Premier League players to watch in GW10: Will Foden get going against one of his favourites? | OneFootball

The 2024/25 Premier League season has already hit week 10 and with a slate of vital fixtures ahead, we’re expecting some big individual performances.

A Manchester City star is about to face one of his favourite opponents as he seeks to finally open his Premier League account for the season. Meanwhile, Spurs are set to welcome back a key player for their huge clash with Champions League rivals Aston Villa.

There’s a whole host of other narratives to follow, so let’s take a look at five players to watch in the upcoming weekend.

Foden to get off the mark against one of his favourite opponents?

Manchester City travel to Bournemouth this weekend looking to strengthen their position at the top of the table but for Phil Foden, he’ll be looking at this match as a chance to finally get his stuttering Premier League campaign going.

The 24-year-old is going just fine on the continent with two goals in three Champions League appearances. However, it’s just not happening for him domestically right now, with Foden goalless in eight in the Premier League and EFL Cup combined. That, of course, means he’s failed to score in six Premier League outings so far, which is remarkable given his 19-goal haul in the competition last season.

But there’s hope on the horizon. Foden has scored in each of his last five appearances against the Cherries across all competition, while he’s only scored more against Man Utd (6) and Brighton (8) across his career so far.

Welbeck to maintain incredible start?

Nobody saw it coming, but Danny Welbeck has been a force of nature for Brighton this season.

The former Manchester United man has notched six goals in nine Premier League appearances so far, which is already one more than he managed in the whole of last season and equals his returns from 2022/23, 2021/22 and 2020/21 as a Brighton player. In fact, Welbeck hasn’t enjoyed a better return than this since scoring nine times in 25 appearances for Manchester United in 2013/14.

Welbeck is currently enjoying a three-game Premier League scoring run to help Brighton to wins over Tottenham and Newcastle and a draw against Wolves. Should he score again, he’ll become the first-ever Brighton player to do so in four consecutive Premier League matches. What’s more, another goal would draw him level with Pascal Groß as the Seagulls’ record Premier League goalscorer (30).

Son to return in style?

It’s safe to say Tottenham have missed Son Heung-min recently. The South Korea international has missed three of their last four Premier League games due to injury, with Spurs falling to defeats against Brighton and Crystal Palace in two of them — while thrashing West Ham 4-1 in the one game he played, Son naturally getting on the scoresheet.

But Ange Postecoglou was very confident of Son’s return to action during his pre-match press conference on Friday and he may well be coming back at the perfect time.

Tottenham’s clash with Aston Villa isn’t quite ‘must-win’ at this stage of the season, but they certainly can’t lose if they have genuine designs on qualifying for the Champions League. After all, it’s Villa who occupy the fourth and final Champions League spot, five points ahead of Spurs.

But never fear; Son is an expert when it comes to seeing off Villa. Heading into the weekend, the 32-year-old has registered nine direct goal involvements in his last eight appearances against the Midlands club, scoring six times and providing three assists. If he were to make it 10 goal involvements, Villa would join Southampton, Leicester, Everton, West Ham and Crystal Palace on the list of clubs to suffer that fate against Son.

Palmer to prove Premier League pedigree?

If we’re being honest, every week is a good week to watch Cole Palmer. However, this could be a particularly good one.

Palmer actually failed to score in his next two Premier League games following his ridiculous four-goal haul against Brighton. However, he was back at it against Newcastle at the weekend, taking his total for the club to 29 goals in the Premier League. Keep in mind that he’s only played 42 league matches for the Blues!

If Palmer were to score again this weekend when Chelsea travel to Manchester United, he’ll become the first player to score 30 Premier League goals for the club since the 2017/18 season.

He doesn’t need any second invitation against Man Utd either, scoring four goals in three career appearances against the Red Devils so far, including a hat-trick in a 4-3 victory in their last meeting.

Wood to make Forest history?

Chris Wood just won’t stop scoring! His 14-goal return in the Premier League last season was more than respectable for a struggling team like Nottingham Forest. But this season, he looks on a mission to blow that away, with his brace against Leicester last weekend already taking him halfway toward that total.

All of that — coupled with his one goal at the end of the 2022/23 campaign — means that Wood has moved to within just one goal of equalling Bryan Roy’s club record of 24 Premier League goals for Nottingham Forest. But whereas Roy took 85 games to reach his total of 24, it’s taken Wood just 47 games to hit 23.

With a record of seven goals in 14 appearances against this weekend’s opponents, West Ham United, you’d back him to at least equal the record.