Brentford v Watford
Brentford’s 2-0 win against Watford in this fixture in the Championship last season ended a 13-game winless league run for the Bees against the Hornets, that stretched back to 1977 (D5 L8).
This will be the first ever top-flight meeting between Brentford and Watford, with the two sides having already previously met in the second, third and fourth tiers of English football.
Watford will be just the second side that Brentford have faced in each of the top four divisions of English league football, as well as both major domestic cup competitions, after Brighton and Hove Albion.
Brentford are unbeaten in their last eight league games played on a Friday (W6 D2) since a 2-0 home loss to Fulham in November 2016. The Bees’ first ever Premier League game was a 2-0 victory over Arsenal, played on the opening Friday of this campaign.
This is Watford’s fifth Premier League game played on a Friday, with all of them coming away from home (W2 L2 so far). The Hornets’ biggest away win in the competition came in a Friday match, 5-1 at Cardiff in February 2019.
Four of the last six Premier League meetings between newly promoted sides have been won by the away team, including both such fixtures so far this season (Watford winning at Norwich and Norwich winning at Brentford) – prior to this, the away side had won just three of the previous 38 such matches in the competition (D10 L25).
Watford are the only team yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League this season, while the Hornets have conceded more Premier League goals than any other side since Claudio Ranieri’s first game in charge (19).
Brentford’s first eight home Premier League goals have all been scored by different players (Canós, Nørgaard, Pinnock, Janelt, Wissa, Zanka, Henry & Toney), only the third team in Premier League history to achieve that, after Liverpool (first nine) and Wimbledon (first nine), both in 1992.
Since a 1-1 draw against Chelsea with Leicester when the Foxes were already Premier League champions in their last match of 2015-16, Claudio Ranieri has picked up just seven points in 24 away Premier League matches as a manager, across spells with Leicester, Fulham and Watford (W1 D4 L19), an average of 0.29 points per game on the road.
Watford’s Josh King has been directly involved in nine goals in his last nine away starts in the Premier League (6 goals, 3 assists), although the Norwegian has only found the net in two of his 26 away appearances in London, scoring against Crystal Palace in 2016 and 2019 for Bournemouth.
SATURDAY 11 DECEMBER
Manchester City – Wolverhampton Wanderers
Manchester City have lost just one of their last nine home games against Wolves in all competitions (W6 D2), going down 2-0 in October 2019.
Having done the league double over Manchester City in 2019-20, Wolves lost both Premier League meetings with the Citizens last season by an aggregate score of 7-2.
Among all fixtures to have been played at least 60 times in the history of the English Football League since it was formed in 1888, Man City vs Wolves has the highest goals-per-game ratio of 3.83 (437 goals in 114 meetings).
Manchester City have won 31 of their 39 Premier League games in 2021 (D2 L6) – only Liverpool in 1982 (33) and Chelsea in 2005 (32) have won more matches in a single calendar year in English top-flight history.
Wolves have lost 20 of their last 23 away top-flight matches against the reigning champions (W3) but did win 2-0 at Man City in the 2019-20 campaign.
Excluding penalties, Wolves are the only side that are yet to concede a set piece goal in the Premier League this season, despite facing 39 shots from such situations. By contrast, only Leeds (15) conceded more set piece goals (excl. pens) in the Premier League last season than Wolves (14).
Man City forward Gabriel Jesus has scored in all three of his Premier League starts against Wolves, netting five goals in total. The Brazilian has only scored more against Everton in the competition (8) than he has against Wolves.
Wolves’ Adama Traoré has scored more Premier League goals against Man City than he has against any other side (3), netting both goals in Wolves’ only away Premier League victory against the Citizens in October 2019.
Raheem Sterling has scored 99 Premier League goals (18 for Liverpool, 81 for Manchester City). He would be the 32nd different player to reach triple figures in the competition, and the eighth youngest to do so (27 years and 3 days on the day of this game).
Bernardo Silva has scored six goals in his last eight Premier League appearances for Manchester City – one more than in his previous 61 games in the competition (5) and is the top scoring midfielder in the Premier League so far this term (7).
