But he scored on his return for the Baggies last week against Aston Villa, and is expected to start again on Monday when they host the Toffees.
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Bad: Results for a start.
Five teams now have nine points, so Everton are only here because they’re sporting the best goal differential among that group.
The presence of Jose Mourinho and Chelsea in his latest match is hardly the ideal scenario and even though the Blues do not have a great record on Tyneside, it is hard to see a deflated Newcastle troubling the champions who will be without the suspended Diego Costa. Whichever of these teams walks out of Avaya Stadium with zero points Sunday night, we make them go away until March. The fixture can prove to be nightmarish for Chelsea as Newcastle were the team that brought the London-based club’s unbeaten run to a stop last season. Watch this space…
Good: Just about everything.
The situation has arisen after both clubs were drawn at home in the next round of the competition. Lose either game, and we could be waving goodbye to a title challenge in October.
Leicester City – surprisingly the only undefeated Premier League side left this season – will play host to Arsenal in one of their toughest tests so far this year.
Swansea’s Andre Ayew is the next most fouled player with 18 against him, an average of three per match. The defensive midfielder has failed to recover from a knee injury, although Wenger insists the problem is not serious.
Could Edinson Cavani be swapping Paris for London?
The last time an English team won the Champions League was when Chelsea overcame Bayern Munich on penalties in the 2012 final in Germany.
It costs, however, and Wenger is always reluctant to pay the biggest money if there is the slightest element of a gamble. With Manchester United next weekend, this match is crucial in making a statement for the coming season. The lanky center-back is now set to be among those charged with attempting to stop arguably the Premier League’s star performer so far this season.
Wayne Rooney’s first domestic goal of the season gave the Red Devils a deserved lead in the first half.
Will West Ham carry on their successful start?
Good: Still waiting on this one. Lewis McGugan netted for only the second time this season, on his fourth appearance to send the Owls through with a 1-0 win.
Meanwhile, City will be without David Silva and Samir Nasri for the game but Pochettino will be looking at Kevin de Bruyne to pull the strings in midfield after a brilliant performance against Sunderland in the League Cup.
The main story: The rift between Saido Berahino and West Brom appears to be over. “That is one explanation [for his form]”. “If you go into your job and you are sad and not happy then you don’t work very well”.
Christian Benteke has added physical and aerial presence to attack, while James Milner’s solid presence has bolstered midfield.
Navas is essentially Manchester City’s version of Antonio Valencia – a speedster, but one who has no plan B and little quality in distributing the ball.
Best young strikers in the world – Kane, Lukaku, Icardi, and more!
Transfer “to do” list: Pruning a large squad rather than additions.
The home fans can be ferocious and so could Tony Pulis back in the day.
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Manchester United might have a new hero in the form of Anthony Martial. The last time was in 2013 – and they finished second that season.
