The Premier League returns after a 2-week absence following the international break. We all know that watching England toil and sweat for 2 games is as easy as a light-hearted walk in the park, and I am sure that no football fan will have any opinions to pass following those matches…………

Thankfully, as English football fans we can now swiftly look away from the Three Lions and instead return our attention to Premier League football, where an injured Harry Maguire will remain stapled to the bench where he so rightfully belongs, and Nick Pope can return to being the fantasy points machine we know and love.

So let’s just forget the last 2 weeks ever existed and slip right back into our EPL groove. Here’s a preview of GW-9, including team news and injury reports.

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Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images

Saturday

With a 12:30 London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham to kick us off, Fantrax fans should have confirmed line-ups to peruse prior to kick off.

Arsenal V Tottenham

What a game to kick off a weekend of big games. The north-London derby always brings spice and none more than when 1st plays 3rd for domination of the capitol. Arsenal have a few doubts with Odegaard, Tierney and Zinchenko all touch and go at this stage. I think Arsenal will be looking to put right the thought that they can’t beat a ‘top 4’ side, but I don’t think this will be the weekend they do it. Im backing Spurs to be stern enough to hold onto a draw in an entertaining encounter.

Arsenal

UNAVAILABLE: Elneny, Nelson, Smith-Rowe

QUESTIONABLE: Cedric, Odegaard; Arteta says Partey, Tierney, Zinchenko “are part of the team”.

Tottenham

UNAVAILABLE:

QUESTIONABLE: Lloris, Davies, Kulusevski, Moura

Prediction: 2 - 2

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Bournemouth v Brentford

This is a really close match for me with Bournemouth showing great resolve last time out against Newcastle. Brentford were, in contrast, quite poor against Arsenal. That being said, I think Thomas Frank will be looking to galvanize a response against the Cherries. A close game in store and so I look for where the quality will shine and I’ll pip Brentford to edge it due to the quality of Ivan Toney up front.

Bournemouth

UNAVAILABLE: Rothwell, Pearson, Brooks, Kelly, Fredericks

QUESTIONABLE:

Brentford

UNAVAILABLE: Norgaard, Lewis-Potter

QUESTIONABLE: Pinnock

Prediction: 1 - 2

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Crystal Palace v Chelsea

Graham Potter’s first Premier League game in charge will have Chelsea fans very excited to see the changes he has in store. Patrick Vieira on the other hand has in just over a year made Crystal Palace a much more difficult animal to beat. I do think Chelsea will have the edge in terms of quality and I am one of the people who have bought fully into Graham Potter’s management style.

Crystal Palace

UNAVAILABLE: Ferguson, McArthur, Butland

QUESTIONABLE: Tomkins

Chelsea

UNAVAILABLE: Cucurella. Kante, Mendy

QUESTIONABLE:

Prediction: 0 - 2

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Fulham v Newcastle

Fulham have started the season in very impressive style. Aleksandar Mitrovic has been a man on a mission and if not for the early season form of Haaland at Man City, he’d be leading the scoring charts. Newcastle are my team and I've been paying a lot of attention to their early season form. Compared to this time a year ago, the football, style, and belief is miles ahead of anything we’ve seen on Tyneside in years. That being said, Newcastle look to have a troublesome set of injury doubts. Shelvey, Saint-Maximin, and even new signing Isak are all varying levels of doubtful. Considering Newcastle's problems this year have been scoring enough goals, those injuries are going to make them even more toothless. I will get some more splinters and sit on the fence again with a 1-1 draw, but that may be a touch of Geordie bias creeping in.

Fulham

UNAVAILABLE: Wilson, Palhinha, Solomon

QUESTIONABLE: Mitrovic, Robinson

Newcastle

UNAVAILABLE: Darlow, Ritchie, Krafth

QUESTIONABLE: Shelvey, Saint-Maximin, Isak, Wood,

Prediction: 1 - 1

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Liverpool v Brighton

Prior to the international break, Liverpool had turned a massive corner and are in the process of climbing back up the league table. In contrast, under Graham Potter Brighton started well and had a good recent record at Anfield, winning and drawing on their last two encounters on Merseyside. However, this is no longer Graham Potters team. This is now Brighton under the tutelage of Roberto De Zerbi, who has a reputation for playing expansive football. Whilst that would be exciting to see in his first game in charge, I don't think it’ll pay off against Klopp and the returning-to-form Reds.

