The Premier League continues this weekend with Matchday 2, and Sportsnet will have live coverage of five games.
Saturday, August 18
• Tottenham vs. Fulham, 9:30 a.m. ET (Sportsnet)
• Everton vs. Southampton, 9:30 a.m. ET (Sportsnet ONE)
• West Ham United vs. Bournemouth, 9:30 a.m. ET (Sportsnet World)
• Chelsea vs. Arsenal, noon ET (Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet World)
Sunday, August 19
• Manchester City vs. Huddersfield Town, 8:00 a.m. ET (Sportsnet and Sportsnet World)
Here’s what you need to know ahead of this weekend.
MARQUEE MATCH
Chelsea vs. Arsenal: The Blues make their home debut on Saturday under new manager Maurizio Sarri, and if the Italian’s track record is any indication, Stamford Bridge should become a fortress. Sarri lost just four of his 57 home games in Serie A with Napoli, his previous team.
Arsenal has not had much luck at Stamford Bridge, going winless in their last six league games (with five losses), and have failed to score in four of their last five visits there. The Gunners have not lost their opening two matches of a Premier League season since 1992-93.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Harry Kane, Tottenham: The English forward failed to score in Spurs’ 2-1 win away to Newcastle United last week, but that should hardly come as a surprise. Kane has never scored a Premier League goal in 14 appearances during the month of August. He’ll have two more shots on breaking his August jinx, starting with Saturday’s home contest against Fulham.
DE BRUYNE OUT FOR MAN CITY
Manchester City has been dealt a big blow early on in the season, as the reigning league champions confirmed that influential attacker Kevin De Bruyne has been ruled out for three months with a knee injury. The Belgian is expected to miss 11 Premier League matches, starting with Sunday’s home game against Huddersfield Town.
CARDIFF CITY vs. NEWCASTLE UNITED
Cardiff City has lost each of its last 10 league matches against Newcastle United, its longest losing streak against an opponent during the Premier League era.
EVERTON vs. SOUTHAMPTON
Everton is unbeaten in its last 13 home games versus Southampton in the Premier League since suffering a 2-0 loss in November 1997.
LEICESTER CITY vs. WOLVES
All of Ruben Neves’s seven league goals for Wolves since the start of last season have been scored from outside the box, including last week’s free kick goal in a 2-2 draw with Everton.
WEST HAM UNITED vs. BOURNEMOUTH
It’s been dead even between these two sides in their previous six Premier League meetings, with two wins apiece and two draws.
BURNLEY vs. WATFORD
Roberto Pereyra has scored five goals for Watford in his last seven league matches, but all of those goals came at home.
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION vs. MANCHESTER UNITED
Manchester United forward Romelu Lukaku has scored against 17 of the current 20 Premier League teams. Brighton is one of the teams he hasn’t scored against, along with Cardiff City and Wolves.
CRYSTAL PALACE vs. LIVERPOOL
Liverpool’s Sadio Mane has scored five goals in seven league appearances against Crystal Palace.
THE BIG QUESTION
Every week, Sportsnet’s soccer panel will debate The Big Question. Have your say by voting in the poll below:
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INTERESTING STAT
HE SAID IT
“I could be 35 years old, move to a new football team and still wouldn’t be established. Even if you’re like Michael Carrick and you’ve won everything, you still have that hunger and want to impress everybody in every training session. That’s just the way I’ve been brought up through the academy – it’s having that relentlessness to go and perform in every training session and every match. I need to kick on, I’m 21 years old and want to prove myself.” – Scott McTominay, who is coming off a breakout campaign with Manchester United.
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