Premier League preview: Liverpool revival, Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace, Dyche's Forest travel to the beach and City bid to end Villa nightmare

The football machine never stops and after a full programme of European fixtures, the Premier League  returns for more pulse-pounding drama and superb sporting action

An exciting set of games headlined by a London derby between Arsenal and Crystal Palace  will see teams bid to sink or swim as the action heats up.

Ahead of Saturday's fixtures, DAZN News’ Matt Astbury picks out the key storylines in this latest round of Premier League fixtures.

Do Liverpool continue recovery at Brentford?

After the 2-1 loss to Manchester United on Sunday, a fourth successive defeat, it felt like the sky was falling for Liverpool . Television analysis, radio phone-ins, podcasts were all painting the picture that the Reds were in a never-ending downward spiral.

Some calm has since been restored with a 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League . While it was a return to winning ways, the major talking point was off the pitch where Mohamed Salah was left on the bench after a poor start to the season. Salah did make an appearance in the second half, but he still struggled.

Two stars of the show were attackers Hugo Ekitiké and Florian Wirtz, whose goal and assists respectively inspired the Reds to come back from 1-0 to beat the German side 5-1.

Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Brentford is up next for Arne Slot’s side, and no doubt Liverpool would be looking to bring the high energy from Frankfurt to West London. But will Salah start?

It feels like this could be the start of a new era for Liverpool and maybe Slot is starting to realise that Salah may not be best suited to the philosophy he is trying to implement.

Brentford under Keith Andrews however will be a test. They have lost just one of their four Premier League games at the G-Tech, and in this exact same fixture last season, Liverpool left it late to beat the Bees courtesy of two goals from Darwin Nunez in added time.

Sean Dyche faces tough Premier League test with Forest

The Sean Dyche era is underway at Nottingham Forest with a 2-0 win over Portugal's Porto in the Europa League on Thursday night. 

Up next, Dyche's first Premier League game as Forest boss, and it's a tough task with a trip to Bournemouth who have become a serious force under manager Andoni Iraola. 

Dyche will have his work cut out in trying to blunt an intense and dangerous Cherries attack who last weekend put three past Crystal Palace. However, if there is one man to come up with a defensive masterclass, it's Dyche. 

Forest do have attacking options of their own with the likes of Morgan Gibbs-White, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Dan Ndoye who can cause problems for a Bournemouth side who sometimes 'switch off' in the crucial moments. 

If Dyche can get a result on the south coast, then the chaos of Ange Postecoglu will be a distant memory. 

Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace cannot be missed

Sitting at the top of the table with a three-point cushion, Arsenal are in a good place.

A comprehensive 4-0 over Atletico Madrid in midweek is keeping spirits high in North London, but the visitors to the Emirates on Sunday, Crystal Palace could spoil the party.

Palace suffered a 1-0 loss to AEK Larnaca in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday night, but the Eagles have proven that they are still not a force to be reckoned with. After beating Liverpool last month and drawing 3-3 with Bournemouth in a game of the season contender last weekend, Oliver Glasner will be hoping his gameplan can be an early stumbling block for the Gunners’ title charge.

If Arsenal are to make this a slightly easier affair, they need to score early. With Victor Gyokeres scoring twice against Atletico, the striker is gaining more and more confidence, and he will have to play a crucial role in Sunday’s match.

The Swede will have to keep Palace’s physical defence busy to open up spaces for the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eberechi Eze. Palace do have attacking threats of their own and after bagging a hattrick last weekend, striker Jean-Philippe Mateta will be hoping to add more to his tally with the Eagles searching for their first win at Arsenal since October 1994.

Man City to end nightmare trips to Villa Park?

Carl Recine/Getty Images

With most of the Premier League focusing on the likes of Arsenal, struggles at Liverpool and Nottingham Forest’s managerial carnival, Manchester City have quietly gone about their business.

Erling Haaland is scoring goals for fun and after an early season wobble, they are now three points behind league leaders Arsenal.

A trip to Villa Park awaits for Pep Guardiola and co., and it is a ground they have struggled at in recent seasons. Winless in their last three trips to Birmingham, City will be looking to get three points on the board to keep in touching distance of Arsenal.

Aston Villa are also experiencing a rich run of form, winning their last three league matches. However, this positive atmosphere will have taken a hit after a shock loss to Dutch cup winners Go Ahead in the Europa League on Thursday night. 

How to watch the Premier League in Canada

Soccer fans in Canada can watch every Premier League match during the 2025-26 season on DAZN.

With Fubo Sports on DAZN, Canadians can catch Premier League action as well as Serie A. Additionally, DAZN is the home of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Bundesliga and more.

For pricing information and to sign up to watch,  click here .