The Premier League is dragged kicking and screaming into another international break with Chelsea v Arsenal and Liverpool hoping to stay on top before we all spend two weeks reflecting on the utter uselessness of Lee Carsley’s final England team.

Match to watch: Chelsea-Arsenal
It always looked like an important game leading up to the international break that would offer a tough test of a London club’s title credentials and sure enough, just as we all predicted, we really are set to learn a lot here about whether Chelsea really have what it takes. falling behind real top contenders like Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

This is a fun season, right? God knows Arsenal and his frayed manager Mikel Arteta He could have done an easier task than this heading into two weeks of much-needed rest and recovery.

They come into this match with an identical record to their London rivals of five wins, three draws and a couple of losses, but it is difficult to argue that Arsenal’s path to that record has been more compelling or convincing.

They seem to be in the process of questioning everything as their manager desperately tries to find a way past Manchester City, who stutter a bit as they both allow Liverpool to sneak in. It all sounds a bit like that 1,500 meter final at the Olympic Games, doesn’t it? But the 1,500 meters final at the Olympic Games, if one of the two greats had entered the field and touched the ball for no other reason than the overheating of his head under the pressure of his situation and the suffocating weight of all that unnecessarily hair dense. .

It’s tempting to think that Arsenal might be happy enough to leave Stamford Bridge with a point solidly earned and move on. That would stop the bleeding and quiet the noise during a two-week period when someone needs to be the crisis club and there won’t be the usual coverage provided over the last year and a half by Erik ten Hag and Man. Kingdom.

Depending on how the rest of the weekend went, Arsenal really need to win this game. They could well start 10 points behind Liverpool and eight points behind Man City. Alternatively, they can start this game somewhat closer to both teams in terms of points, but somehow eighth in the table below Aston Villa and Brighton and even Spurs. if they manage to avoid any behavior from Dr. Tottenham against Ipswich.

The Gunners could really do with something much, much kinder than that relentlessly mischievous computer after a run of one point in three games and ahead of the final international break of the year.

Team to watch: Liverpool
As final and compelling proof that Arne Slot’s Liverpool have officially become Manchester City’s primary challenger, it is now their fans who will once again be heard with the Arsenal refrain for the past two years:

“We are not favorites! Don’t say we are favorites! That’s an absurd idea! Nobody is a favorite against City! 115 charges!

However, they really do look like the best team out there at the moment, and if they can beat Aston Villa on Saturday night, it will be desperately difficult to keep the noise down during the international break given the vulnerability shown in North. London and East Manchester.

This attempt to muffle the noise is largely due to the same motivation that drove Arsenal fans, of course: the simple fear of being accused of bottling it up if they don’t win. There is no greater disgrace in all of sport than bottling, and denying even that the necessary conditions for a bottling are met for as long as possible is the most powerful, if sometimes desperate, defense against such an accusation.

But there is something more specifically Liverpool at play here too. Because we’re sure they’d be a lot more giddy if Jurgen Klopp was still in charge and delivering Slot’s results.

It’s not that they are not happy with what they see in Slot – very obviously – it’s just that there is still such deep affection for the former boss and all he achieved, that a slightly dull air remains around what is, by any measure, an outrageously good start to the season, one which further contrasts with the relative struggles occurring elsewhere.

It’s almost – almost – It seems that a section of some Liverpool fans might be almost uncomfortable with the idea of ​​Slot getting promoted and casually winning the Premier League in his first season, something that is now at least an extremely real possibility, lest it happen. In some ways it will be seen to detract from the achievements of his beloved Klopp.

In some ways it makes sense that football fandom doesn’t really make any sense, but that Klopp-Liverpool relationship really was special.

Anyway, they are absolutely flying and seem to be racing towards Aston Villa on cue too at the back of The absolute beating that occurred in the second half at Tottenham and the Champions League defeat in Bruges.

The fans may not like it as much as they should, but for now everything seems to be happening in Liverpool.

Coach to follow: Nuno Espirito Santo
We are really happy for him.something that doesn’t happen to us often. After that disastrous Spurs spell with a move to the lucrative dead end that is Saudi Arabia, it really suggested a too-early end to the important managerial career of someone who is clearly very good at it when given the right conditions.

Nottingham Forest have presented him with those conditions, as Wolves did before, and if he and his team can chart a course past an inconsistent and unconvincing Newcastle side on Sunday afternoon, then the Premier League table will look very strange again. at least a couple of weeks. Which is good.

Player to watch: Erling Haaland
After all, everything suddenly became a little human for the Goalbot 3000, didn’t it? After 10 goals in their first five Premier League games of the season, there has only been one in the last five, and that was against Southampton, which barely counts.

He remains a ridiculous specimen, which means this incredibly bleak October he has endured has also involved three Champions League goals. But the missed penalty against Sporting as it was completely overshadowed by Viktor Gyokeres It was another worrying moment in a worrying career for Haaland.

And, as always with Haaland, when the goals stop flowing there is not much more to offer from what remains a deeply unusual footballer.

No one is claiming that Brighton represent an easy place to get back on track before the interval, but they have the second-most leaky defense in the top half. They will give him and City chances to get back on track. But can they take them?

Football League Match to Watch: Sheffield United vs Sheffield Wednesday
Some Steel City derby action for you on Sunday lunchtime here, with the Blades looking to keep up their bid to keep the old yo-yo going in another promotion push, while the Owls can at least tackle the game without total fear afterwards. winning two of their last three games to crawl into mid-table.

European match to watch: Inter-Napoli
If you’re still not quite satisfied after an absurdly fattening pre-break Barclays weekend, then what better way to end Sunday night as we all sadly head into two weeks of speculation over Thomas Tuchel’s involvement in for-some-reason-yet. -Lee Carsley’s England than a big piece of Inter-Napoli?

Italy’s last two champions meet as the current top two, with top spot at stake as Antonio Conte’s Napoli now hold a lead of just one point following last week’s heavy home defeat to Atalanta.

Inter, for their part, rested several starters in midweek with this match in mind, but were still able to inflict defeat on Arsenal in crisis.

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