Big Weekend: Arsenal v Manchester United, Newcastle, Beto, O’Neil, Old Firm

Arsenal v Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, after a bit Rangers v Celtic at lunchtime. Not a bad way to head into the always-irritatingly-early first international break of a season that has barely started…

Game to watch – Arsenal v Manchester United
This is Barclays heritage. You can’t go far wrong with Arsenal v Manchester United at any time, but this early-season encounter between the Premier League’s early giants finds both at a fascinating juncture.

For both teams, results are outstripping performances. Arsenal have struggled past Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace – two teams who spent large parts of last season in that wild nine-team relegation scramble – before being chaotically held 2-2 at home by Fulham with Mikel Arteta coming under the spotlight for going a little bit Pep by overthinking and overcomplicating proceedings rather than just carrying on with what worked for the vast majority of last season.

United, for their part, could have no complaints if they had zero rather than six points on the board. Wolves missed a stack of chances in their opener, Spurs ran out deserved 2-0 winners on United’s last visit to north London a fortnight ago, while Nottingham Forest raced into one of the Premier League’s earliest ever 2-0 leads at Old Trafford last week before falling flat on their faces and then spending the aftermath of the game shedding dignity and complaining about officials.

What United have not been able to conjure across those three games is a functioning midfield. Wolves and Spurs both simply marched through it time and again with almost absurd ease, while the attempt to deploy Christian Eriksen alongside Casemiro last week nearly ended in total disaster.

Casemiro for his part does not quite appear to be quite at his fighting weight yet and at time of writing it’s not quite clear exactly who will be lining up in United’s midfield alongside or instead of him. It’s a game that surely cries out for Scott McTominay from United’s current options, but he might have been sold and a replacement bought by the time Erik Ten Hag comes to name his team.

It’s a quirk of deadline day, of course, but that extra layer of uncertainty feels apt for two giants of Our League, who finished second and third last season, but are feeling their way into this season with a lack of clarity and conviction if not (yet) a lack of points.

Team to watch – Newcastle
They just need to be ever so slightly careful this doesn’t turn into a proper bad start. It was always an opening run of fixtures before the international break with the potential to go badly, with games exclusively against other members of last season’s top seven a particularly harsh start.

But after thrashing Villa on the opening weekend it’s been back-to-back defeats for Eddie Howe’s would-be world beaters. On its own, a narrow defeat at Manchester City would be no great drama, but follow that up with the late collapse against 10-man Liverpool at home, and you’ve got yourself a situation brewing. And now you’ve got to go and play a Brighton side whose own start to the season got spectacularly Moyesed last weekend.

West Ham are precisely the sort of low-block-and-counter team Brighton can get into strife with, a team that can just make an otherwise excellent side look a touch predictable and even pedestrian. Brighton are better set up to face more progressive teams and should weirdly enjoy this one, especially as Newcastle now come into the game under a bit of pressure.

It’s another game where on its own defeat would be tolerable. But three defeats in the opening four games of the season for a team that lost just five times all last season is not, no matter who they happen to be against.

And now they’ve also got a Champions League Group of Death. It’s not been an easy start to the season.

Player to watch – Beto
“I can’t promise goals, but I can promise effort. That’s my number one weapon.”

Oh right. Everton are going to need goals, Beto. You’re going to need to do more than try with that bit. Everton have players who can do unquantifiable vague bare-minimum stuff like effort and courage.

Beto got off the mark as Everton just about avoided Carabao disaster against a Doncaster side currently bottom of the Football League, but the weekend’s return to South Yorkshire is far more important. Sheffield United v Everton is already at this early stage of the season a game neither side dare lose but, while both are without a point, it’s Everton whose start has been the bleaker. They are yet to score a league goal but have brought in a marvellously Dyche option to try and put that right in Beto, a six-foot-four battering ram whose attributes have already delighted the Everton manager.

“As a powerful striker who can carry the ball, hold up play, is strong in the air and works hard for the team, he has a lot of attributes that we hope can see him prove to be a success with Everton.”

Could it finally be lift-off for Dycheball at Everton? Sheffield United, meanwhile, have strengthened their own attacking options with an eye-catching deal for Cameron Archer from Aston Villa. He scored 11 goals and provided six assists last season on loan at Middlesbrough, who appear to be struggling in his absence.

Manager to watch – Gary O’Neil
We still can’t quite get our heads around the phrase ‘Wolves manager Gary O’Neil’. We definitely can’t get our heads around the fact that Gary O’Neil, a man who in our ancient millennial mind should still be sat on the subs’ bench for someone like Middlesbrough while doing his coaching badges, is already on his second Premier League managerial job.

What appeared to be a thankless task has actually got off to an okay start. Wolves still don’t really do enough goalscoring, but that perennial failing can’t really be pinned on O’Neil. There was a huge amount to like about their football against Manchester United, and last weekend’s win at Everton feels like one of the most significant results anywhere in the first three rounds of games.

Having got the better of Sean Dyche last weekend, O’Neil goes up against an even more seasoned top-flight manager this weekend in Roy Hodgson. Another point on the board for O’Neil and Wolves and he can consider the first month of the season a success given how bleak the picture when Julen Lopetegui decided to sod it for a game of soldiers just before the season began.

Football League game to watch – Sunderland v Southampton
Both teams would have started the season eyeing promotion, Sunderland after reaching the play-offs last season and Southampton having dropped into the Championship from the Premier League.

But neither side has fully convinced so far this season. Southampton have still managed to amass 10 points from a possible 12, but their three wins have all been by a single goal and Russell Martin won’t be happy about the seven in the goals against column at this early stage.

Sunderland, for their part, began the season with back-to-back defeats but victory over Rotherham and a hard-fought goalless draw at fellow play-off qualifiers from last season Coventry hint at a corner turned.

It’s a long old trip for a Saturday lunchtime kick-off, but victory in the north-east would take Southampton top of the table for at least a decent chunk of the long return journey home.

European game to watch – Rangers v Celtic
The first Old Firm clash of the season should be an interesting one, with neither side approaching the game brimming with confidence. Rangers were embarrassed by PSV in the Champions League qualifiers this week, while Celtic fans and players alike are still coming to terms with swapping Angeball for a bit of Brendan Rodgers at his least inspiring.

Celtic’s last two games have been a goalless draw against St Johnstone in the league and a 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock in the League Cup. They may be top of the league, but it’s been a distinctly underwhelming start to the post-Postecoglou era and defeat at Ibrox really would put Rodgers under some early scrutiny.