England will play their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier away at Slovakia tomorrow with new boss Sam Allardyce breaking the ice on the international scene following his appointment as Roy Hodgson’s successor.

The 2016-17 Premier League is only a few weeks old and only three clubs are on maximum nine points at present – Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte.

All three title challengers changed manager this summer as Pep Guardiola came in for Manuel Pellegrini at the Etihad Stadium, Antonio Conte for Gus Hiddink at Chelsea while United opted for Jose Mourinho to replace Dutchman Louis van Gaal.

The Citizens also opened with three wins last season as United had claimed seven points from three matches and the Blues only managed four.

This time City started with a home win against Sunderland (2-1), beat Stoke away (4-1) and won at home to West Ham (3-1).

Chelsea won twice at home – vs West Ham (2-1) and Burnley (3-0) – and then beat Watford (2-1) away.

United claimed away wins at Bournemouth (3-1) and Hull City (1-0) and home to Southampton 2-0.

Raheem Sterling is enjoying life under Guardiola after bagging an impressive brace in a man-of-the- match performance against West Ham United.

Without doubt, Sergio Aguero is one of the best strikers in world football but showed the nasty side of his game at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The Argentine is facing a potential three-match ban for violent conduct after throwing an elbow at West Ham’s Winston Reid and could miss the Manchester derby.

At Chelsea, Cesc Fabregas has hit back at speculation that he has fallen out with manager Conte as Eden Hazard is back to his best after a fine match against Burnley.

Marcus Rashford continues to stake a claim for a starting spot at United after a stellar cameo against Hull where he scored a late winner.

After yet another lively display, the 18-year-old is ready to switch from sub to certainty in Mourinho’s first XI.

Everton, in fourth place, are also undefeated after taking seven points under new manager Ronald Koeman.

Koeman insists Romelu Lukaku will return to form for Everton despite failing to score since last March as the striker’s confidence has now become a key issue at Goodison Park.

There are two other sides in the Premier League without defeat  after three matches – Tottenham Hotspur and Middlesbrough. Both teams have won once and drawn two.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino criticised the ‘crazy’ break that has interrupted the Premier League at this early stage of the campaign as he lost a number of players to international duty.

At the Riverside Stadium, Aitor Karanka praised his side’s ‘spirit’ after a 0-0 draw at West Brom in their last outing.

Boro took until the 73rd minute to register a shot at goal in a dour encounter at the Hawthorns. However, Spanish tactician Karanka was quick to pick the positives from the display as Boro claimed their first clean sheet of the season.

Elsewhere, Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp reiterates that Daniel Sturridge has a big role to play at Anfield this season despite being benched at White Hart Lane last weekend.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes £25m signing Granit Xhaka can be the next Emmanuel Petit.

The north Londoners secured their first win of the season against a spirited Watford team in their last match but the overall performance at Vicarage Road wasn’t one to fully satisfy the Gunners’ manager and the fans, in particular.

Like Arsenal, defending cham-pions Leicester City are on the four-point mark after winning their first game of the current campaign against Swansea City (2-1) at The King Power Stadium.

England striker Jamie Vardy was among the scorers for the Foxes as manager Claudio Ranieri praised his men for their victory in a tough match played under torrential rain.

Today’s fixtures

League One
Bolton-Southend
Bury-Port Vale
Fleetwood-Coventry City
Millwall-Bradford
Oldham-Shrewsbury
Oxford-Rochdale
Peterborough-Swindon - 13.15
Wimbledon-Chesterfield

Tomorrow:
Gillingham-Sheffield United - 15.15
Northampton-MK Dons - 13.00

League Two
Carlisle-Accrington    
Colchester-Exeter City    
Crewe-Doncaster    
Luton Town-Wycombe    
Mansfield-Cambridge    
Morecambe-Leyton Orient    
Newport-Barnet    
Notts County-Grimsby    
Plymouth-Cheltenham    
Portsmouth-Crawley    
Stevenage-Hartlepool    
Yeovil-Blackpool

Note: Kick-offs 16.00 unless stated.