Liverpool vs Arsenal headlines a Big Weekend packed with jeopardy — and more than one manager already staring at the sack.
Manchester United, Rangers and Sheffield United fans will be calling for their manager’s head if results go wrong, and they’d have every reason to.
At this early stage of 2025/26, it already feels like a season-defining round of fixtures for those three clubs, while Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City are out to prove they should be the favourites for the Premier League title.
Game to watch: Liverpool v Arsenal
Arsenal visit Premier League champions Liverpool at Anfield in the first clash between two genuine Premier League title contenders. Sorry, Spurs.
We should learn a lot about the Gunners’ title credentials after three successive second-place finishes, while Arne Slot’s gung-ho style will be tested against a defence yet to concede a goal in 2025/26.
There are fascinating battles all over the pitch. Martin Zubimendi is destined to be booed after snubbing Liverpool last summer, and his performance compared to Ryan Gravenberch will be interesting. Anfield is a cauldron, and the pitch can feel tiny for midfielders under pressure. Zubimendi is press-resistant, but he’ll need to be razor-sharp against one of the most intense, attack-minded teams around.
Arsenal are without Bukayo Saka and probably captain Martin Odegaard, which should see Noni Madueke start on the right and Eberechi Eze make his debut in midfield. With the defence likely unchanged, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba must deal with the unorthodox Hugo Ekitike, while Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori will be up against Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah. Those are daunting duels for Arsenal’s defenders, though Liverpool’s forwards won’t have it all their own way either.
Meanwhile, Viktor Gyokeres will look to exploit Ibrahima Konate, whose start to the season has been shaky. But if the Swede strays too close to Virgil van Dijk, he risks being gobbled up by the Liverpool captain, who’s somehow still absolutely incredible.
There’s quality everywhere, setting the stage for a high-class football match. Arsenal will attack, but won’t do so recklessly, while Liverpool just want to attack, attack and attack some more. And both sides are perfect so far, with Arsenal edging past Manchester United before thrashing Leeds United, while Liverpool found late drama against Bournemouth and even more at Newcastle United.
Last season, both meetings between Slot and Mikel Arteta finished 2-2. Another Desmond would suit the spectators nicely, and at this early stage of the season it’s probably a result both managers would accept before kick-off.
We can’t help but predict a brilliant match. Bring it on.
Manager to watch: Ruben Amorim
On paper, there’s no better fixture than Burnley — favourites to finish bottom of the Premier League — at home for Manchester United after a humiliating cup exit to a club three divisions below. In reality, there might be no worse fixture for an under-fire head coach desperate for a result, and more importantly, a performance.
Wednesday was a dark, dark night for Ruben Amorim and United. Not only did League Two Grimsby Town beat them, they outplayed them. United showed some character to claw their way back from two goals down and force penalties, but deserve absolutely zero credit having failed to get the job done. Amorim looked beaten during the shootout after fiddling with his magnets at 2-0 down, and his comments after the game were damning. Does he even want to keep this job?
Saturday’s match will say more than any soundbite. A draw could leave Amorim on the brink. Defeat, and he should be gone, with the international break providing the perfect window for a replacement before United head to…Manchester City. And then Chelsea at home. Yikes.
Even a win would only paper over the cracks, but that’s all Amorim can do for now. What’s certain is there’ll be no change in formation on Saturday, despite his beloved 3-4-2-1 looking utterly unworkable. Tactical tweaks and, crucially, signs of adaptability are essential. Without them, he’s not going to last.
Burnley are beatable, of course, but they’re the definition of awkward. They’ll make it ugly, and there’s a very real chance Scott Parker wins the tactical battle against Amorim. Bleak.
READ MORE: Ranking nine possible next Man Utd managers with Amorim sack ‘imminent’
Player to watch: William Osula
There’s plenty of intrigue around players this weekend — from Eze, Florian Wirtz and Konate in Liverpool v Arsenal to the underperformers in Amorim’s Manchester United squad. But the biggest question mark may come at Elland Road, where Anthony Gordon’s suspension opens the door for William Osula to lead the line for Newcastle against Leeds United.
Whether Eddie Howe actually trusts him is another matter. Reports suggest Osula could even leave the club, leaving Newcastle strikerless – albeit with a seventh-choice £73m striker coming soon – and Howe has done little to dispel that notion. Still, his late goal in Monday’s dramatic 3-2 defeat to Liverpool should be enough to earn him a start, or at the very least, more minutes off the bench.
