LONDON — Liverpool have no time to lick their wounds after back-to-back defeats as they prepare for a trip to Chelsea on Saturday while Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim is under severe pressure to beat in-form Sunderland.
Arsenal can climb to the top of the table ahead of kick-off at Stamford Bridge should they beat struggling West Ham as third-placed Crystal Palace defend the only unbeaten record in the Premier League.
AFP Sport looks at the major talking points ahead of the weekend action.A week ago all seemed to be going to plan for defending champions Liverpool, who boasted a perfect record of seven wins from as many games in the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup.
However, many of those victories were earned with last-gasp goals, papering over the cracks as Arne Slot sought to find the right balance in a squad transformed during the transfer window.
Liverpool splashed out nearly £450 million ($606 million) on new talent but also lost a number of key players including Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz to fund those moves.
The bulk of the spending went on Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, but neither of the £100-million-plus signings has yet scored for the Reds in the Premier League.
The remodelling of the Liverpool attack has also reduced the impact of Mohamed Salah, who started Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League defeat to Galatasaray on the bench.
At the other end of the pitch, new full-backs Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong have been exposed while Ibrahima Konate is woefully out of form, with his future at the club in doubt.
“I’m not watching a top team,” said former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher.
“Liverpool aren’t playing football at the moment, they are playing basketball. It is just end to end and I don’t think top teams play like that.”
Despite Liverpool’s flaws, Chelsea would love to be in their shoes.
Enzo Maresca’s men are seven points behind the leaders after taking just a single point from their past three matches.
Chelsea may be paying the price for their exertions in winning the Club World Cup in July, with injuries and suspensions already piling up.
Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and Levi Colwill are among notable injury absentees, while Trevoh Chalobah is banned after his red card provoked a collapse from 1-0 up to a 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton last week.