Arsenal v Southampton
Arsenal have lost just one of their last 11 league games against Southampton (W6 D4), while at home the Gunners are unbeaten in 26 league games against them, since a 1-0 loss in November 1987.
Southampton have never won in 22 Premier League away games against Arsenal (D7 L15) – it’s the most one side has faced another on the road without ever winning in the competition’s history.
In their top-flight history, only against Fulham (27 since 1949) and Manchester City (27 between 1976 and 2012) have Arsenal had a longer unbeaten home run than their current run of 26 against Southampton.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 27 Premier League home games kicking off at 3pm on Saturday (W22 D5) since a 3-1 loss against Aston Villa on the opening day of the 2013-14 campaign.
Arsenal have won their last three home Premier League matches, last winning four in a row between July and October 2020. They’ve won their last two at home without conceding, last winning three in a row without reply at the Emirates in October 2017.
Southampton have lost 14 away Premier League matches in 2021, their most away league defeats in a single year since 2004, when they lost 15.
Southampton have conceded 47 away Premier League goals in 2021, the joint-most by a team in a year in Premier League history (also Sheffield Wednesday in 1997, Bolton Wanderers in 2007 and Wigan Athletic in 2009). The last top-flight side to concede more in a year was Luton Town in 1991 (49) while the last side to ship 50 was both Watford and West Brom in 1985.
Despite not playing in the Premier League for seven seasons between 2005-06 and 2011-12, only two teams have ever lost more away Premier League games in London than Southampton (74), with Newcastle losing 82 and Everton losing 80.
Since Ralph Hasenhüttl’s first game in charge in December 2018, Southampton have dropped more points from winning positions than any other Premier League side (71). Seven of these have been against Arsenal, with Saints only dropping more against Wolves and Manchester United (10 each) in that time.
Arsenal’s Martin Ødegaard has scored in each of his last two Premier League appearances although ended on the losing side in each game against Man Utd and Everton. Only four players in Premier League history have scored in three in a row and lost each time, most recently Michail Antonio for West Ham in August/September 2016. The last Gunners player to score in three league games in a row and lose all three was Malcolm Macdonald in March 1977.
Chelsea v Leeds United
Chelsea have won their last four home league games against Leeds – they’ve never won five in a row against them at Stamford Bridge.
Leeds are winless in their last six meetings with Chelsea in all competitions (D2 L4), since a 2-0 home win in December 2002.
In all competitions, Leeds have lost their last seven meetings with reigning European champions, since beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 in December 1980. Their last such game was a 5-1 home defeat to Chelsea in a League Cup tie in December 2012.
Chelsea have drawn their last two home Premier League matches, 1-1 draws with Burnley and Manchester United. The Blues haven’t drawn three in a row at Stamford Bridge since a run of four between December 2015 and February 2016 under Guus Hiddink.
Chelsea conceded more than twice for just the second time in 34 Premier League games under Thomas Tuchel in their 3-2 loss at West Ham last time out. In fact, the Blues have conceded more goals in their last three Premier League games (5) than they had in their first 12 combined this season (4).
Leeds have won just two of their last 32 away matches in London in all competitions (D7 L23) and have lost two of their last three games when scoring first in the capital: against Chelsea last December and Spurs in November (won 2-1 in the other vs Fulham).
Both Chelsea and Leeds have scored a joint league-high three goals in the 90th minute of Premier League games this season; Chelsea’s three have put the gloss on already won games for them, while Leeds’ three have either been winning (1) or equalising (2) strikes.
Mason Mount has both scored and assisted a goal in three of his last four Premier League starts for Chelsea, with the English midfielder scoring five and assisting three in these games. Mount has the most league goals (9) and assists (6) of any Chelsea player under Thomas Tuchel.
Raphinha has scored six of Leeds’ 15 Premier League goals this season, with no other player at the club netting more than twice so far this term. His six goals have been worth seven points to the Whites, with only Jamie Vardy’s strikes being more valuable to his side this season (8).
Patrick Bamford – who scored in Leeds’ 3-1 defeat at Chelsea last season – is looking to become the first Leeds player to score in consecutive away league matches against Chelsea since Gary McAllister in the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.
