After a rollercoaster start to their Premier League campaign, Brighton & Hove Albion welcome an improving Leeds United team to the Amex Stadium on Saturday (15:00 BST). The Seagulls were 4-0 winners over Aston Villa in their opener, then lost 4-3 at Chelsea last time out. Head coach Fabian Hurzeler will have taken some positives from the clash at Stamford Bridge though, namely the manner in which his team bossed long periods of the contest.
The 25-year-old joined the Tynecastle club this summer having agreed a pre-contract back in January when he was still at St Johnstone and has forced his way into Wouter Vrancken's starting XI. McPake set up teammate James Wilson for the opening goal in Thursday night's Edinburgh derby and scored one of his own as Hearts beat Hibernian 3-1. New Scotland manager Sebastien Pocognoli was in the stands at Easter Road watching on as he prepares to select his squad for this month's Nations League matches against Slovenia, Switzerland, and North Macedonia.
Newcastle have started the season superbly with four points, and it feels like they have changed the mood at St James' Park after a difficult summer. There's no doom and gloom about the place despite them losing several key players and, after predicting they would lose their first two games, I feel differently about their prospects now. Things can change very quickly of course and a home defeat by Bournemouth would see a lot of that optimism disappear.
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