Once he’s on the pitch, Osula has to seize the moment. Few believe he’s the long-term answer to Newcastle’s striker problem, but he can change perceptions. His instinctive finish under Alisson almost salvaged a point against Liverpool, and if the 22-year-old can help inspire Newcastle to their first win of the season, who knows what doors might open?
Leeds are reeling after conceding five at Arsenal and crashing out of the Carabao Cup to Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday. With Gordon suspended and Joelinton and Sandro Tonali both likely sidelined, someone has to step up; this is Osula’s chance to stake a serious claim.
Team to watch: Manchester City
Pep Guardiola’s rotation roulette makes Man City an unpredictable team every week, and it will be interesting to see how he reacts to a poor performance and result at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Led by new signing Tijjani Reijnders, his team played Wolves off the park on matchday one, yet there were changes for the visit of Thomas Frank’s side. Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush came in for Bernardo Silva and Jeremy Doku, and we can easily see the former coming back into the starting XI for Brighton away on Sunday afternoon.
Brighton away is a very tricky fixture, especially considering City lost at the Amex last season. Their record against the Seagulls is mostly excellent, but 2024/25 was not the City we know, losing away and drawing at home against Sunday’s opponents.
Reijnders is one of the only guaranteed starters in this City team, and he has a formidable midfield opponent in Man United-linked Carlos Baleba. Having took the p*ss out of Joao Gomes and Andre, his quality should shine through. Other than him, it’s difficult to predict who starts. Even Erling Haaland isn’t safe as Guardiola searches for a new recipe for success. And then you have James Trafford or Ederson, the defensive options, Rayan Ait-Nouri’s fitness, and if Rodri will come in for Nico Gonzalez.
This should be an entertaining game between two attacking teams, and another match in which we should learn plenty about this new-look, more youthful Cityzens team.
Football League game to watch: Middlesbrough v Sheffield United
Manager pressure is becoming a theme of this Big Weekend, with new Sheffield United boss Ruben Selles enduring a nightmare start, while new Middlesbrough manager Rob Edwards has achieved perfection with three wins from three.
The Blades sit bottom of the table. Yes, it’s still early days, but after racking up 90 points last season and falling just short in the play-off final, their position is alarming. Three defeats on the spin have piled the pressure on Chris Wilder’s replacement— a very different story to Edwards.
For the former Luton Town boss, this feels like a chance to reset his reputation after the way things unraveled at Kenilworth Road. Taking over from Michael Carrick at the Riverside gives him a platform, and Boro are a club with Premier League ambitions. Beating a side expected to bounce back into the promotion race would make a statement. For Sheffield United, it’s equally an opportunity to stop the bleeding and be a catalyst for recovery.
History doesn’t favour Selles. Middlesbrough are unbeaten in their last nine meetings with the Blades. This could be brutal.
European game to watch: Rangers v Celtic
The first of presumably 16 Glasgow Derbies/Old Firms this season arrives in an embarrassing week for Scotland’s two biggest clubs.
Celtic crashed out of the Champions League play-offs in historically grim fashion, losing on penalties to Kazakh side FC Kairat — statistically the second-worst exit in the competition’s history. Opta Power Rankings place Kairat as the 473rd-best team in the world, sandwiched between Luton and Wycombe Wanderers. Even Linfield sit higher in UEFA’s coefficient table. It’s not quite Progres Niederkorn and Pedro Caixinha arguing in bushes, but it’s still really, really bad.
Brendan Rodgers’ side failed to score across 210 minutes, though they may not feel quite as crushed as their rivals come Sunday.
Rangers somehow managed to go lower. Already trailing 3-1 on aggregate heading to Belgium, they produced one of the most humiliating nights in their history: a 6-0 thrashing by Club Brugge, sealing a 9-1 aggregate defeat. Any hope of a miracle ended quickly — 1-0 down after five minutes, then down to 10 men three minutes later. Max Aarons, formerly of Bournemouth and Norwich, inexplicably hauled down Christos Tzolis 40 yards from goal, earning one of the most obvious red cards you’ll ever see. From there, it was carnage: five down at half-time, with Brugge showing mercy after Tzolis’ strike made it six in the 50th minute.
Those midweek calamities set up a fascinating derby at Ibrox. As always, regardless of form, it will be fought with every fibre of hatred the two clubs have for each other.
Russell Martin now faces more pressure than even Amorim at Manchester United. After the Brugge debacle and three draws from three Premiership games, his position is hanging by a thread. There’s no better fixture to win the fans back, but another defeat could spell the end before September. Sack him now, and there’s still a season to salvage. Wait until December, and it’s already gone.
READ NEXT: Man Utd post-Ferguson managers ranked: Ruben Amorim bottom and even worse than Moyes
