to have been kind to Manchester United on their return.
Southampton are one of just two teams yet to collect a point, but boss Russell Martin will stick to his principles to play out from the back.
United should be able to take advantage of that with a high line, the style of play they began with in the first 20 minutes against Liverpool.
It’s worth noting though that Ten Hag’s men have only kept one clean sheet in their last 12 Premier League away games and Saints will feel they can get at the visitors’ backline.
Jota out to cut down tricky Trees
Arne Slot couldn’t have asked for a better start to life in charge of Liverpool, with three wins from three and no goals conceded.
The next challenge comes in the shape of a Nottingham Forest side who have become tougher to break down under Nuno Espirito Santo.
With a plethora of attacking options though, Liverpool will expect to add another three points, with the Reds having scored six goals in their last two home games against Forest.
Diogo Jota has scored three of those six goals, opening the scoring on both occasions, and looks a good bet to find the net again.
Villa good enough to down Toffees
A nightmare injury-time home defeat to Bournemouth last time out leaves Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and still without a point.
A trip to Villa Park is not the ideal fixture on their return to action, with no league win at Villa for the Toffees since 2016.
With injury problems still impacting Everton’s thin squad, it looks likely that Sean Dyche will try and set up a plan to keep Villa at bay for as long as possible.
The two teams drew 0-0 at Goodison Park in January but, on home turf, Villa should be able to find a breakthrough in the second half at .
Work in progress Blues look dangerous
Two of the most entertaining teams to date meet at the Vitality Stadium, as Bournemouth and Chelsea go head-to-head in Saturday’s late game.
With all the changes at Stamford Bridge in the summer it is going to take some time for the Blues to find some consistency.
With more scrutiny on Enzo Maresca and his team at home, away games may suit them more and the Cherries’ attacking style might play into the hands of the visitors.
It’s also worth noting that Chelsea are unbeaten on their last three trips to Bournemouth, with one win and two draws.
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