Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe will lock horns with Mike Phelan for the first time on Saturday, and insists the new Hull City manager is fully deserving of his new role.

The Cherries come into the game off the back of consecutive home wins over West Bromwich Albion and Everton, and Howe is desperate to keep the momentum going at the Vitality Stadium.

But with a galvanised Hull in town, the 38-year-old insists that is no easy task, and Howe insists Phelan’s side have been playing like a new team entirely in recent weeks.

“He’s done a very good job,” he said. “A lot was made of their summer in the press about the lack of new signings, but that has probably helped them in some ways to create a siege mentality.

“They’ve certainly started the season very well. The most impressive thing he has done is change the way they play – they are a very attractive team to watch.

“We know they are going to pose a threat, but as always we need to focus on our own preparation in the build up.

“We know the importance of this game, but we know the importance of every game. We feel the pressure in every match to perform and pick up points. Ultimately that’s what will get you where you want to be at the end of the season.

“Every home game, especially with the form we are in at home, we feel is very, very important. As a footballer you should enjoy coming out to play at home in front of your own supporters.”

Leicester City must bring their Champions League form into the Premier League and find ways to earn three points according to midfielder Danny Drinkwater.

The English midfielder, who missed out on international selection through injury, has helped the Foxes to a 100 per cent win record in their opening two Champions League games.

City recorded a 3-0 victory over Club Brugge in their first ever Champions League fixture, before sneaking a 1-0 home win over Porto. They face FC Copenhagen on Tuesday.

But the Foxes have so far struggled to replicate their strong form in Europe domestically, sitting in 12th in the Premier League and suffering three defeats from three away from the King Power Stadium.

(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

“We need to find what we’re doing in the Champions League and mirror it into the Premier League,” Drinkwater said.

“Obviously, it’s still early in the season we’ve not played that many games. Stuff is going to change, we just need to find ways on the pitch to win the games.

“We can put all the preparation into the other teams but if they set up a different way it’s up to us as players to find a way to get the result.”

Mark Noble admits it will be a weird feeling to line-up on the opposite side to James Tomkins this weekend having played alongside each other for 15 years.

The duo came through the Hammers ranks alongside each other in their youth, but this summer Tomkins left the club to join Crystal Palace as he was not guaranteed regular football at the London Stadium.

And on Saturday the two good friends will come head-to-head when Tomkins’ new club face West Ham at Selhurst Park.

Noble said: “It will feel very strange on Saturday having played alongside James for so many years.

“I say playing, but looking after him for so many years.

“I got him out of a number of situations on the pitch but I would like to put him in trouble on Saturday.

James Tomkins moved to Crystal Palace in the summer. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

“It is a shame he had to move on but that is football and it is very common for things to happen like that.

“He is 27 and wanted to play regular first-team football. It is a big loss for us because it is not just how good he is on the pitch, but the impact he has around the training ground. We have to move on now and good luck to him.

“He lives down the same road as me so we see each other a lot. But when we are on the pitch the main focus for me is getting the three points.

“He is a great lad and we get on so well. But you have to accept these things and we need to get the win on Saturday.”

While Andy Robertson had to endure a difficult international window with Scotland, the full back admits it was a good one for Hull City after forwards Adama Diomande and Dieumerci Mbokani both found the net.

Robertson was part of the Scotland team who drew 1-1 with Lithuania on Saturday before having to watch on from the sidelines as they were beaten 3-0 by Slovakia.

But there was better news for Diomande as he bagged his first goal in nine matches in all competitions and a debut effort for Norway in their 4-1 win over San Marino, while Mbokani bagged a brace for DR Congo in their 4-0 win over Libya.

Adama Diomande celebrates his midweek goal for Norway. (Photo by Trond Tandberg/Getty Images)

“I’m really looking forward to the weekend and it’s always good when the group gets back together after an international break,” said Robertson.

“It has felt like a long two weeks since we last played, so we’re all looking forward to travelling down to Bournemouth and we hope to come back with a positive result.

“The lads are all in good spirits. Adama has come back having got his first international goal for Norway so it’s great for the squad that he’s coming back with that sort of form and Dieumerci scored a couple for his country as well.

“But we’re all back here with Hull now and focussed on trying to get a result at Bournemouth on Saturday.

“We’ve got six or seven big games coming up against teams that are likely to be in and around us in the table rather than the run we had recently when we were up against a lot of the big teams in this league.

“But first and foremost we need to be at our best to take something from the game at Bournemouth and that is what we are aiming to do.”

N’Golo Kante can go on to become one of Chelsea’s most valuable players this season, according to former teammate Mark Schwarzer.

Goalkeeper Schwarzer, who is currently without a club but not yet officially retired, knows the midfielder well having spent last season with him at Leicester City as the Foxes went on to win the Premier League.

Kante’s importance to the champions did not go unnoticed with the France international earning a £32million summer move to Chelsea – also one of Schwarzer’s former clubs.

(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

And Schwarzer is confident Kante will prove to be exceptional value for money for Antonio Conte’s Blues when the chips are down this term.

“I’m a massive fan. He’s an incredible player,” said the 44 year old.

“It was obvious from day one in training at Leicester that he was something special. The guy’s got incredible ability.

“He didn’t play straight away; it probably took a month or two before he became a regular. I played a couple of cup games with him as well in that time and you could just see the quality he possessed.

“I thought if he could take that in his stride when he played in the Premier league then he could go from strength to strength, and you know what – he hasn’t looked back.

“He’s slotted in at Chelsea like he’s been here forever, and he’s only got room for improvement. He has an incredible engine, his understanding and reading of the game is superb, his skill is brilliant, and for a little guy he can still get up and head balls as well.

“I honestly think Chelsea have got one of the bargains of the season.”

