LONDON: Manchester City will be desperate to avoid a third successive defeat when they face neighbours Manchester United as the Premier League returns this weekend, with Alexander Isak set for his Liverpool debut.
City boss Pep Guardiola and United manager Ruben Amorim are both under intense pressure just three games into the season while champions Liverpool boast the top division’s only 100 per cent record.
Elsewhere, following the international break, Ange Postecoglou is back in management with Nottingham Forest, just three months after he was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur.
The Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium pits two troubled sides against each other, both of whom have just one win from three matches.
City’s consecutive defeats against Tottenham and Brighton and Hove Albion have raised questions about Guardiola’s expensive overhaul of his side after last season’s third-place finish.
Guardiola’s problems have hardly eased in the two weeks since City blew the lead at Brighton, with Egypt forward Omar Marmoush ruled out of Sunday’s derby with a knee injury.
Rayan Cherki and Mateo Kovacic remain sidelined and there are also questions over the fitness of John Stones, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rico Lewis, Nico O’Reilly and Abdukodir Khusanov, who all withdrew from international duty this week.
United needed a last-gasp penalty from Bruno Fernandes after another error-strewn display against Burnley as they finally clinched their first win of the season.
That dramatic victory came after Amorim’s team were beaten by Arsenal, drew with Fulham and suffered a humiliating League Cup exit at fourth-tier Grimsby.
Meanwhile, Liverpool on hot streak Isak says not everyone has the “whole picture” of the circumstances behind his record-breaking move to Liverpool, but Slot’s vision for the former Newcastle United striker will start to become clear against Burnley on Sunday.
Liverpool paid a British-record 125 million ($169 million) to finally lure Isak to Anfield on transfer deadline day after a prolonged pursuit of the Sweden star, whose determination to push through the move antagonised Newcastle fans.
Having boldly declared his intention to create “history” at Liverpool, the 25-year-old trained with his new team-mates for the first time this week and is expected to make his debut at Turf Moor.
Reds boss Slot has an embarrassment of riches in attack after a spending spree and it will be fascinating to see how he fits Isak into a forward line already featuring Mohamed Salah, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo.
On the other side, Postecoglou will start his stint at Forest just three months after he was unceremoniously sacked by Tottenham. Postecoglou will be back in north London on Saturday as the Australian takes charge of his new team against Arsenal.
Postecoglou was hired by Forest this week following the dismissal of Nuno Espirito Santos.
The engaging Australian’s welcome return to the Premier League comes possibly tinged with a hint of schadenfreude.
Postecoglou was axed by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy despite winning the Europa League last season to end the club’s 17-year trophy drought, so it will not have escaped his attention that Levy was forced to step down from his role last week.
However, Forest’s volatile owner Evangelos Marinakis could prove even more demanding to work for than Levy.
Nuno impressively steered Forest to their first European campaign for 30 years but paid the price for a deterioration of his relationship with Marinakis.
Marinakis immediately piled pressure on Postecoglou, who presided over Tottenham’s worst top-flight finish since 1976/77 last season, as he claimed Forest were in a position to challenge for major trophies.
Fixtures: Saturday (1400 GMT unless stated): Arsenal v Nottingham Forest (1130), Bournemouth v Brighton and Hove Albion, Crystal Palace v Sunderland, Everton v Aston Villa, Fulham v Leeds United, Newcastle United v Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur (1630), Brentford v Chelsea (1900); Sunday: Burnley v Liverpool (1300), Manchester City v Manchester United (1530).
Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2025
