The Premier League returns this weekend following an international break.

Chelsea will make the most of Saturday’s kickoff at Newcastle before topping the table when Tottenham host Manchester City.

Lower club Sheffield United will meet on Sunday to kickstart the campaign against West Ham, with defending champions Liverpool then welcoming Leicester and former Reds boss Brendan Rogers to Anfield.

Here, the PA news agency examines some of the key conversation points ahead of the next round of fixtures.

Lampard talks about the early kick-off blues

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard was impressed when he was sent to Newcastle for a kickoff at 12.30pm on Saturday. Several blues squads reported from international duty only on Thursday afternoon, while preparations to wait for the results of some Kovid-19 Tests after players returned to the UK were complicated. “When you look at scheduling, it’s a common sense factor for me,” Lampard said. Sending three points to the top of St. James’ Park, if only for a few hours, may help make things easier.

A special spruce year for Mourinho

A year after his appointment at Tottenham, Jose Mourinho visited Manchester City to set out to restore the Peking order, with manager Pep Guardiola agreeing to a new contract extension. If Harry Kane and Son Hyung-min boot the shooting again, Special One will look great again, and the best of the rest will return to Spurs up all the time.

Some home comforts are required

It will be a few weeks before Ole Gunnar Soulsjെയർre thinks about how to move Manchester United forward and finally their Premier League campaign at Old Trafford. The Red Devils are hoping to get a ‘fifth chance’ when they beat West Brom on Saturday night. With the exception of three points, the Norwegians will once again face tough questions about their own future.

Sharp blades need to get razor-sharp quickly

Before the international break, Chelsea beat Sheffield United 4-1, just one point from their first eight games at the bottom of Sit Rock. Contrary to previous notable propaganda, Chris Wilder’s side is now facing a fight for survival. Wilder thinks the next 10 games against West Brom, Brighton, Burnley, Crystal Palace and Newcastle will decide their season.

Can Rodgers overtake the Reds at Anfield?

Lester enters the break top, one point behind champions Liverpool. By the time the two clubs meet at Anfield on Sunday evening, the duo will have caught up with their rivals. The Reds have calculated the cost of international duty for boss Jഗrgen Klopp after defender Joe Gomez needed knee surgery following an injury sustained during training in England. Forward Mohamed Salah returns positive Kovid-19 Test in Egypt. Add to that the return to former manager Brendan Rogers’ Anfield, the form foxes are pursuing their seventh consecutive win, all set for a super Sunday showdown.