Liverpool

UNAVAILABLE: Robertson, Oxlaide-Chamberlain, Keita, Jones, Ramsay

QUESTIONABLE: Konate, Kelleher

Brighton

UNAVAILABLE: Moder, Mwepu

QUESTIONABLE: Lallana, Lamptey

Prediction: 3 - 1

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Southampton v Everton

I’m going to be quite quick with this as I can genuinely see an argument for all 3 possible results here. Ralph Hasenhuttl and Frank Lampard seem to get a series of very inconsistent performances from their teams. Calvert-Lewin is still doubtful and so I will give the edge to Southampton in a tight affair.

Southampton

UNAVAILABLE: Livramento, Lavia

QUESTIONABLE:

Everton

UNAVAILABLE: Godfrey, Townsend, Patterson, Mina, Holgate

QUESTIONABLE: Calvert-Lewin

Prediction: 1 - 0

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West Ham v Wolves

There is only one thing I want to see here and that is the big Brazilian Diego Costa marauding around the Olympic Stadium causing all sorts of havoc for the West Ham center backs. Sadly, this is the not the former behemoth who dominated the Premier League in his Chelsea heydays; indeed, he has not even played a competitive game this calendar year. As a result, I can see a fairly even game causing a bit of frustration for both sets of fans and West Ham to just slightly edge it.

West Ham

UNAVAILABLE: Aguerd, Johnson

QUESTIONABLE:

Wolves

UNAVAILABLE: Tavares, Collins, Jiminez, Kalajdzic

QUESTIONABLE: Costa

Prediction: 2 - 1

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Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus

SUNDAY

Man City v Man Utd

What a weekend, with the North London derby on Saturday followed on Sunday by the Manchester derby. We can always thank the Premier League fixture computer for throwing these delights our way. Manchester City have started like Man City do under Pep Guardiola, and a month ago I’d have written this off as a 3-0 or 4-1 result. However, let’s just hold our horses one minute. This Manchester United team have settled and the line-up suddenly looks organized, tough to beat, and creative. The back 4 of Dalot, Varane, Martinez and Malacia looks actually very good. They create from the back, are calm and composed on and off the ball, and this will be a much more interesting encounter than many think. I still think City will edge it, but they can be scored against and I think Utd will push them all the way.

Man City

UNAVAILABLE: Phillips, Stones

QUESTIONABLE: Laporte

Man Utd

UNAVAILABLE: Williams, Greenwood, Maguire

QUESTIONABLE: Van De Beek, Rashford, Dubravka, Martial

Prediction: 3 - 2

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Leeds v Aston Villa

Jesse Marsch was sent off in his last game so won’t be in the dugout at Elland Road against Villa. Villa got a good result against Southampton in their last game, but Leeds are a strong team in front of their partisan Yorkshire faithful. Kamara not playing means I think Leeds will win the midfield battle and take home the 3 points.

Leeds

UNAVAILABLE: Dallas, Forshaw, Gray

QUESTIONABLE:

Aston Villa

UNAVAILABLE: Cash, Kamara, Digne, Steer, Diego Carlos

QUESTIONABLE:

Prediction: 2 - 1

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Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images

MONDAY

Leicester v Nottingham Forest

When I first saw this fixture, I was largely uninspired about it as Monday Night Football. Then when you delve down into the nitty gritty, you can actually see this one meaning quite a lot to both sides. Leicester are struggling defensively and Forrest are just..... Well, I’m not sure what they are. I watched their last game and Steve Cooper has a massive job on his hands getting his squad of newly assembled stars to gel. Both sides struggle to keep clean sheets so I can see goals here. Throw into the mix the fact that both managers are probably getting increasingly close to getting the proverbial ‘chop’ and this suddenly has quite a spicy outlook. Finally the fact that this is a local East Midlands derby and the fact that both teams are the bottom two in the league means this has massive ramifications for the rest of the season for both sides. I’ll go Leicester to edge it, but I am not at all confident in this result.

Leicester

UNAVAILABLE: Pereira, Bertrand

QUESTIONABLE:

Nottingham Forest

UNAVAILABLE: Niakhate, Richards

QUESTIONABLE: Mangala, Emmanuel Dennis, Gibbs-White, Worral, McKenna

Prediction: 2 - 1

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Stats and info referenced in this article were sourced from premierinjuries.com, and fantasypremierleague

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What are your predictions for this game-week? Whom are you planning to captain? Are you playing a chip? Which players do you think can shine during GW-9? What late news have you seen? Please add your thoughts to the comment section below!

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