Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

4) Is the end nigh for Hasenhüttl?

Newcastle fans taking on the 644-mile round trip to St Mary’s will almost certainly make the first half of the journey in the highest of spirits and might be forgiven for thinking the long trek home will be similarly cheery. In beating Chelsea at the end of August, Southampton suggested they might have turned a corner, but Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side have won one and lost five of their subsequent eight matches. Despite the club hierarchy’s apparent reluctance to sack him, the Austrian manager is surely on borrowed time with a long mid-season hiatus looming. Southampton then travel to Liverpool for their final game before the World Cup, a match their away form suggests they will almost certainly lose. Regardless of the outcome of the Carabao Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday next Wednesday, defeat against Newcastle could hasten the end of Hasenhüttl’s curate’s egg of a reign on the south coast. BG

• Southampton v Newcastle, Sunday 2pm

5) Álvarez ready to make impact

Earlier in the week, Pep Guardiola said that Erling Haaland might make Saturday’s Fulham game. But given his importance to City, if the call to select him is marginal, it would make more sense for him to miss a home game his team should win anyway, rather than risk aggravating an injury that is almost healed. This would be good news for Julián Álvarez, who’s made a slow start to his Manchester City career, but showed against Sevilla that he is ready to affect games. First, he slipped a beautiful pass inside a defender for Rico Lewis to score, then finished superbly when put in on goal himself and finally, scavenged possession high up the pitch before playing in Riyad Mahrez to clinch victory. Confidence in footballers – especially those not only playing but living in a new environment – can be fragile. So Guardiola should seek to capitalise on Álvarez’s midweek buzz, by granting him another start this weekend. DH

• Manchester City v Fulham, Saturday 3pm

6) Coutinho hoping for a fresh start under Emery

“I have not returned (to England) because it is the Premier League, it is because it’s the right club and the right project.” So said Unai Emery after his first two days on the job at Aston Villa, who might have also persuaded the Spaniard with a bumper four-and-a-half year contract and the promise of January funds, with Villarreal’s Pau Torres already linked with a £40m move. After last week’s appointment, Emery only started coaching on Wednesday owing to work permit issues, but was seen orchestrating a high press in training at Bodymoor Heath. What does this mean for Philippe Coutinho? The Brazilian is not a prolific worker off the ball. Might he be offered a deeper role as Villa chase their first home win over Manchester United since 1995? Or will Emery go for a more mobile starting XI and leave Coutinho stranded on the bench, where he has sat for the last four games? Michael Butler

• Aston Villa v Manchester United, Sunday 2pm

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7) Summerville must match talent with application

The Leeds first-team squad, their families and club staff celebrated last Saturday’s reassuring victory at Liverpool with a Halloween Party at the start of the week. Every player attended in fancy dress with Jesse Marsch adjudging Pascal Struijk’s outfit the winner. “Pascal was the best, he came as a hippy,” said the Leeds manager, whose job security would be reinforced significantly with a win over Bournemouth. It will be intriguing to see if Crysencio Summerville, his young winger, starts against Gary O’Neil’s side. After scoring the winner at Anfield, Summerville asked for permission to return to his native Netherlands to celebrate his 21st birthday but, tellingly, Marsch refused. If Summerville’s application does not yet quite match his considerable talent, Illan Meslier has long married assiduousness to high-calibre ability. Itcan be easy to forget that the Leeds goalkeeper is still only 22, but Marsch believes Meslier should be included in the France squad for the World Cup and it is difficult to disagree. Louise Taylor

• Leeds v Bournemouth, Saturday 3pm

8) Lingard has earned a benching

9) Brighton make another eye-catching recruit

Wolves are renowned for recruiting Portuguese players and it seems Brighton are beginning to develop a trend of their own. Facundo Buonanotte will arrive in January and is the latest hailing from South America to move to the south coast, joining Pervis Estupiñán, Julio Enciso, Moisés Caicedo, and compatriot Alexis Mac Allister among the Brighton ranks. An attacking midfielder, Buonanotte will add craft to a forward line that despatched Chelsea 4-1 in the last fixture. Brighton will be heavy favourites for the trip to Wolves, who have been mostly dreadful of late, and Roberto De Zerbi will be thankful that the rudderless hosts have not yet appointed Julen Lopetegui in the opposite dugout – talks with the former Spain manager are slowly progressing after initially hitting the buffers. In the interim, Brighton will look to capitalise and propel themselves back into the top six. MB

• Wolves v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

10) Time Olise got among goals

Patrick Vieira has called on Michael Olise to score more – the winger is yet to register this season after netting twice in the league last time around. He has two assists to his name but his manager wants to see him on the scoresheet himself. “Olise needs a bit of time,” Vieira said. “Sometimes we forget how young he is. Coming up from the Championship, he has to learn and he has to learn a lot to be a Premier League player.” With time, goals will almost certainly come. He is hindered by the fact he has to put a lot of energy into defending and can often be found tracking full-backs all the way to his own box. The longer he goes without scoring, however, the greater the mental impact on a player who has shown moments of caution in the vicinity of the opponent’s box because he does not have the unbounded confidence of a more prolific player, which can result him missing the chance to shoot. Once he does get one, though, more will surely come. WU

• West Ham v Crystal Palace, Sunday 2pm