Pressure is already on in 3rd round of Premier League action

Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-24 17:30:48|Editor: Li Xia
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LONDON, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Premier League moves into its third round of matches this weekend with three coaches desperately in need of a win in order to stave off the pressure that is already building on them.

Manchester United's 3-2 defeat to Brighton last weekend has kept coach Jose Mourinho in the spotlight and while the manner of the defeat seemed to give credit to his unhappiness at the club's failures in the transfer market over the summer, it also did little to raise the odds against him being the first managerial casualty of the campaign.

Mourinho has to wait until Monday for his side's crunch match against Tottenham, who are going to be direct rivals for a top-four finish, and with Harry Kane leading the 'Spurs' attack, it promises to be another stern test for Manchester United.

Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic could return as Mourinho looks to add guile and steel to his midfield, but after admitting his attitude was 'wrong' in Brighton: will Paul Pogba keep his place in the side and retain the captain's armband on a day which promises to give a lot of answers about United, Mourinho and Tottenham?

Arsenal boss Unai Emery's tactic of playing the ball out from the back has been questioned after his side kicked off the season with consecutive defeats and although the Spaniard can point to an improvement in performance as they lost 3-2 away to Chelsea last weekend, the fact is he needs points on the board.

West Ham United's visit to the Emirates should provide those points in a London derby between two teams who have lost both of their games so far..

West Ham's experienced coach, Manuel Pellegrino has had to stress that off-field problems have nothing to do with his side's poor start to the campaign and he too is in the spotlight.

Arsenal have to be favorites to finally get their season started and anything other than a win would only raise the pressure on Emery, while West Ham fans are probably already steeling themselves for another long season battling against relegation.

Liverpool's hard-fought win away to Crystal Palace on Monday night may not have been pretty, but it showed they can defend and grind out a win, something they struggled to do last season.

Brighton's visit to Anfield should provide Jurgen Klopp's men with the chance to show their more attacking qualities, but Brighton showed in their win against Manchester United that they respect nobody.

Expect goals and entertainment when Manchester City kick off the weekend away to newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers; a side that shows little fear in attack, but also little indication they are going to keep many clean sheets this season. Given that City scored six against Huddersfield last weekend, Pep Guardiola's men will probably be in the goals again.

Bournemouth aim to extend their 100 percent record at home to an unbeaten Everton, while Huddersfield need to stop leaking goals after conceding nine in their first two matches of the season.

The 'Terriers' have had a tough start to the campaign against Chelsea and Manchester City and their home match against newly promoted Cardiff City should give a better indication of both side's chances of survival.

Elsewhere, Claude Puel returns to Southampton's St Mary's Stadium as the coach of Leicester City, who are without the suspended Jamie Vardy, while Sunday sees Crystal Palace visit an in-form Watford and Fulham look for their first points of the campaign against a Burnley that is suffering as the result of their attempts to qualify for the group stage of the Europa League.

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