Premier League returns: Arteta seeks Arsenal response as pressure mounts on Carrick and Spurs

The Premier League resumes after a three-week FIFA international break with champions Arsenal aiming to recover from their first defeat of the season, Chelsea seeking greater consistency and Manchester United hosting a Tottenham Hotspur side still without a win.

Arsenal begin the weekend at home to Leeds, who are fifth in the table and remain unbeaten. Mikel Arteta’s newly extended tenure will face an early test as his side attempt to put their defeat by Brighton behind them.

“The pain is still there in the tummy, we certainly have to play with that,” said Arteta, who wants his players to use the disappointment as motivation.

The Arsenal manager said Leeds’ strong opening to the campaign had not surprised him and warned his team against underestimating their opponents.

“When I watch their games, no. I think they fully deserve where they are because they’ve earned it, and they are there because I think they merit with a lot of great things that they’ve done throughout matches to be better than the opponent,” he said.

“We know their qualities, we talked to [the players] in the last two days, and we are fully ready for it.”

Chelsea, meanwhile, host Bournemouth as they seek to build momentum after the international break. The Blue have shown encouraging progress under Xabi Alonso, but seven points from five matches highlights their lack of consistency.

Carrick under pressure before Spurs clash

The day’s headline fixture takes place at Old Trafford, where Manchester United meet Tottenham Hotspur with both managers under scrutiny.

Michael Carrick is under significant pressure as United have struggled to establish a winning run. Tottenham’s situation is even more stark in terms of results: Roberto De Zerbi’s side have not won a match this season.

Carrick said Tottenham’s position in the table did not reflect the quality they had displayed in several matches.

“Yeah, points-wise, I think they’ve played a lot better than that, at times. When you look at the games, they’re a very good team with some very good players, obviously. Assembled a squad this summer that’s a little bit different to maybe what they’ve had,” he said.

“But they’re a good team just because of the points. I understand the question, but we’re not going into it expecting anything less than their best version of what we know what they’re capable of, and actually they have shown for a large part, but probably haven’t had the results that maybe the performances deserve.”

Tottenham have received a double defensive boost before travelling to Manchester. De Zerbi confirmed on Friday lunchtime that Dutch centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke are available after concerns during the international break.

Pedro Porro is injured but will travel with the squad, while Dejan Kulusevski continues his return from a long-term lay-off. Mykhailo Mudryk, Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons remain unavailable.

For Manchester United, Carlos Baleba could make his debut. Noussair Mazraoui and Amad Diallo will be assessed before kick-off, while Patrick Dorgu, Benjamin Sesko and Manuel Ugarte are out.