Brentford have made a bright start to life in the Premier League but Aston Villa are rated a fair bit ahead of them in their development. Dean Smith’s side ended up a solid 11th last season and will be looking to finish in the top half of the table this term.
Tottenham will be looking to bounce back from a shock 1-0 defeat in Portugal last week when hosting Pacos Ferreira in their Europa Conference League qualifier. Nuno Espirito Santo rested players for the first leg and has some selection headaches here.
Rangers will only take a slender 1-0 lead to Armenia and are set to take on Alashkert in sweltering heat in this Europa League qualifier. However, despite a below-par effort and going down to 10 men, Steven Gerrard’s side rarely looked in danger of conceding at Ibrox.
Celtic are in pole position to qualify for the Europa League group stage after a 2-0 first-leg win over AZ Alkmaar in Glasgow. However, the Dutch side did show some encouraging signs going forward in that contest and this promises to prove a tricky trip to Holland.
Arsenal are reeling on the ropes after a poor start in the Premier League and West Brom will be hoping to land a knockout blow in their EFL Cup clash. Mikel Arteta has been hampered by illness problems, plus he will have one eye on Saturday’s early kick-off at Man City.
Barrow will be fired up for their big EFL Cup clash with Aston Villa but Dean Smith does tend to take these kinds of ties seriously. Villa reached the final two seasons ago and breezed through trips to Burton and Bristol City in the early rounds last term.
PSV have work to do after losing 2-1 away to Benfica in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier but did impress in Lisbon. Roger Schmidt’s side showed great resolve to recover from a shaky start and could easily have returned to Holland on level terms.
West Ham and Leicester look set to do well again this season after finishing sixth and fifth respectively last term, with just one point between them. Both opened the new Premier League campaign with wins and are hard to split ahead of Monday night’s clash.
Liverpool are hard to oppose when hosting Burnley after these teams made contrasting starts to the new Premier League season. However, the Clarets did spring a surprise at Anfield last term and have managed to score on their past five visits to this venue.
Brighton only managed four home wins in the Premier League last season and, even with crowds back, offer little appeal at odds-on versus Watford. The Hornets claimed two consecutive draws at this venue before being relegated and return in good spirits.
Manchester City are expected to kick-start the defence of their Premier League title when entertaining promoted Norwich. The Canaries found Liverpool too hot to handle on their return to the top flight and face another daunting test at Etihad Stadium.
Bristol City have a good record in meetings with Swansea, winning three and drawing two of their last six head-to-head encounters. The Robins have also made the brighter start to this season’s Championship campaign, so the omens look good for Nigel Pearson’s men.
West Brom seem to have settled back into life in the Championship much better than Sheffield United and get the nod on home turf. Albion have been fragile at the back, but Valerien Ismael’s positive approach is paying off up front and that can prove decisive.
Fulham showed why they are favourites to top the Championship table with a big win at Huddersfield and can follow up at Millwall. The Lions kicked off their campaign with a couple of draws and will put up a fight, but the Cottagers have the class to come through.