The Premier League is finally back and, after two weeks of pretending the Nations League is just as exciting, normal service can resume.

Although we’ve hardly returned to normality.

Manchester City have managed to collect 115 guilty charges while their players were away, and half the league has returned from international duty held together by strapping tape and crossed fingers. No wonder everyone hates international breaks.

For everyone else, it’s back to spending far too much of Friday convincing ourselves that four completely unrelated football matches are definitely going to unfold exactly as planned.

So, after digging through this weekend’s fixtures, we’ve landed on a four-fold that we’re hoping can take the edge off the next trip to the petrol station.

We’re not expecting retirement money here, just enough to get the fuel light off.

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Arsenal to beat Leeds

I’ll start with the selection that looks obvious until you actually look at what Leeds have been doing.

They’re unbeaten.

Five Premier League games have brought two wins and three draws, including a 4-1 win over Newcastle and a point away at Brighton. Leeds have also conceded just three league goals, so this isn’t exactly the ideal fixture for Arsenal to ease themselves back into things.

But I’m still backing them.

Arsenal were excellent before Brighton gave them a fairly brutal 3-0 reality check just before the international break. That remains their only league defeat, with four wins from the other four games.

They’ve also had three weeks to stew on it.

There are some injury headaches. William Saliba is still out, while Ezri Konsa, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and others have all had fitness concerns over the break.

Even so, at the Emirates, I’d still rather be relying on Arsenal than trying to get clever with an unbeaten Leeds side.

They might make us work for it, though.

Pick: Arsenal to win

Aston Villa vs Brentford – Both teams to score

This feels much easier than deciding which version of either team will turn up.

Villa have plenty of attacking quality and home advantage. Brentford, meanwhile, have already shown this season that they’re more than capable of causing problems for the bigger sides.

Neither defence fills me with enough confidence to back a clean sheet.

That’s basically the attraction here.

Rather than asking Villa to justify being favourites or trusting Brentford to take something away from home, I just want both teams to contribute.

It isn’t glamorous, but neither is losing an acca because you’ve convinced yourself a perfectly decent Brentford side suddenly won’t have a shot for 90 minutes.

Pick: Both teams to score

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Brighton over 1.5 team goals vs Sunderland

I’d love to tell you I’ve found a clever angle here that doesn’t involve betting against Sunderland.

I haven’t.

Brighton went into the international break by beating Arsenal 3-0 and have been one of the more entertaining attacking sides in the league so far.

Now they get Sunderland at a slightly awkward time for Régis Le Bris.

Daniel Ballard is currently doubtful with a hamstring problem, while Brian Brobbey is expected to remain out. There are those international break injuries we were talking about.

Sunderland are still a good side. They finished seventh last season for a reason and the Stadium of Light isn’t somewhere I’d be rushing to back Brighton outright.

That’s why I’m not.

Brighton scoring twice allows Sunderland to do whatever they like at the other end. They can even win 4-2 if they’re feeling generous.

Sunderland’s last game was also a 5-3 shootout at the Etihad – they might be tighter at home, but if Brighton score first they can’t afford to sit in.

Pick: Brighton over 1.5 team goals

Newcastle to beat Coventry

And here’s the one that could ruin everyone’s Monday evening.

Coventry finally got their first Premier League win of the season before the break, but their opening five games still read four defeats and one victory. Newcastle have taken eight points from the same number of matches.

The international break might also have arrived at a decent time for Newcastle.

Joelinton and Nico González have returned to training, while the break has given several others more time to work their way back towards fitness.

It hasn’t all been good news. Lewis Miley withdrew from England Under-21 duty with an injury – Understand what I meant in the intro now?

Coventry should make this competitive at home. They desperately needed that win before the break and won’t be treating Newcastle’s visit as a free hit.

But player-for-player, Newcastle are comfortably stronger.

If we’re still alive by Monday night, I’ll take my chances.

Pick: Newcastle to win

Premier League Accumulator tips

So that’s where we’ve landed.

There are certainly safer-looking selections elsewhere, but piling four odds-on favourites together isn’t particularly interesting and usually ends with one of them drawing 0-0 anyway.

Arsenal and Newcastle are the two sides we’re trusting to actually get the job done.

Villa and Brentford can argue over the points as long as they both score, while Brighton just need to continue doing what they were doing before the break.

Four legs. Three days.

See you on Monday night when Newcastle are inevitably 0-0 after 78 minutes.

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