Newcastle United

Eddie Howe spoke about how "delighted" he is for former Newcastle striker Chris Wood, who was named Premier League player of the month for October after a fine start to the season with Nottingham Forest.

After joining Newcastle from Burnley in January 2022, Wood scored four league goals in 35 games for the Magpies before moving to Forest the following January, initially on loan.

The 32-year-old striker will renew acquaintances with Howe and Newcastle at the City Ground on Saturday.

Wolves

Manager Gary O'Neil on Wolves' league position: "Lots of things that have gone on at the football club, lots of things that have gone on on the pitch - [I take] full responsibility from my part in that as well. We are where we are and there is nothing we can do about the last 10 games.

"The next one is the next one we can affect right now and the focus and prep and everything that has gone into it has gone very well so I know the boys are looking forward to the next challenge."

Arsenal

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is about to face the media before a tricky looking game at Chelsea on Sunday.

His Arsenal side are looking to avoid going four games without a win in the Premier League.

Enzo Maresca's Blues are currently one place above the Gunners in fourth on goal difference.

Questions are likely to focus on the fitness of Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, who Arteta will hope to have fit for the trip from north to west London

Quotes to follow shortly...

Wolves

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil has faced the media before his side play Southampton on Saturday. He was first asked about team news: "We expect everyone to be okay from last weekend."

And on forward Hwang Hee-chan, O'Neil said: "He trained today with the group, he looked sharp. He trained a little bit on Wednesday.

"He is back fit, [we're] just trying to pick the right time for him to be back involved, whether that is tomorrow or waiting a few weeks through the international break."

Emile Heskey
Former Liverpool and England striker on The Football News Show

I would say Arne Slot has come in under relatively difficult circumstances, to replace someone who Liverpool fans and football fans hold in great regard. He has revitalised Liverpool and really got them going again.

Do you make changes? Do you carry on the same way or do things your own way? He's slowly implemented his own way of doing things and it looks great. It's going to be a tall order for Aston Villa, it really is.

You look at the results Liverpool have had this season. There has been one blip against Nottingham Forest but aside from that it has been outstanding.

I do believe they can go all the way. As we all know, the Christmas period is very busy. Can they keep all their players fit?

In terms of what Slot has changed, I think they're more of a progressive team that sucks the opposition in with their position and then tries to hit the little spaces in behind.

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has challenged midfielder Curtis Jones to add consistency to his game because "the best players in the world show up every three days".

Jones recently scored against Chelsea and claimed an assist against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, before being called up to the latest England squad on Thursday.

The uncapped 23-year-old was drafted in as an injury replacement at the last England camp but withdrew because of the birth of his daughter.

"With Curtis maybe it's not me who did it because he became a father and I had nothing to do with that," said Slot.

"You never know if that plays a part or not but, since the moment he became a father, he started putting great performances in.

"He did it in pre-season but then his performances dropped a little bit. Since he became a father, he's outstanding again. It might have to do a bit with that but, in general, I think it has to do with how the team plays."

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was celebrating an unprecedented four Premier League titles in a row last May.

Tomorrow at Brighton, he could achieve another four-in-a-row that he absolutely would not be celebrating.

Never in his entire managerial career has Guardiola lost four games in a row.

However, after setbacks at Tottenham, Bournemouth and Sporting, that is what Manchester City are facing as they head to Brighton.

Pep will be looking ahead to the game shortly. It will be interesting to see what his mood is.

This is the battle of the bottom two, and it is a big game for both managers going into the international break, although I don’t think either side have been as bad as their results suggest.

Southampton will take a lot of heart from their win over Everton and fair play to their manager Russell Martin, who has stuck to his guns over their style of play.

It is Wolves who I am backing here, though. They have always got a goal in them.

Gary O’Neil’s side got a bit of a break last time out when Palace had that late goal disallowed, but I think they are in for a more comfortable afternoon this time.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Now then, it's almost time for our next batch of Premier League news conferences. And there are plenty of them!!

