RecapPremier Leaguemanager news conferences &team news
Manchester derby:Guardiola: I want my players back,Amorim focused on own problems
Manchester derby analysis:Expected formations,how bad are both?
Postecoglou not worrying about bruised egos
ONeil announces change of captain
Team news:Evans,Jota,Wilson,Watkins,Akanji,Senesi,Janelt, Ajer&Jensen,Wharton,Fullkrug
SalahandSlotwin November Premier League awards
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Postecoglou not worrying about bruised egos
Jonty Colman & Tasnim Chowdhury. Edited by Murray Burnell
But dont go away! You can easily use the useful key point links to quickly find all of Fridays key team news and main stories, before this weekends Premier League fixtures. Handy if youre doing some last minute FPL research…
Weve also picked out the biggest talking points covered in this page – from Ange Postecoglous verdict on Timo Werner, Gary ONeils changing of captains and Ruben Amorim and Pep Guardiolas assessment of this Sundays Manchester derby.
Again, use the quick links to scroll through this page and recap on everything Premier League you might have missed from Friday.
The BBC Sport live page will be back on Saturday for the 15:00 GMT kick-offs.
So, a big weekend at the top and bottom of the Premier League as well as those fighting it out in the big clutch of clubs in the middle.
Here are a few things to look out for this weekend:
lead slipped slightly after not playing last weekend because of the postponement of the Merseyside derby. They are four points ahead of Chelsea before the weekend and will see a home game against Fulham as a chance to put more distance between themselves and the chasing pack.
have the leagues longest winning run – four in a row – and a home game against Brentford is a chance to add to that.
What a huge game for Gary ONeil and
. At home to Ipswich, who have just one win all season. Hes been backed this week, but a defeat at Molineux and who knows what could come next?
will be tense – both sides desperate for a win. For City, a chance to try and start a title-chase again. For United, theyre looking to escape from the bottom half of the table. That cant even happen with a win, which shows how desperate they are for points.
And what of the Principles of Play derby?
on Sunday – two managers under immense scrutiny and both also in need of a win. Spurs have been consistent in one thing this season; being beaten by teams struggling for form. Will Dr. Tottenham be at St. Marys?
This weekends Premier League fixtures
published at 15:43 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December
Its a slightly upside-down weekend of Premier League action. Two late games on Sunday and a Monday fixture too. Heres how the weekend takes shape (all times GMT).
And those players who managers have confirmed will definitely miss this weekends matches are the following:
Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton
Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji
Brentford midfielder Mathias Jensen
Which players are a doubt for this weekend?
published at 15:39 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December
Theyre the ones whove returned, but what about those who are doubts? Those who you may have to take a gamble on?
Manchester United defender Jonny Evans
Which players are returning to action this weekend?
published at 15:39 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December
The FPL deadline is at 13:30 (GMT) on Saturday. So who will make your team?
Managers have confirmed the following players are back and available to play this weekend.
Brentford duo Kristoffer Ajer and Vitaly Janelt
Recap: ONeil announces a change of Wolves captain
published at 15:31 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December
This isnt something you see every day.
Wolves manager Gary ONeil confirmed in his news conference thatMario Lemina will no longer captain the sideand Nelson Semedo will take over the duties.
Lemina was involved in an altercation after Mondays defeat at West Ham with Jarrod Bowen and others.
ONeil said thatLemina is fine about the decisionand there is a good understanding.
Its a big one this Sunday. The first Manchester derby between two clubs who could really do with a win in the Premier League – Manchester City v Manchester United.
Pep Guardiola talked about emotions in his news conference, saying the less emotional you are [in a derby match], the better.
Ruben Amorim was asked about Citys poor form in his news conferencebut didnt want to discuss them, saying, Im more focused on what we should do on Sunday to win the game.
Southampton v Tottenham (Sun, 19:00 GMT)
Two news conferences in the space of 13 hours for Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou.
On Thursday, after the 1-1 draw at Rangers,he called out Timo Wernerfor his display, saying it was not acceptable.
So did he back down from those comments in his pre-Southampton news conference?
If anything, he doubled down. He said: Its just an assessment of his performance. On a really challenging night for us which we knew going into it he needs to be better.
Were in a fight here. Im not going to go away worrying about peoples bruised egos. Were here to win things.
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Werner has consistently underperformed for the entire of his career in England. Every player is a confidence player, and Im sure behind closed doors hes been mollycoddled. He was taken off at half time and Ange explained why, and laid down the gauntlet for him to improve.
Bournemouth v West Ham United (Mon, 20:00 GMT)
West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui on whether any pressure has alleviated following the win over Wolves last time out:The pressure is always there in our work. We are talking about the Premier League, so each match is very difficult. But, in the same way, each match is a very good opportunity and challenge. We are working to be ready to show our best phase against Bournemouth.
