Here is a look at the Premier League table after Round 3- the EPL log as it stood before the September 2024 international break.
There were four teams with a 100% record at the end of Week 2; that’s now reduced to two teams (Man City and Liverpool) following Arsenal and Brighton’s 1-1 draw.
Premier League Standings After GW3 24-25 season
Man City, Liverpool, Brighton and Arsenal make up the top four, with MCFC topping on goals scored.
The Dutch manager derby between Arne Slot and Erik ten Hag takes place later this afternoon at Old Trafford as Manchester United host arch rivals Liverpool. The Reds are the only team left in the table not to have conceded a goal after Arsenal let in one against Brighton yesterday.
Here is what the big pundits have predicted for this GW3 clash.
Paul Merson
Merson says Man Utd were decent but unlucky against Brighton. Adds that Liverpool have started well under Slot and have done some excellent business in acquiring Chiesa, who according to him would be worth “£40m if he was English”
Thinks there’ll be plenty of goals in this clash and has gone for a 2-2 draw.
Merson also thinks it’ll be a “routine win” for Chelsea in their London derby clash against Palace on the same day and has tipped them to win 3-0.
Alan Shearer
Shearer says United often “produce their best performances against the big hitters”, and says this game against Liverpool could be one of them. Thinks United must avoid defensive lapses that proved to be their undoing against Brighton, and has gone for a draw with both teams scoring.
For the Chelsea-Palace game, Shearer reckons CFC will be full of confidence after thrashing Wolves last weekend, and that should mean a home win for the Blues.
The Champions League returns this year with a radically different format, one that sees each team play EIGHT group games. The 8 will be split into four home games and four away ones, but you don’t play the same team home and away- instead there are 8 different group opponents.
The group stage in 24/25 has 36 teams this year (up from 32 in previous years), and the table will be one big, combined log. Teams that finish 1-8 will directly progress to the knockout stages, while 9-24 will face each other in a playoff. 25-36 will be eliminated from Europe altogether (no EL for them)
Premier League opponents in UCL this year (2024/2025)
Man City (Home): Inter, Brugge, Feyenoord, Sparta
Man City (Away): PSG, Juventus, Sporting Lisbon, Slovan Bratislava
Liverpool (Home): Real Madrid, Leverkusen, Lille, Bologna
Liverpool (Away): Leipzig, AC Milan, PSV, Girona
Arsenal (Home): PSG, Shakhtar, Dinamo Zagreb, Monaco
Arsenal (Away): Inter, Atalanta, Sporting Lisbon, Girona
Liverpool appear to have the toughest draw on paper, although City have some tricky fixtures away from home. Arsenal have a very winnable fixture list.