After scoring a hatful of goals in the Championship, making the step up to the Premier League can often prove tricky for strikers, but in Troy Deeney, Jordan Rhodes feels he has the ideal man to learn from.

The pair played against each other in the Football League, and their clubs face each other on Sunday as Watford visit the Riverside with Boro looking to get a second Premier League victory under their belt this season.

Rhodes has yet to get off the mark in the Premier League, and the Scot is looking to take inspiration from Watford talisman Deeney, in the hope of kick-starting his debut season in the top flight.

“I’ve known Troy for the last seven or eight years, from playing against him at Walsall before his move to Watford,” said the 26-year-old.

“We’ve crossed paths many times over the years. I think a lot of players can relate to him, and that helps as club captain.

“I’ve nothing but good words to say about him – both as a player and a person.”

And Rhodes’ admiration of goings on in Watford stretch to the whole club, not just their captain.

Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

The Hornets finished 13^th in their first season back in the Premier League, and Rhodes feels Boro can learn a lot from their performances.

“I think last season’s Watford are the team that we’re striving to be this year,” he added.

“They got off to a great start and established themselves in the Premier League.

“This season, they’ve picked up again and got some great results, thanks to the squad they built last year.

“It will be a real test for us on Sunday. It will be good to pit our wits against them.”

Sunday will mark the six-month anniversary since Watford’s last clean sheet and manager Walter Mazzarri admits their defensive record is something he desperately wants to change.

Only three teams have conceded more in the Premier League so far this season and the Hornets’ record when it comes to shipping goals from crosses into the box is the worst in the division by far.

The fact Watford have scored as many as second-place Tottenham Hotspur and currently sit 11th in the Premier League table suggests their defensive woes may not be a major issue.

But Mazzarri, who replaced Quique Sanchez Flores at the helm in the summer, knows things need to change.

(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

The Italian said: “There are some things we want to improve on. We have created many opportunities to score but we need to improve defensively.

“I don’t want to excuse anything but we have been missing defensive players like [Miguel] Britos and [Craig] Cathcart who are very important to us.

“We allowed too many chances against Bournemouth and it is definitely something we are working on.”

He added: “I’m not that disappointed [in the defending] because I look at the whole game over and watch how we play from the start of the game until the final whistle. The main thing is how we play on the pitch.

“Of course I look at my team scoring one more goal than our rivals but I want to work defensively too and the goals we have been giving to the opposition have been many because we were not concentrating properly at that particular moment – that is something we have to focus on.”

Ronald Koeman’s long-standing friendship with Pep Guardiola will be put on hold on Saturday as the Everton boss goes in search of three points at the Etihad Stadium.

The Everton boss shared a room with a young Guardiola during his time as a player at Barcelona and the pair have remained in contact ever since.

And Koeman has revealed he can still see a lot of the lessons learned by the young Spaniard during those days shine through in his management career at Barcelona and now at City.

“We have spent many hours together talking about football,” Koeman explained.

The Barcelona team for the 1994 Uefa Champions League Final. Pep Guardiola and Ronald Koeman are second from and fourth from the left on the back row respectively. (Photo by Bob Thomas/Getty Images)

“When he was younger he was really interested in the way that we play football in Holland and I see a lot now in the teams managed by Pep about Barcelona, about Dutch football and I like that because that’s the most difficult way to win – to play offensive football and to win titles.

“We are really strong friends. Now it’s a little bit more easy because he is living in Manchester, I live close to Manchester and sometimes we have time to have dinner and to talk about football and life.

“We are friends. I wish them all the best – but not on Saturday.”

He was brought in to improve on a wretched goal-scoring record, but Stoke City fans will have to be patient to get the full impact of striker Wilfried Bony, according to manager Mark Hughes.

Signed on loan from Manchester City in August, Bony has yet to find the back of the net in his five Potters appearances to date, with his last goal coming way back on Boxing Day in victory over Sunderland while still at the Etihad Stadium.

That’s caused a semblance of concern for a Stoke side short on goals themselves, with their five in seven Premier League appearances the fewest of any team – with just three points accumulated from their campaign so far.

But Hughes believes the goals will pick up, both for the team and Bony who, while at Swansea City, score Premier League goals for the calendar year in 2014  than anyone else.

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

“I think it is fair to say that we are going to have to be patient with Wilfried,” said Hughes.

“He hasn’t played for quite some time, and we are trying to get him up to speed. Clearly we want to get him into good areas of the field because he is an accomplished finisher, and we see that on a daily basis in training.

“Now we want to see that on matchdays. He is a top-level striker. He improved against Manchester United and we fully expect him to keep making progress.

“He isn’t quite there yet, and he will admit that himself, but when we do get him to his best he will score plenty of goals for us.”

Goalkeeper Tom Heaton is confident Burnley are better prepared for the Premier League than they were two years ago, but he insists they can still improve further.

The Clarets already have two wins on the board this season whereas in their last season in the top flight it took them 11 games to earn their first three points.

The Turf Moor side were relegated at the end of the 2014/15 season before bouncing back from the Championship at the first time of asking.

A much improved start to the campaign was one of the club’s main targets according to Heaton, who hopes to recover from injury in time for Sunday’s game against Southampton.

“It’s one of the things we highlighted, to try and come out a bit faster,” he said.

(Photo by Alex Morton/Getty Images)

“We’ve got two wins on the board, that was important for us, and it was two excellent wins.

“There’s excitement around. We could be stood here with more points on the board, we’re not, we’ve got seven, we’re doing alright and we’re still building and improving.

“We’ve got a few different strings to the bow and the Arsenal game was a good showcase of that.

“We’re learning all the time and we’re improving all the time and that was another highlight of it.”