By Adedapo Adesanya
Following last week’s international break, the fifth week of the 2019/2020 English Premier League kicks off on Saturday, September 14, 2019 as last season’s runner up, Liverpool welcome Newcastle to Anfield for an early kickoff slated for 12:30 p.m.
Five matches are slated for the ‘rush’ period of 3 p.m. Burnley, who have scored only three times in their last four games, will hope to extend that tally as they pay a visit to the Amex Stadium to play host Brighton & Hove Albion.
Brighton, after a 3-0 victory on opening day, have taken just one point from nine available. More surprisingly, the team hasn’t scored more than one goal at home in their last 14 league fixtures.
Kicking off simultaneously will be the match to watch out for as 2016 champions, Leicester City visit Old Trafford to face the league’s most decorated club, Manchester United.
Coach Ole Gunna Solkjaer revealed that the club would be without top striker Anthony Martial, playmaker Paul Pogba, and left back, Luke Shaw while new signing Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jesse Lingard both look doubtful. Leicester City will be coming with a good form as they are one of only three teams that are unbeaten at this stage of the season.
Also kicking off at the same time would be Sheffield United playing host to Southampton at the Bramall Lane and if they win against Southampton and other results go their way, they could end up third in the table. Southampton, which picked a point against Manchester United, would be hoping to get something good out of this fixture.
After throwing away a two-goal lead against Arsenal in game week 4, Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to make up for this as they welcome Crystal Palace who only conceded two goals in the opening four games the team has played. However, despite this, the team has only scored three goals this season, the second lowest so far in the league and Tottenham will be hoping to capitalize on that.
The fifth game for 3 p.m. would be Wolverhampton Wanderers following their 3-2 loss to Everton in game week 4, welcome Chelsea. With Wolves’ Europa League ambition telling on the team’s league form, Frank Lampard’s Chelsea will be looking to capitalize. However, there would be need for the Blues to fix their defense as the club has conceded nine goals in the first four games.
The last kick off on Saturday for 5.30 p.m. will see Norwich welcome the league’s defending champion, Manchester City. The match will see the league’s top scorers Sergio Aguero and Teemu Pukki each with five goals look to add more to their tallies. However, Norwich will have their work cut out for them with the attacking strength of Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne who are both in top form.
Two games are scheduled for Sunday as Bournemouth, who lost their last game to Leicester City, will be looking to get back on track when they play host to Everton at the Vitality Stadium at 2 p.m. Bournemouth’s only win so far this season came against Aston Villa having lost the last two against Manchester City and Leicester, conceding three goals each time.
The second game scheduled for 4.30 p.m. would see bottom of the league Watford welcome Arsenal who will be capitalizing on this to go higher from the fifth position on the table. However, with striker, Alexandre Lacazette ruled because of an ankle injury, the Gunners will be banking on the form of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe with Dani Ceballos to steal three points at Vicarage Road.
The final game for week 5 would see West Ham visit Aston Villa. West Ham’s impressive form has seen them get 7 points and hold the 7th position on the table and following the top form of striker Sebastien Haller who has three goals in his last two games, Aston Villa has their work cut out for them if they want to move higher than 18th position.