I enjoy my work, always. I love to be here and manage West Ham. We didnt have the start we wanted, but I think we are improving things. I assure you that, step-by-step, we are going to get better and we are going to arrive at the level we want to be at.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on Evertons fortunes in recent years: The human quality and the feeling towards the club is big for me. The club has been through different stages in their history. The fact is, it is very strong.
Hopefully, they can get a new path now with a new stadium, new owners and have happier times.
Arteta played 195 games for Everton before joining Arsenal in the summer of 2011.
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says Andre Onanas mistake against Viktoria Plzen will not define him:We have to take it like it is. He had already in the past a situation like that. So we have to work on this.
If you see the play, we are trying to build up a lot with the goalkeeper making the balls with Matthijs de Ligt a lot of times. This time we have a disconnect a little bit during the play and when we try this, we suffered a goal, a difficult goal for us in the start of the second half. But we managed, not like against Nottingham Forest.
We managed to help Onana, like he did in the past for us.
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says Man Citys current form does not mean they are weaker opponents this weekend:The great teams can respond at any moment. And I think they are in a better place than us in the type of understanding the game, the way they play, the confidence they have.
Even in these kind of moments, we have a lot to focus on our team. So our focus is total of course, we will have a strategy: try to win the game with the strategy like it should be. But we are focused just on our team.
Manchester City v Manchester United (Sun, 16:30 GMT)
Chris CollinsonBBC football statistician
Neither Manchester club are giving up many chances in the Premier League this season – but the ones they do are really good quality.
Despite the narrative around Citys leaky defence, they have actually faced the fewest shots in the league. Uniteds record here is strong too – only City, Liverpool and Aston Villa have faced fewer shots.
However, City are giving up by far the best-quality chances, followed by Ipswich and United.
At the other end, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden, with six each, have scored 12 of Citys past 13 goals in Premier League Manchester derbies. And only three other players have scored more – Sergio Aguero (8), Wayne Rooney (8) and Eric Cantona (7).
Manchester City v Manchester United (Sun, 16:30 GMT)
Chris CollinsonBBC football statistician
United have lost five of their past six Premier League matches against Manchester City – conceding 18 goals in those five defeats. The only exception in that run was a 2-1 win at Old Trafford on 14 January 2023.
United have lost on their past three Premier League visits to Etihad Stadium, by an aggregate score of 13-5.
The Red Devils could equal their longest away losing streak against a single Premier League team – matching their current record against Arsenal of four (2022 to present). It would also equal their longest away losing streak in league Manchester derbies: four from 1952 to 1955.
Chelsea are perhaps more in-form than Liverpool
published at 14:51 Greenwich Mean Time 13 December
Chelsea v Brentford (Sun, 19:00 GMT)
Brentford manager Thomas Frank:I expect an interesting game with two good teams.They are maybe the best team in the Premier League right now. They are maybe even more in-form than Liverpool, even though they are top of the league.
They are playing incredible football and are well-coached. [Enzo] Maresca has done a top job so far with his coaching staff and they look extremely dangerous. They have so many threats going forward and have top-quality players all over the pitch.
I expect an unbelievably difficult game. They are massive favourites but, of course, we believe that we can compete against anyone and we believe we can win.
Chelsea v Brentford (Sun, 19:00 GMT)
Brentford manager Thomas Frank says some players are further behind in their recoveries:Mathias Jensen, unfortunately, is a couple more weeks until he is ready, so that is a bit of a blow – hes an important player for us. Luckily, other players have been stepping up for us, like [Yehor] Yarmolyuk against Newcastle.
Gustavo Nunes: the update there is that it will unfortunately be a while. He played the behind-closed-doors game against Cardiff City, and he had that stress fracture in his lower back, which hasnt healed as well as we wanted it to.
He could probably progress but we want to be completely on top of it; hes very young so theres no reason to force it, hes got plenty of time and we can be patient.
Chelsea v Brentford (Sun, 19:00 GMT)
Brentford manager Thomas Frank has confirmed that Vitaly Janelt and Kristoffer Ajer will both be in the Bees squad at Chelsea on Sunday:Everyone from the last game should be available. Vitaly Janelt should be available and involved in the squad tomorrow, so thats positive. [Ajer] was on the bench so he is also ready and available to start.
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Extraordinary act of self sabotage from Ange, and hes lost a lot of respect from me and others for his public Werner comments. Werner is clearly a confidence player. Thats been well and truly battered now and could have lasting damage. Its up to Ange what he says in private but publicly thats out of order. Why not just say he worked hard (which he did) but it wasnt his day (which it wasnt)?
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