I am not surprised that Fulham's Premier League form has picked up because after watching them earlier in the season I thought they should have more points than they had.

The Cottagers are a well-structured team but I still don't see them stopping an in-form Aston Villa, or their striker Nicolas Jackson, at this moment in time.

Villa are on a great run in the league and I am expecting more goal action from Jackson here.

Sutton's prediction: 3-1

FPL Heisenberg
Fantasy Premier League expert with seven top-30k finishes

Nicolas Jackson (£6.7m) is certainly an interesting option after a strong run of recent form - scoring four in his past four Premier League matches.

He looks to be finding his feet at Aston Villa and he's an appealing alternative to some of the other budget forwards in the game.

Aston Villa face Fulham at home in gameweek nine, which is the start of a very nice run of fixtures to back him in.

My only concern is his minutes. There's a slight risk of him being hooked early, especially with Villa juggling Champions League football and promising young striker Brian Madjo (£5.4m) back from injury.

However, with his recent form and price in mind, he's definitely worth considering.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking ahead of Saturday evening's Premier League clash against Fulham at Villa Park.

On Leon Goretzka's role at Villa: "The first one is to be available to play. He started being available two weeks ago. He needs to understand our idea, and we are adapting to him too because his quality is clear."

On whether Manzambi and Jackson were rested against Bournemouth, he added: "For different reasons, not only rest. We are going to train and normally yes [they will be fine to play]."

Emery also praised Taylor Harwood-Bellis: "Very good. Taylor is a fantastic guy, very professional. He knows how he has to progress with us, understands everything and practises."

Aston Villa

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking before Saturday evening's Premier League clash against Fulham at Villa Park.

On what is Villa's focus: "The only focus is tomorrow and the match tomorrow. If we are thinking after the match against Fulham, then we are making a mistake and we are completely wrong.

"We are prioritising the Premier League, and this is the message. To keep our consistency and demands means that each match is a test."

On what Nicolas Jackson needs to do to become one of the best strikers in the Premier League: "Time. High demands of himself in his everyday tasks. I am happy with him but I also know he has a lot to do as well to try to get better and be more consistent."

Fulham

Image source, Getty Images

Fulham boss Alvaro Arbeloa spoke to the media earlier today before this weekend's match against Aston Villa.

There are no new injuries to Arbeloa's side following their defeat against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup.

He says Emile Smith Rowe needs to "wait for his opportunity", after being asked about his lack of minutes: "He was injured two weeks ago against Hull. After that, it's difficult for every player to be involved in every game because we have 23 players.

"They need to keep working as they are doing. When you are a player like Emile who isn't playing you can't be happy and that is normal. You need to come here every day and give your best. He is doing a good job."

Both of these promoted teams have got 10 points so far, which shows what decent starts they have made.

I've not picked either of them to get a win yet in my predictions but that is going to change this week despite the obvious result to go for being a draw.

I could easily make a case for Hull because we know they will give this a real go, but I am actually going to back Ipswich to nick an away win. The Tractor Boys have definitely got a goal or two in them and have already won once on the road, at Crystal Palace.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Ipswich Town

Gary O'Neil provided a team news update ahead of Saturday's match against Hull: "Sasa [Lukic] was on the grass today and he looked good so we’ll make a call tomorrow.

“He’s had a little bit of a groin injury that has taken some time. I’ve got a big call to make on that one because I’d love to have him in the starting 11 for us, but we need to make the right call.”

Looking to the rest of the squad, he added: "The rest are all fit and available so the only decisions are tactical and technical ones rather than fitness ones.”

Brentford

Brentford boss Keith Andrews on Fabio Carvalho's fitness: "Fabio picked up a knock about 10 days to two weeks ago, so he’s going to be out up until after the international break."

On the rest of his squad's fitness: "Everybody came through it [the defeat to Sunderland in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night] absolutely fine. A couple of them were playing for the first time in a while."

Earlier in the week, it was also confirmed that Rico Henry will also be out until after the international break with a hip and quad injury picked up in training.

Crystal Palace are through to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after beating Fulham on Wednesday, and it felt like Eagles boss Pierre Sage needed that result because of his side's poor league form.

Tottenham are on the up at the moment though, and they performed really well in their win at Chelsea even if they did need a bit of luck along the way with Mike Penders punching their first goal into his own net.

However they manage it, the important thing for Spurs is they have found a way of getting results now and I can see them getting another one here.

I do worry for Sage because it seems a lot of Palace fans are uncertain about him and feel his team are too easy to get at.