Here's who we're expecting to hear from over the next hour or so:

• 13:00: Southampton / Russell Martin
• 13:00: Wolves / Gary O'Neil
• 13:15: Man Utd / Ruud van Nistelrooy
• 13:30: Arsenal / Mikel Arteta
• 13:30: Brentford / Thomas Frank
• 13:30: Crystal Palace / Oliver Glasner
• 13:30: Ipswich / Kieran McKenna
• 13:30: Leicester / Steve Cooper
• 13:30: Man City / Pep Guardiola
• 13:30: Nottingham Forest / Nuno Espirito Santo
• 14:00: Aston Villa / Unai Emery

Emile Heskey
Former Liverpool and England striker on The Football News Show

You look at Mohamed Salah - phenomenal player. I see a lot of people criticise at times but you can't really criticise someone who has given you 20-plus goals a season, sometimes 30 goals.

It's difficult to criticise someone like that who keeps putting in those numbers. Even at the age he is (32), he doesn't look like he's slowing down. When you have pace like that to burn and to exploit defences, it is so valuable.

Image source, Getty Images

Thomas Woods
BBC Sport senior journalist

There's only one Fantasy Premier League king at the moment and he is Egyptian.

In the past three weeks Liverpool's Mohamed Salah has 31 FPL points, 10 more than anyone except Chris Wood (27) and 16 more than the next best premium asset, Cole Palmer (15).

Salah is back in this week's team as captain - a no-brainer - and, in a move that might well backfire, there are not one but three Manchester United players.

Team to target?

West Ham - Everton (h), Newcastle (a), Arsenal (h)

I'm really looking beyond the next three weeks to gameweeks 14 to 18.

Leicester (a), Wolves (h), Bournemouth (a), Brighton (h), Southampton (a) - that's a great five-game stretch for the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and Michail Antonio.

Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood has scored eight goals in 10 league appearances this season.

Last season, Wood was Forest's top goalscorer with 14 in the Premier League, his joint-best tally in the top flight.

Image source, PA Media

Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest have made a strong start to the season, winning five of their 10 Premier League games so far.

October has been an unbeaten month for the club, claiming seven points out of nine available in the league.

Forest climbed to third, on 19 points, after last Saturday's 3-0 win at home to West Ham.

Nuno Espirito Santo has won the Premier League manager of the month award for the fifth time, having also won it three times with Wolves and once with Spurs.

Image source, BBC Sport

In many respects this is a battle of two strikers. I loved Alexander Isak's header for Newcastle against Arsenal last week. It was a classic centre-forward’s finish.

But this is the Chris Wood derby - aka the 'Wood Chopper' derby - and I am backing him to give Nottingham Forest the cutting edge they need against his former club.

Forest are a team with good balance in that they set out not to concede but they also have players who can threaten on the counter.

Their confidence must be sky-high and I see their good run continuing.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been named Premier League manager of the month for October.

It is reward for a fine month which saw the Reds pick up three wins and a draw, and move up to third in the table.

It completes a double of awards for Forest with striker Chris Wood earlier being named player of the month.

Image source, Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou on ambition, in response to a question about Hugo Lloris' book: "There could have been a very successful period for the club. They came vert close. We're talking about finishing runners-up in the Premier League, runners-up in the Champions League . It could have been a very different era and maybe in retrospect you would be looking at those things.

"It's easier to focus on the negatives when the outcomes not what you want but there was obviously a lot right at the time which got them close to the ultimate. From my perspective, you don't put a limit on what you can achieve because if you do, potentially you might miss something that comes along your way."

Manchester United

Image source, Getty Images

There is a big boost for Manchester United today as left-back Luke Shaw has returned to team training for the first time in three months.

Shaw has not played for United since February and sustained a calf injury days before the start of the season. He then suffered a further setback in October with a fresh knee problem.

The 29-year-old briefly returned to full fitness to play for England at Euro 2024, though, appearing in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.

Interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy said in his pre-match news conference on Wednesday that Shaw was doing "pitch work and progressing”.

The news follows fellow defender Leny Yoro's return to training before the Europa League victory over PAOK on Thursday.