Liverpool v Aston Villa
Liverpool have won six of their last seven Premier League games against Aston Villa (L1), scoring at least twice in all seven games.
After a four-game unbeaten away run against Liverpool in the Premier League between 2012 and 2014, Aston Villa have now lost each of their last three visits to Anfield in the competition.
Aston Villa against Liverpool has been won by the away side on 20 occasions in the Premier League, with only Manchester City vs Manchester United (21) seeing more away wins in the competition’s history.
Only Arsenal against Liverpool (6) has seen more hat-tricks scored than Aston Villa vs Liverpool (4) in Premier League history, with Villa’s Ollie Watkins the last player to score one in October 2020.
Liverpool have won their last two home Premier League matches 4-0, against Arsenal and Southampton. The Reds haven’t won three consecutive home league games by a margin of at least four goals since September/October 1987, beating Derby, Portsmouth and QPR 4-0 back then.
Liverpool lost eight of their first 12 Premier League games in 2021 (W3 D1), failing to score on seven occasions in that run. Since then, the Reds have scored in all 25 of their Premier League games and lost just once (W18 D6).
With an expected goals against total of 18.6, Aston Villa (24 goals conceded) have shipped just over five goals more than expected based on the quality of chances they’ve faced – only Norwich and Crystal Palace have more this season. However, the Villans have also scored (21) around five more than their xG suggests (16.2), with only Chelsea, Liverpool and West Ham over performing more this term.
Aston Villa have won three of their four Premier League games under Steven Gerrard (L1), as many as they had in 11 games under Dean Smith this season (D1 L7). Gerrard is looking to be the first Villa manager to win his first two Premier League away games in charge of the club since John Gregory (first 5 in 1998).
This will be Steven Gerrard’s first match against Liverpool as a manager, the club he played for 710 times in all competitions, the third-most in the Reds’ history. Former players managing against the Reds at Anfield in the Premier League have lost 14 of their last 16 visits (W1 D1), with Kevin Keegan the last former Liverpool player to win there, in May 2003 with Manchester City.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has either scored or assisted a goal in 13 consecutive Premier League games, setting up Divock Origi’s late winner against Wolves last time out. It’s the second longest run of consecutive games with a goal involvement in the competition’s history, after Jamie Vardy’s run of 15 between August and December 2015.
Norwich City v Manchester United
Norwich have lost eight of their last 10 Premier League meetings with Man Utd (W2), including the last three in a row. It’s the fourth time they’ve lost three consecutive Premier League games against Man Utd, but they’ve never lost four in a row against them in the competition.
None of Manchester United’s last 14 away league games against Norwich has finished level, with the Red Devils winning nine of these (L5).
Manchester United are winless in their last four Premier League matches against newly promoted sides (D3 L1), losing 4-1 to Watford earlier this season. The Red Devils haven’t gone five league games in a row without a win against such sides since a run of seven between January 1992 and January 1993.
Two of Norwich’s last four home Premier League matches have ended goalless, one more than in their previous 47 at Carrow Road. The Canaries’ two clean sheets in four home games is also as many as they managed in their previous 26 in the top-flight.
Norwich have failed to score in a league-high nine different Premier League games this season, while their eight goals scored is their fewest after 15 games in their league history. Of the 17 previous clubs to have netted eight goals or fewer after 15 top-flight games, only three have avoided relegation – Sheffield United (1990-91), Everton (2005-06) and Crystal Palace (2017-18).
After an English-league record 29 consecutive away games unbeaten, Manchester United have now lost two of their last four on the road, conceding four goals in both defeats.
Man Utd’s Marcus Rashford has been involved in four goals in his two Premier League games against Norwich (3 goals, 1 assist), averaging a goal involvement every 37 minutes against the Canaries in the competition.
This will be Ralf Rangnick’s first away league match in charge of Manchester United – none of the previous four permanent Man Utd managers have lost their first league game on the road (W3 D1), with Alex Ferguson the last to do so (2-0 at Oxford United in November 1986).
