How many lives does Pardew have left? Talking points ahead of the weekend’s BPL

Welbeck, Remy and Sterling feature in our five things to consider ahead of this weekend’s football.

It will only have been 13 days but it feels like longer. The Premier League returns with a bang this Saturday after the interminable wait of the Euro 2016 qualifiers and a Saturday of no meaningful football. There are new players everywhere, big matches and plenty of talking points as the season starts again.

Which Welbeck will Arsenal get?

When lining up for Manchester United, Danny Welbeck never really convinced. He scored some goals, but he did not seem to be a United regular in waiting. Put it this way, any comparison with their new loan signing Radamel Falcao would not be favourable. Yet since his surprise deadline day move to Arsenal, Welbeck enjoyed one of the finest nights of his career with two goals for England in their win in Switzerland on Monday. National boss Roy Hodgson has always shown great faith in Welbeck and seems convinced of his abilities, while his record of ten goals in 28 internationals was superior to his ratio of goals to games at Old Trafford.

With Olivier Giroud injured until Christmas, Welbeck has a great chance to establish himself at The Emirates as the main man up front. This is his chance to step up and become a top striker. Arsenal fans want him to be the boss as he showed for England rather than the willing third choice for United. A debut goal against Manchester City would certainly be the perfect start.

Have Chelsea found the perfect back-up striker?

It has been all change up top for Chelsea this season. All three of last year’s misfiring strikers Demba Ba, Samuel Eto’o and Fernando Torres have been moved on. In their place have come Diego Costa, the returning hero Didier Drogba, and perhaps most astutely of all, Loic Remy.

Jose Mourinho’s remit for Remy will be simple. He is the back up to Costa, or he will be thrown on in matches where Chelsea desperately need a goal. But for £10 million, the West London club have bagged themselves a proven goalscorer. Look at his Premier League record with QPR and Newcastle and it reads 20 goals in 42 games, which is a fine effort in a relegated side and the other a mid-table one. As he showed last season at St James’ Park, when given a chance, he knows how to finish.

With Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Oscar able to supply the passes, Remy could be deadly. Costa is doubtful for the game against Swansea at Stamford Bridge, so the Frenchman may have the ideal opportunity to make an instant impact.

Is Sterling suddenly the jewel in Liverpool’s crown?

When Luis Suarez departed Liverpool this summer, the questions were how the side could replace all his goals and all-round brilliance. With some difficulty is the obvious answer because the Uruguayan is a world-class player. But could another potential world-class talent be emerging at Anfield?

The international break could not have gone better for Raheem Sterling as he was England’s best player against Norway, before Roy Hodgson tweaked his system to get the teenager at the top of a midfield diamond for the win in Switzerland. Only 19, he looks like being England’s most potent attacking threat in the next couple of years thanks to his ability to run at defences. And it is that pace and trickery that are so important for Brendan Rodgers’ team, too. Sterling almost exemplifies the way Rodgers wants his side to blitz the opposition with speed and skill.

It worked on so many occasions at Anfield last season, with Sterling to the fore. However, the game with Aston Villa will be a new challenge, given his increased profile. With Suarez no longer around, opposition defenders may look at Sterling as the player they have to stop, so it’s up to him to find a way of dealing with that extra attention.

How many lives does Alan Pardew have left?

Alan Pardew has had a long time to mull over Wilfried Zaha’s injury time equaliser in Newcastle’s 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace last time out. It meant his side remain winless in the league and has given a fortnight for more anti-Pardew feeling to develop.

After the way his side finished last year with 11 defeats from 15 games, he needed a positive start to quell some of the negativity. Seven new players arrived during the close season, but only one of them, Jack Colback, has previous Premier League experience, meaning the rest face an adjustment period. Worse still, key signing, Siem De Jong, the one earmarked to be the side’s playmaker has picked up a serious injury.

It all means the pressure is mounting once again. With newspapers being treated shoddily by the Mike Ashley regime and Pardew seemingly happy to go along with this, there is precious little sympathy for him in public. If the result goes against him at Southampton, the build-up to the game against Hull on Saturday week could be very tense indeed.

Can Roberto plug the gaps?

Only Chelsea have scored more goals than Everton’s seven in their opening three games. But no team has conceded more. For the first time in his spell at Goodison, manager Roberto Martinez has a problem on his hands.

He has lined up with the same back four and goalkeeper as he did last season, and has two England regulars there in Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines. But they threw away winning positions against both Leicester and Arsenal and were then all over the place against Chelsea from the moment they were two down inside three minutes. That’s ten goals against in three games. Yet, their football at the other end has been excellent to watch and very effective, as seen in the number of goals scored.

Now is the time for Martinez to make a decision does he cut back on some of the free-flowing football and tighten up in defence in order to grind out a first win? Knowing Roberto, he will remain positive it’s his default stance keep emphasising his beliefs and will back his side to win at West Brom in the manner he wants. And all neutrals will surely enjoy that.