Premier League best bets: Can the big names regain their rhythm?

Welcome to Matchday 8 of the Premier League season — a weird, upside-down weekend colored heavily by the international break that preceded it.

It's only been two weeks since Brighton battled back from 2-0 down to beat Spurs, but so much has changed in the international soccer landscape in that time. Ex-Chelsea coaches Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel took jobs with the United States and England; City striker Erling Haaland got so frustrated by his team's 5-1 loss to Austria that he stormed out of the stadium and refused to speak to the press. It's been a wild fourteen days of international drama, and all of it will inform what happens this weekend in the Premier League.

We'll see some absences; Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, Man United's Manuel Ugarte and more picked up injuries while playing for their countries. But we'll also see some newfound swagger. Raul Jimenez and Antonee Robinson of Fulham both played brilliantly for their national teams and will hope to carry that brilliance back to London; Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold buried a gorgeous free kick for England and will be eager to repeat the feat.

With old stars missing, new stars being born and 20 teams eager to reestablish their rhythm, here are the best bets we're eyeing for Matchday 8:

Tottenham Hotspur vs. West Ham, Saturday, Oct. 19, 7:30 a.m. ET. It's been a strange old season for both of these teams. Spurs have been a roller-coaster of an outfit, going from the highs of defeating Man United one week to the lows of blowing a 2-0 lead over Brighton the next. West Ham, meanwhile, was expecting the unexpected under new coach Julian Lopetegui, but has largely settled for predictable mid-table mediocrity thus far. Neither set of fans is thrilled by what's happening with their club, but neither is tearing their collective hair out, either.

Spurs are the clear favorites in this match; they're at -200 to pull off a win here. But those odds don't tell you that Spurs tend to struggle against West Ham: they played the Hammers twice last season and never managed a win. With a few of West Ham's players cruising on a high after the international break — Mexico's Edson Alvarez in particular looked great — we think West Ham might buck the odds and get something from this fixture. We're backing the Hammers to win or draw at +150.

Fulham vs. Aston Villa, Saturday, Oct. 19, 10 a.m. ET. This is the sleeper hit of the weekend: neither of these teams can stop scoring and neither can keep a clean sheet to save their lives. It should be an end-to-end thrill from the very first minute. We like the look of Fulham's Raul Jimenez as an anytime goalscorer at +225; he buried a perfect free kick against the USMNT during the international break and looked strong against Man City the weekend before. For Villa, we're all about unheralded attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers. He's been the secret engine behind Villa's attack all season, and we're backing him to have at least two shots on target at +350.

Wolves vs. Man City, Sunday, Oct. 20, 9 a.m. ET. When Erling Haaland refused to speak to the press after his Norway side fell 5-1 to Austria, we felt our stomachs drop out of fear for poor Wolves. Haaland is mad, no question about it, and he's primed to take out his anger against the Premier League's worst-performing side this weekend. We don't normally back Haaland as a goalscorer because the odds aren't all that long, but we're absolutely backing him to score two or more goals this weekend at +260. Angry Haaland is the most clinical Haaland.