Gameweek 2 of the Premier League witnessed plenty of action and was the highest-scoring weekend in the league’s 20-team history, with 44 goals scored. Defending champions Liverpool continued their perfect start to the season while ruining Chelsea’s courtesy a 2-0 away win at Stamford Bridge. The upcoming gameweek could see more teams lose their perfect starts this season with a couple of encounters taking place between clubs who are yet to drop points so far. Here’s a look at what could happen in those contests.
Crystal Palace vs Everton
Both teams are unbeaten this season, having won their opening two matches. Crystal Place will be confident in their ability to beat Everton even though they have lost three of their last five league meetings against them and played out goalless draws during the Merseysiders’ last two visits to Selhurst Park. Wilfred Zaha will be brimming with confidence after bagging a brace in the previous gameweek and will want to leave his mark on the game again.
Everton, on the other hand, can be expected to get the better of Palace, especially if their last visit to London, when they beat Tottenham Hotspur on the opening day of the season, is anything to go by. Their performance last week was even better with new acquisitions James Rodriguez, who scored his first goal for the club, and Allan pulling the strings from midfield to help the Toffees make it consecutive wins to help kickstart their campaign.
Watch out for:
Dominic Calvert-Lewin: Dominic Calvert-Lewin has begun the new season like a man on a mission and if he can manage to sustain his early-season form for the entirety of the campaign, then it’s hard to see England manager Gareth Southgate leaving him out of the squad for the Euros next summer. The 23-year-old is the joint top-scorer in the league at present and scored Everton’s first Premier League hat-trick since Wayne Rooney netted thrice at Goodison Park in November 2017.
Liverpool vs Arsenal
Liverpool demonstrated just why they are champions of England last week. A controlled and relatively comfortable display saw the Reds beat a ten-man Chelsea side, and Jurgen Klopp’s men will back themselves to snap Arsenal’s unbeaten start to the season. The last two league meetings between the teams at Anfield has ended in a 5-1 and 3-1 win for the hosts, and it will take something special from Arsenal to avoid another defeat on the red half of Merseyside.
Arsenal, though, will be bullish about their chances of taking something from the match having beaten Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium after Project Restart and edging them on penalties in the FA Community Shield last month. The Gunners will also take heart from the positive manner in which they have begun the season and hope that their manager Mikel Arteta can add another win to his record of four victories and two draws in nine matches against the league’s big six as Arsenal boss.
Watch out for:
Roberto Firmino: The Brazilian attacker may not have opened his account in the league yet, but Roberto Firmino is certain to enter this contest in a positive frame of mind with plenty of good memories of playing against the Gunners to back him up. Firmino, who provided the assist for Sadio Mane’s opener against Arsenal last week, has netted eight goals against Arsenal in the Premier League. Seven of his eight strikes have come at Anfield, including a hat-trick in December 2018.
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Feature image courtesy: AFP / Paul Childs/Pool
