Five talking points as Premier League returns

The Premier League returns this weekend - for its first properly undisrupted run of the season.

Top-level club football has had to stop for international breaks in September, October and November, but the next one is not until March now.

It coincides with the busy festive period next month.

BBC Sport looks at five talking points as the Premier League gets back under way.

Can anyone stop Liverpool? Will City get back to winning ways?

Liverpool are flying under Arne Slot and sit top of the Premier League and the Champions League table, having dropped points in just two games this season.

They are five points clear of Manchester City, who have lost four games in a row in all competitions - something Pep Guardiola had never experienced before in his managerial career (excluding penalty shootouts).

Despite their recent run and speculation about the Spaniard's future, however, Guardiola this week agreed a new one-year deal to extend his stay at Etihad Stadium to 10 years.

It is a timely boost for City, who have another potentially tough game at home to Tottenham on Saturday (17:30 GMT) as they bid to avoid five defeats in a row.

This is the sixth occasion a team has been five points clear after 11 games - the first five all ended up as champions.

But City have won the last four Premier League titles and trailed the leaders by more than five points at one stage in each of those seasons.

Liverpool and City have one Premier League game each before they meet in a potential blockbuster at Anfield on Sunday, 1 December.

Arsenal, who have been runners-up for the past two seasons, are four points back - level with Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Brighton.

The Gunners and Forest meet on Saturday at 15:00 GMT at the Emirates.

Opta's Premier League title winner simulation (percentages)

Excludes teams with a below 1% chance - Chelsea 0.3%, Newcastle 0.1%

Source: Opta

There will be a new face in the Premier League this weekend - new Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim.

The deal was done for the Sporting manager on 1 November but his Portuguese club wanted him to wait until the international break before moving.

Ruud van Nistelrooy had been in interim charge after the sacking of Erik ten Hag - but the club's former striker departed too as Amorim did not want him part of his backroom staff.

Amorim takes his new team to Ipswich on Sunday (16:30 GMT) in the Premier League.

He is expected to play the 3-4-3 formation he preferred in Portugal - a big change from the standard four-man defence they had under Ten Hag.

However, he might only get his full squad together two days before his first game because of players being around the world for international games.

United will hope Amorim's first Premier League game goes like his first Portuguese top-flight match as a manager - when his Braga side won 7-1 at Belenenses in January 2020.

After eight games there were four teams without any wins but, three games later, Ipswich Town, Crystal Palace, Wolves and Southampton have one victory each.

Everton and Leicester, who have two wins this term, remain only three points clear of the bottom three.

The Saints are only given a 5.2% of survival by Opta, despite being only four points off safety at this stage.

"Hopefully I'll be talking to you in two weeks," Saints boss Russell Martin told journalists before the international break. "If not, we'll see."

But he remains in charge for Saturday's home game against leaders Liverpool.

One Southampton player in buoyant mood will be defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who scored on his England debut against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday.

Fixture congestion coming up...

We are approaching the first time of the season when managers have to juggle their first-team squads as the fixtures start to pile up.

Four teams have nine games in December. The Carabao Cup quarter-finals are also being played the week before Christmas - and European games continue through December as a result of the new formats.

Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United all have nine games in December, an average of one every 3.4 days.

Some clubs, including Nottingham Forest and Brighton - who are fifth and sixth in the table respectively - only have six matches in the final month of 2024.

However, rest periods from rounds 17 and 20 this year have been increased to ensure no club plays within 60 hours of another match.

Last season Chelsea played three games in the space of 142 hours.

There will be no winter break in this campaign either - meaning clubs will be playing pretty much solidly until the first World Cup qualifiers - and next Nations League games - take place in March.

And what about injuries?

That brings us to injuries.

Nine players pulled out of the England squad for the recent Nations League double-header, an amount that raised eyebrows from fans - and even Three Lions captain Harry Kane.

We will find out when managers do their news conferences on Thursday and Friday how many out of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Aaron Ramsdale, Levi Colwill and Jarrad Branthwaite will be fit for this weekend's games.

Liverpool have not yet said whether keeper Alisson Becker could be back after six weeks out injured - but if he does return that could be the end of Caoimhin Kelleher's spell in the team.

One player who will be out for a while is Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, who was handed a seven-match domestic ban by the Football Association for using a racial slur about team-mate Son Heung-min.

He can still play Europa League matches but will not be available in the Premier League until 26 December.

Source: BBC Sport