Norwich’s Dean Smith has already beaten Manchester United once in the Premier League this season, winning 1-0 with Aston Villa in September. He could become the first manager since Andy Aitken in 1908-09 to beat Man Utd with two different clubs within the same top-flight season – Aitken won 5-0 with Middlesbrough and 3-2 with Leicester that season.
Three of Mason Greenwood’s four Premier League goals this season have come away from home, making him Manchester United’s highest league goalscorer away from Old Trafford this season.
SUNDAY 12 DECEMBER
Brighton and Hove Albion v Tottenham Hotspur
Brighton have won their last two Premier League home games against Spurs, having won just two of their first seven at home against them in league competition (D1 L4).
Spurs have won five of their eight Premier League meetings with Brighton (D1 L2), though all of their failures to win have come at the Amex Stadium.
Among all teams to have played in the Premier League for more than two seasons, Brighton have the lowest home win percentage (29% – P83 W24). The Seagulls are winless in four (D3 L1) and won just six of their last 30 on home soil (D13 L11).
Tottenham Hotspur have failed to score in either of their last two away Premier League games, managing just 15 shots combined in those games. They haven’t gone three without a goal on the road since March 2014 under Tim Sherwood.
Despite being on the longest current winless run in the Premier League (10 games – D8 L2), only the current top three clubs have lost fewer Premier League games than Brighton this season (Man City 2, Liverpool 1, Chelsea 2).
No side has conceded fewer second half goals than Brighton in the Premier League this season (6), with a league-high 63% of their goals conceded coming in the opening 45 minutes (10/16). Meanwhile, Spurs have scored just eight goals after half-time in the Premier League this term, though five of those have been since Antonio Conte took charge.
Tottenham were averaging 0.9 goals-per-game in the Premier League under Nuno Espírito Santo this season, with that average doubling to 1.8 under Antonio Conte so far.
Spurs manager Antonio Conte has a 100% Premier League win record against Brighton, winning both games in 2017-18 with Chelsea. The only manager to face the Seagulls more often without dropping points is Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who won all five of his games against them.
Neal Maupay’s six Premier League goals for Brighton this season have been worth seven points to the Seagulls, with only Jamie Vardy’s strikes being more valuable for their side this term (8). The Frenchman’s last three strikes have been in the 89th minute or later, and all three have earned Brighton a 1-1 draw.
Tottenham striker Harry Kane hasn’t scored in any of his last six Premier League games, though he’s started each match in this run. He’s never gone seven consecutive starts without a goal in the competition before.
Burnley v West Ham United
Burnley have won four of their last seven league games against West Ham (L3), as many as they had in their previous 22 against them. They did lose both Premier League meetings with the Hammers last season, however.
West Ham have never kept a clean sheet in seven away Premier League games against Burnley – only at Middlesbrough (12) have the Hammers played more games in the competition while conceding in each match.
Burnley have scored six goals in their last two home Premier League games – 3-1 vs Brentford, 3-3 vs Crystal Palace – as many as in their previous 11 at Turf Moor. The Clarets haven’t scored 3+ goals in three consecutive home top-flight matches since September 1967, one of which was a 3-3 draw with West Ham.
West Ham have lost their last two away Premier League games, last losing more consecutively in a run of seven between December 2019 and June 2020.
No side has dropped more points from winning positions in the Premier League this season than Burnley (14), while West Ham have won nine points from behind so far this term, with only Everton earning more (10).
Burnley have picked up just one win from their last 17 Premier League games (D7 L9), with the Clarets failing to score on nine occasions in that run. In fact, six of their 14 goals scored over these 17 matches have come in their last two games at Turf Moor.
Only Liverpool (23) have scored more second half goals in the Premier League than West Ham this season (19), while only Norwich (3) have netted fewer after half-time than Burnley (5).
Burnley striker Chris Wood has scored seven goals in eight Premier League games against West Ham, more than he has vs any other side. The New Zealander has scored in all four of his appearances against the Hammers at Turf Moor in the competition.
Burnley’s Maxwel Cornet has scored in his two home Premier League starts so far – no player has ever scored in their first three starts at Turf Moor for the Clarets in the competition.
