Star Metro - Arsenal face depleted Aston Villa, Spurs seek return on £300m spend

New Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola also makes his home bow at Anfield against Nottingham Forest and Manchester United badly need to bounce back from an opening weekend shocker at Hull when Ipswich visit Old Trafford.

AFP Sports looks at the pick of the Premier League action.

Villa torn apart

Ezri Konsa could make his Arsenal debut to a frosty reception on his return to Villa Park.

The England international is just one of a series of departures from Villa in recent months which has torn apart the side that won the Europa League and finished fourth in the Premier League last season.

Morgan Rogers joined Chelsea for £117 million, while Youri Tielemans moved to Manchester United and Lucas Digne departed for Paris Saint-Germain.

Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez appear set to join the exodus before the transfer window shuts.

A depleted Villa found themselves 4-0 down to Brighton inside 31 minutes last weekend.

Worse could be to come against an Arsenal side brimming with the confidence of champions.

Mikel Arteta's men have swatted aside Manchester City and Coventry 3-0 to pick up the Community Shield and make a perfect start to their title defence.

The depth of options available to the Gunners means Konsa may even have to wait for his chance to shine despite the absence of William Saliba to a long-term back injury.

But Villa captain John McGinn remains hopeful they can still have a successful season as long as Unai Emery remains in charge.

"I'm still positive about the season but we need to make sure we keep hold of the manager," McGinn told the Stick to Football podcast. "If we lose him, it's a different story."

De Zerbi sets Savio target

Spurs have fans have been waiting years for their club to be the Premier League's big spenders, but were brought back down to earth with a 3-0 pummelling by Brentford last weekend.

Since then Savio and Omar Marmoush have joined from Manchester City for combined fees that could reach nearly £150 million.

Savio's £75 million price tag has attracted astonishment from some after failing to make the grade in two years at City, but Roberto De Zerbi is confident the Brazilian can help transform Spurs' fortunes after two 17th-placed finishes in the Premier League.

"I think his biggest step and biggest improvement is to increase the number of goals because as qualities, I think he is one of the best wingers, but the best wingers score many goals," said De Zerbi after Savio scored on his debut against Charlton in the League Cup on Wednesday.

"Last season we suffered too much because also the number of goals were not enough to compete for nothing more than that (17th) position."

Anfield awaits Iraola

Liverpool needed a 99th-minute penalty from Dominik Szoboszlai to salvage a point in Iraola's first game in charge from a 2-2 draw at Newcastle.

The growing pains of a change in style to Iraola's high-energy pressing game were obvious as twice Liverpool were cut open by Newcastle counter-attacks to score.

Forest have won at Anfield in each of the past two seasons, but Iraola is hoping to have an afternoon to savour in his first competitive game at home.

"I think it's going to be emotional and I think it has to be like this. It is a special place," said the Spaniard.

"I've had to fight a lot to arrive to this place and I hope everything goes well and I can enjoy also the game."

Friday (all times GMT)

Crystal Palace v Manchester City (1900)

Saturday

Liverpool v Nottingham Forest (1130), Coventry v Hull, Bournemouth v Everton (both 1400), Tottenham v Newcastle (1630)

Sunday

Leeds v Brentford, Sunderland v Fulham, Chelsea v Brighton (all 1300), Manchester United v Ipswich (1530)

Monday

Aston Villa v Arsenal (1900)

A.Gagnon--SMC