Premier League preview: Spurs' home cooking, Arsenal going for club record and questions surrounding Liverpool-City clash

It's the final Premier League matchday before the international break and there are a number of compelling matches set for this weekend.

Things kick off with a battle between Top 4 chasers Tottenham and Manchester United and end with a clash of title hopefuls in Manchester City and Liverpool.

Ahead of the weekend's fixtures, DAZN News’ Rudi Schuller picks out the key storylines in this latest round of Premier League action.

Spurs aim to end home woes

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Tottenham are back at home for their third straight match after easily dispatching of Copenhagen in the Champions League a few days ago, but their record at home in the league leaves much to be desired. 

The club have won just once at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the 2025-26 Premier League season so far, with losses to Bournemouth and Aston Villa in the books along with a draw with prime relegation candidates Wolves. 

Spurs fell again last week, this time to Chelsea, with the home fans giving the team a full-throated round of boos at the full-time whistle. To make matters worse, defenders Mickey van de Ven and Djed Spence were seen snubbing Thomas Frank as the manager attempted to have the players acknowledge the crowd.

Van de Ven and Spence's actions dominated the narrative surrounding the team until their big midweek win, during which the former scored a ridiculous goal to massive applause from the Spurs faithful, and Frank later said the pair had apologised for their actions.

Now the club must figure out a way to win league matches at home, and it starts with a tough test against a Man United side who have pulled themselves level on points with the North Londoners.

Arsenal have to concede again eventually, don't they?

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The Gunners' streak of clean sheets has now reached eight games across all competitions, equalling a century-old club record.

They will now look to go one better and set a new mark, after another pair of impressive shut-out victories over the past week.

Arsenal have not conceded since Sept. 28, and they've done so while defending from the front rather than sitting in a low block. This has allowed them to capitalise and score 17 goals during that eight-game stretch, meaning they are not simply playing ultra-defensive football.

However, their opposition hasn't been the cream of the crop either — Arsenal faced Olympiakos, West Ham, Fulham, Atletico Madrid, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Burnley and Slavia Prague during those eight matches. Some decent names in there, for sure, but they were not exactly running the gauntlet either.

Saturday's match at Sunderland provides more of the same in terms of opposition, with the Black Cats looking very good for a promoted side but not likely to instill much fear in the bigger teams.

Things get much tougher after the break for Arsenal, who return with a North London derby against Tottenham, followed by a heavyweight bout against Bayern Munich in the Champions League three days later, then a meeting with Chelsea.

With those massive games looming on the horizon, Arsenal will be well served to keep the winning train rolling against Sunderland this weekend. The question remains, will they give up a goal to the Black Cats?

Saving the best for last

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The final game of the weekend is arguably the biggest as Manchester City prepare to host Liverpool at the Etihad.

It's an intriguing battle at any time of the year, but given how recent matches have gone for both clubs there are some key questions that could be answered.

Man City and Liverpool are the last two champions of the Premier League and both would fancy themselves to win it again this season — Arsenal's dream start notwithstanding — and Sunday's contest could set the stage for a run by either side.

For Man City, their rebuilt squad seems to have hit their stride, with Erling Haaland leading the way with 13 goals through 10 league matches. That's more than double the next best goal scorer league-wide, with the big striker proving that he is still the single most-feared player in England.

But Haaland's goals have almost acted as a crutch for Pep Guardiola's men at times, with the 25-year-old accounting for 65 percent of Man City's production in the league alone.

Can the Sky Blues succeeed without Haaland's goals? Arne Slot will do everything in his power to make sure that Haaland will not get the kind of looks at goal and service that he thrives on, in which case Guardiola will need to go to Plan B. 

But does he have one?

Meanwhile, Liverpool have just survived their worst slump in years as they recently lost five straight matches. Four of those came in the league, knocking the Reds off their perch at the top of the table and forcing them to be one of the many teams chasing Arsenal for supremacy.

To Liverpool's credit, over their last two games they looked more like the team we expected them to be this season, with clean sheet victories against Aston Villa last weekend and Real Madrid in a midweek Champions League clash.

Slot's side were re-energised in those two contests, but the five-game skid is still too fresh to be forgotten. With another massive clash this weekend, can Liverpool regain their credentials and take down Man City or were the Villa and Real Madrid victories just a brief respite from a long fall from grace?

How to watch the Premier League in Canada

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