Manuel Lanzini has scored two goals in his last three Premier League appearances for West Ham, as many as he had in his previous 57 in the competition.
Leicester City v Newcastle United
None of the last 13 Premier League meetings between Leicester and Newcastle have been drawn, with the Foxes winning eight of these (L5). However, Newcastle won the last meeting 4-2 in May, last winning consecutive Premier League games against them in October 2014.
Newcastle have won three of their last four away league games against Leicester (L1), as many as they had in their previous 17 trips to Filbert Street/King Power Stadium (D7 L7).
Since their return to the Premier League in 2014, Leicester have won more Premier League games against Newcastle than they have vs any other side (8).
Leicester City have conceded at least twice in each of their last five home Premier League games – they haven’t done so in six consecutive home league games since a run of seven between September and November 1964.
Newcastle earned their first win of the season against Burnley last time out, ending a 14-game winless run in the Premier League. Their last three league victories have been against sides in the relegation zone, with their last victory against a side from outside the bottom three coming at Leicester in May.
Leicester have conceded at least once in each of their last 14 Premier League games, since beating Wolves 1-0 on the opening weekend. Of current Premier League sides, only Watford (25 games) are on a longer run without a clean sheet in the competition than the Foxes.
Leicester have conceded a league-high seven headed goals in the Premier League this season, while only Burnley and Chelsea (6 each) have netted more headers than Newcastle so far this term (5).
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has never won away against Leicester in his managerial career, drawing four and losing five of his nine trips to the King Power Stadium in all competitions.
Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has been directly involved in 25 goals in his last 18 Premier League appearances against sides starting the day in the relegation zone (18 goals, 7 assists).
Callum Wilson has scored eight goals in his last 12 Premier League games for Newcastle, beginning with a brace at Leicester in May. He’s scored 18 Premier League goals joining the Magpies at the start of last season, at least 10 more than any other player at the club.
Crystal Palace – Everton
Crystal Palace are winless in their last 13 Premier League meetings with Everton (D7 L6) since a 3-2 away win in September 2014.
Everton are unbeaten in 10 Premier League away games against Crystal Palace (D5 L5), since a 1-0 loss in October 1994. In their top-flight history, only against Preston (11 between 1897 and 1911) and Liverpool (15 between 1899 and 1914) have they had longer unbeaten away runs.
Following a seven-game unbeaten run, Crystal Palace have lost their last three Premier League games. They last lost more consecutively in June/July 2020 (7).
Everton are winless in five away Premier League matches (D1 L4), their worst run since an eight-game stretch between April and October 2019. The Toffees have also conceded first in each of their current five-game winless run on the road.
Everton have won more points from losing positions than any other side in the Premier League in 2021-22 (10), making up 56% of their total (10/18). In Premier League history, only Wolves in 2011-12 (60%, 15/25) and West Brom in 2010-11 (57%, 27/47) have won a higher share of their total points from losing positions in a single season.
Only Wolves (4) have scored fewer first-half goals in the Premier League this season than Crystal Palace (5), while only Aston Villa (24%) have netted a lower share before the interval than the Eagles (26%).
Everton have failed to score in their last six Premier League games played on Sundays, since a 1-0 win at West Ham in May. It’s the longest run the Toffees have had without a goal on a specific day of the week in the competition, while no side has ever failed to score in seven consecutive Premier League Sunday games.
All four of Wilfried Zaha’s Premier League goals for Crystal Palace this season have been the opening goal of the game, with three of those ending up being the game’s winning strike. The Ivorian has scored just once in his 11 Premier League games against Everton, and has never been on the winning side against the Toffees.
Everton manager Rafael Benítez has lost 12 of his last 17 Premier League away games against London sides (W3 D2), with both draws in that run coming at Crystal Palace. It’s just one fewer defeat than he suffered in his first 30 such games in the competition (W12 D5 L13).
Seven of Everton’s last 11 Premier League goals in London have been scored by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who will miss this match with an injury. The other four were scored by Richarlison (2), Abdoulaye Doucouré (1) and a Bernd Leno own goal.
