Champions League hopefuls meet

In a surprise to pre-season predictors, this match is as important as a fixture in January can be in the battle for Champions League football. Nottingham Forest head into the weekend level with second-placed Arsenal, while Bournemouth are three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and seven back from Forest. The scrutiny on both teams is growing but they keep answering the questions thrown at them. Despite having no out-and-out striker last weekend, Bournemouth put four past Newcastle, giving Nuno Espírito Santo a warning. Justin Kluivert scored a hat-trick, his second of the season, at St James’ Park as Andoni Iraola’s flexible front four excelled. Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo might feel more confident against a natural No 9 but Forest’s centre-back pairing will relish the challenge. Will Unwin

• Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 3pm (all times GMT)

Brighton hope to rock Everton

Apart from Manchester United and Tottenham, Brighton have yet to beat a team from the bottom half of the table at the Amex so far this season: they have drawn with Ipswich, Wolves and Southampton and lost to Crystal Palace. Everton’s trip to the south coast should be an opportunity for Fabian Hürzeler’s side despite the visitors’ bounce under David Moyes, although the Seagulls haven’t beaten this weekend’s opponents at home since October 2019. Brighton have traditionally struggled to break down teams on home turf, but Hürzeler will hope that Danny Welbeck’s return can help them climb back into contention for European qualification. Ed Aarons

• Brighton v Everton, Saturday 3pm

Elliott deserving of Liverpool start

Harvey Elliott impressed as a second-half substitute against Lille, and in the interview that followed his match-winning Champions League performance. The 21-year-old emphatically rejected rumours of a January exit from his beloved Liverpool while admitting “it would be silly” to demand more playing time from Arne Slot with the team flying at the top of the Premier League and Champions League. It is anything but silly to state his case for a first league start of the season against Ipswich. Slot rested several defenders against Lille and planned to withdraw both Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai at half-time as he manages minutes amid Liverpool’s pursuit of four trophies. Instead, only Gravenberch exited at the interval due to the injury to Curtis Jones. Elliott, who has started only two cup games this season after missing over two months with a broken foot, should get the opportunities he craves as a result of Slot’s rotation. The attacking midfielder brought much-needed energy and creativity to Liverpool’s display. A starting role against Ipswich could be the reward. Andy Hunter

• Liverpool v Ipswich, Saturday 3pm

Saints desperately need to cut errors

Ivan Juric has brought some vague positivity when it comes to Southampton’s attacking play but the team’s foundations are built on sand. Whatever happens in the final third, they are always going to concede because the defence remains liable to committing heinous mistakes. Against Forest, Southampton had a dreadful first half in contrast to the loss at Manchester United where they collapsed late on; Juric needs to remove these phases of incompetence. Southampton’s main aim from this point on is to avoid having the lowest points total in Premier League history and the starting point is to stop chucking the ball into their own net, literally or metaphorically. Overplaying at the back and losses of concentration need to be removed to give the forwards some reassurance that they don’t need to score at least three a game in order to challenge for a draw. WU

• Southampton v Newcastle, Saturday 3pm

Pereira’s honeymoon period is over

The initial uplift feels a long time ago now. Vítor Pereira won his first two Wolves matches, a comprehensive win at Leicester and then a deserved victory over Manchester United on Boxing Day before a late equaliser at Tottenham made it seven points from nine before the year was out. But since then, Pereira has overseen three straight league defeats, plus a narrow victory at Bristol City in the FA Cup. Mario Lemina, Wolves’ former captain and one of their best performers last season, will not play before the end of the transfer window because he wants to leave amid interest from the Saudi Pro League and, after the latest defeat at Chelsea, Pereira criticised the body language of Matheus Cunha, their top scorer and talisman. Wolves had previously been optimistic about the Brazilian forward extending his contract, which runs until the summer of 2027. The visit of second-placed Arsenal to Molineux is ill-timed. Ben Fisher

• Wolves v Arsenal, Saturday 3pm

Chelsea should go for jugular at City

“They were quicker, faster,” was Pep Guardiola’s honest assessment of why Paris Saint-Germain downed his Manchester City side 4-2 on Wednesday. That result leaves City facing elimination from European football if they fail to beat Club Brugge next week: an unusual sentence to write. First, City will focus on qualification for next season’s Champions League with Sunday’s visit of fourth-placed Chelsea, who arrive a place above their hosts. The champions are fragile. Enzo Maresca should smell blood and instruct his speedy attackers to go for the jugular and profit from their hosts’ ongoing lack of confidence and ruthlessness. Jamie Jackson

• Manchester City v Chelsea, Saturday 5.30pm

Palace to right a Brentford wrong?

Had things turned out differently on the opening day of the season, where would Oliver Glasner’s side find themselves now? Crystal Palace lost 2-1 at Brentford after Samuel Barrott, the referee, disallowed a perfectly good goal from Eberechi Eze in the first half, with the visitors then failing to win any of their following seven matches in a horrible start to the campaign. That dismal run is a distant memory now, however, with Glasner having guided Palace up to 12th after winning three of their last four in the league. They have an opportunity to gain some revenge against Thomas Frank’s side on Saturday and know that a victory would take them above Brentford, with the top 10 potentially in Palace’s sights. EA

• Crystal Palace v Brentford, Sunday 2pm

Moore to give Tottenham a lift?

Is Tottenham’s clash with Leicester a relegation six-pointer? Both sides are in utterly dreadful form; Spurs haven’t won in six league matches and Leicester have lost seven in a row. The two managers refuse to change their style yet hope that repeating the same thing will lead to a turnaround. Ange Postecoglou restored some morale with victory at Hoffenheim but still has a long injury list and a substitutes bench that looks more like a creche. One of those talented youngsters is Mikey Moore, one of the brightest teenagers in the country, who has impressed in cameos. Giving the academy product a start against Leicester might be just what is needed. The winger is eager to get the ball at his feet and beat opponents. If Moore could do that against the Foxes, it might get a few fans back onside. WU

• Tottenham v Leicester, Sunday 2pm

Durán will want to prove point to Emery

After Villa’s poor performance in Monaco, the stage is set. Unai Emery felt the introduction of Jhon Durán diminished Aston Villa’s threat on Tuesday and, while it seems unlikely the striker will be rewarded with a promotion to Villa’s starting lineup, what are the odds on Durán arriving off the bench to strike the winner against West Ham, just as he did on the opening day of the season at the London Stadium? Speculation has intensified at the end of a week in which West Ham riled Villa with another bid for the Colombian, which was rejected out of hand. Emery could not hide his anger after defeat in midweek, questioning some of his players’ mentality and conceding his latest experiment of partnering Durán with Watkins had failed. The Villa manager name-checked eight of his players who followed the plan, but it felt pointed that Durán’s name was not among them. Another big goal from Durán would be the perfect riposte. BF

• Aston Villa v West Ham, Sunday 4.30pm

Has Pereira lost his Fulham focus?

With speculation swirling around Andreas Pereira’s future it was not ideal that the Fulham midfielder gave away a goal during his side’s recent defeat to West Ham. Questions were inevitably asked about Pereira’s focus, given that links with Palmeiras keep surfacing, and he was an unused substitute during last week’s 2-0 win at Leicester. Despite dropping the Brazilian for Sander Berge, Marco Silva has continued to back Pereira in public. Perhaps he will reward that loyalty when Fulham host Manchester United. He will surely want to impress against his old team. Jacob Steinberg

• Fulham v Manchester United, Sunday 7pm