From Pep v Tuchel, and will Ronaldo play penalty? The key stories this weekend

From the tussle between title hopefuls Chelsea and Man City, to Sunday's north London derby, renamed 'El Crapico' by former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara earlier this week.

Here are five talking points to focus your attention before kick-off.

TUCHEL vs GUARDIOLA

Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola face-off once again, four months after they contested the Champions League final, with Kai Havertz snatching the title for the Blues.

Tuchel has guided Chelsea three wins out of three against Guardiola since taking the reins at Stamford Bridge. The Blue's will sit six points ahead of City if they were to win again.

The Tuchel revolution shows no signs of slowing down as his side have kept 15 clean sheets in 24 Premier League games - more than any other club since the German took charge. The Blues could become the first team to win four consecutive matches against the Spaniard.

And none of the last 12 Premier League meetings between Chelsea and Manchester city have been drawn, with Chelsea winning five to City's seven.

But if any side has the attacking nous to break Chelsea down, it's Manchester City.

REFEREES vs RONALDO

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be looking to redeem himself against Aston Villa after being heavily criticised for the midweek Carabao Cup defeat by West Ham.

However, the Manchester United boss may have another pressing issue - referees.

Ole has been enraged by the reluctance of referees to give at least three penalties to Manchester United in their past two games.

Rio Ferdinand also chipped in and believes that referees are reluctant to give spot kicks to Cristiano Ronaldo as they don't want to be seen to be pandering to the superstar.

The United legend defender said: "It's almost like he's getting treated a certain way because it's him.

"I can't give it because it's Ronaldo because I'm going to look bad and I'm pandering to him because of his ego, stature and status."

All eyes on Mike Dean this afternoon.

SPURRED ON

Tottenham don't like it at the Emirates. Not one bit.

They've won just once in 28 attempts in the league at the home of their north London rivals. And their current form doesn't suggest they are going to and another win to that talle on Sunday afternoon.

Mikel Arteta has steadied the ship following their diabolical start and, with the club's new-found confidence, he will be looking to remain the better side of North London.

Tottenham are still in limbo, with their fans wondering whether their bright beginning under Nuno Espirito Santo was a myth. Harry Kane stayed in the summer, but he has looked well below par.

But on days like these, reputations are won and lost. Now is the time to silence your critics, Nuno.

WOLVES NEED TO HOWL

With four draws and one defeat, Southampton's winless start to the season may just be eligible for a positive spin.

They deserved huge praise in their last outing - against Manchester City - as they managed to block out the reigning champions after they had shipped five goals in the same match in March.

Despite their achievement last week, Ralph Hasenhuttl's side do indeed need a win and Wolves should be their ideal opponents to secure three points.

However, Bruno Lage's side have lost seven of their last eight Premier League games, including four out of five games under new boss, Lage.

To make matters more intense, Wolves are sitting one place below the Saints in 16th and without another win they could be dipping into the relegation zone. Yikes.

DEADLY DUO

The Bees' impressive opening haul of eight points sees them sit comfortably in ninth position of the table and if last weekend's win over Wolverhampton is anything to go by, Ivan Toney is shaping up to become one of the prolific players of the season.

Toney has the most goals, goal involvements, joint-most shots and joint-most chances created for his club this season and more recently reaching his 35th goal for the bees in all competitions.

Not all the success is down to Toney, his partner in crime Bryan Mbeumo deserves credit too.

The duo have not allowed opponents much rest so far and their partnership was mainly recognised after the success over Wolves as boss, Thomas Frank compared them to Manchester United's famous pairing of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole.

Having earned the right to face Liverpool for the first time in 74 years, Brentford's frontmen will be causing problems for Jurgen Klopp's defence. These Bees are ready to sting.