North London and Manchester derbies headline Premier League return

After a series of international fixtures in the last international break just before the FIFA World Cup starts in Qatar in November, League football returns across the world for a potentially heavily scheduled 30 to 45 days.

The Premier League games will return on Saturday afternoon with a lunchtime kick-off between two North London rivals, Arsenal and Tottenham.

Both sides went into the international break on a high, with Arsenal winning 3-0 against Brentford to sit at the top of the table with 18 points from seven games, while Tottenham Hotspurs also defeated Leicester City 6-2 to sit third and a point behind Arsenal.

It will be the first time both sides will face each other this season, and both managers have enjoyed a great spell of results.

Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta’s side will be without Emile Smith Rowe, who suffered a groin problem.

A statement released by Arsenal revealed that Smith Rowe had been having groin problems in recent months; treatments and recovery methods for the England forward were compounded in the 3-1 loss to Manchester United.

“Emile underwent surgery to repair a damaged tendon in his groin. This successful surgery took place in London in the past few days, and Emile’s rehabilitation program is already underway.” the statement said.

Meanwhile, there would be a super Sunday fixture between Manchester United and Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City has been propelled by the scoring abilities of Norwegian striker Erling Haaland who has 11 goals in 7 games.

Liverpool will hope to redirect their indifferent season with a win against Brighton, while Chelsea will travel to Crystal Palace.