Because of that, I am going for Spurs to score a couple more goals here.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham boss Roberto de Zerbi on if the team can build momentum now: "I believe in my players. We have many leaders in our group, [Andy] Robertson, [Micky] Van de Ven, Pedro Porro, [Jan Paul] Van Hecke, Sandro Tonali, Rodrigo Bentancur, Tosin, Ben Davies, James Maddison. They push to keep the level of mentality, spirit and appetite high. Especially becasue now football is going in this direction."

Image source, Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham boss Roberto de Zerbi on the atmosphere at the club after the win against Chelsea last week: "This is the goal. We have not achieved our goal. We want to be happy at the end of the season. Now we have to push, we have to stay focused, improve the spirit, the appetite to win games in a row. To do that we have to show if we are good enough. We've shown that on the pitch but now we have to show that in out mentality. Because the [level] of this club is to win games in a row. One win or two wins are not enough."

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham boss Roberto de Zerbi on injuries: "James Maddison is available. Tosin is still out, [so are] Bergvall and Mudryk, but everyone else is available."

On whether James Maddison can get away with not needing to train as much as others: "I believe in working. I come from a city, Brescia [where] we are used to working hard and we believe in working in hard you receive the good back.

"For James Maddison or any player coming back from injury, [you] have to work more than the other players but he's already working hard for four, five weeks and consistently.

"So it's not a problem if you miss two days and then we have to analyse if we take risks or not. Because if we take risks like we did with Pedro Porro and [Dejan] Kulusevski... we are lucky to have a big squad [but] it's [about] not taking risks for new injuries."

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola on beating Arsenal three of the last four times he has faced them as manager: "It is true that I do have good results with Bournemouth against them but this doesn't mean a lot. This is a totally different team, a different group of players in a different moment. We cannot use the same things we used with Bournemouth against Arsenal. We have to use different tools, use our players as good as we can and trust them.

"At the end it is going to be a matter of winning the duels, running more than them, winning the set-play mini-games and these sort of things you have to control against Arsenal."

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola was asked about recent comments from Jamie Carragher, suggesting the Reds are Arsenal's biggest title challengers: "It is still October. We take one day at a time. I always say the first reference is when you've played against everybody once, so halfway through the season and then you can start thinking about the standings and this stuff but right now we are in a position where we need to improve and keep getting better.

"For the fans, it is good if they have expectations and think we can win but if you ask me, I still think it's very early in the season."

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola on the fitness of Dominik Szoboszlai and Victor Munoz: "I think they have a chance [to be involved] but I don't know for certain. We still have two days but I think they have a chance, yes."

While you've brought Mr. Arteta up again, we'll check in with Arsenal's opponents on Sunday now before rounding off the rest of today's news conferences.

It may be bad news for Arteta on the team news front, but it's looking promising for Andoni Iraola and Liverpool...

FPL Heisenberg
Fantasy Premier League expert with seven top-30k finishes

Joao Pedro (£7.8m) is an easy sell following Xabi Alonso's comments ruling him out for weeks.

Some may be thinking of holding the Chelsea forward through his injury and simply benching him. I can see why this is tempting, because when he's fit, he's one of the best assets in the game.

However, we don't know how long this could go on for, so I won't be holding him hoping for a speedy recovery.

Another reason he's an easy sell is the mid-priced forwards are actually enticing right now.

Alternatives such as Jackson and Evanilson have excellent form and favourable forthcoming fixtures.

The likes of Dominic Calvert Lewin (£6.1m), Thierno Barry (£5.6m) or if you have the money Alexander Isak (£9.1m) are all worth considering, too.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport Chelsea reporter

For Manchester United manager Michael Carrick, this may be a good time to face Chelsea.

Xabi Alonso has confirmed that Maxence Lacroix and Jorrel Hato have joined an injury list that includes goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, striker Joao Pedro and captain Reece James.

Chelsea have also suffered back-to-back defeats by Tottenham and Liverpool, although the latter came on penalties at Anfield, while United have enjoyed a rare midweek break.

It will be interesting to see whether United, boosted by the reintegration of captain Bruno Fernandes and the return of Kobbie Mainoo from injury, can take advantage of Chelsea's problems despite their turbulent position in the table.

Chelsea

Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso on Manchester United's recent struggles and the pressure on manager Michael Carrick: "I have great respect, I have great sympathy for Michael as a manager.

"I know him because we have played against each other. We played recently in a legends game and we had a little chat. He is a good guy and one you want to be around. Aside from that, it is not for me to comment."

Does the noise around Chelsea's opponents change their approach?

"For me, it doesn't change. We need to prepare the same way. We can only control what we can control. We know they are a good team, it doesn't matter about the table. They have a good squad, good player, good manager."