A statistical preview for this weekend's Premier League fixtures, including Manchester City v Everton; Liverpool v Crystal Palace; Sunderland v Manchester United; Norwich v Chelsea; Tottenham v West Ham; West Brom v Arsenal
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Manchester City host Everton to open this weekend's Premier League action, hoping to bounce back from the footballing lesson they were given by Bayern Munich in midweek, but given recent results between the sides, nothing should be taken for granted.
Everton have won 9 and drawn 1 of the last 12 clashes, including 4 wins in their last 6 trips to the Etihad. The Toffees remain the Premier League's only unbeaten side, so Manuel Pellegrini's men will be up against it this weekend.
Newcastle ran out 5-1 winners last time they faced Cardiff, but they are unlikely to have such an easy ride this time around given their terrible away record in recent times. The Magpies have won only 3 of their last 23 league games on the road and have conceded more goals away from home this season (8) than any other side in the Premier League.
Fulham have been ahead at half time and gone on to win 5 of their last 6 home games against Stoke, but will need to be wary of late goals when they meet this weekend, having conceded decisive injury-time goals in their last 2 outings at Craven Cottage. Stoke have started impressively under Mark Hughes, already playing a significantly lower proportion of their passes long (11.3%) than they did last season (16.2%), and they will hope to get back to winning ways at Fulham.
8th hosts 9th as Aston Villa travel to Hull, with Danny Graham looking to end a Premier League goal drought that has now reached a worrying 21 hours and 57 minutes. He has also gone 10 hours and 50 minutes without an assist in the Premier League, but both his last goal and last assist came against Villa so he will be hopeful of ending his awful run on Saturday.
Crystal Palace could be in for a rough ride as they travel to Anfield to face Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez as they partner up again after running riot at Sunderland last week. Palace have the worst away record in the Premier League having failed to pick up a single point and will be lucky to come away with anything other than a resounding loss.
Sunderland, still without a manager and bottom of the Premier League, have won none of their last 19 meetings with Manchester United and after another uninspiring loss last week, don't look likely to end that run this weekend. They are distinctly lacking in many areas but particularly up front, where they have the worst conversion rate in the league, scoring with just 4.6% of their chances.
Chelsea have won only 1 of their last 4 Premier League matches, but looked a reinvigorated outfit after Juan Mata's introduction at half time against Tottenham last week. The Spaniard scored the only goal of the game in the Blues' 1-0 win in this fixture last season and could play a key role once again.
Southampton have scored fewer goals from open play this season (1) than any other team in the Premier League but are right up the table in 6th given their exceptional defensive record. Each of the last three meetings between the sides have been drawn with the teams fairly equally matches in recent years.
There is a London derby at White Hart Lane as West Ham travel to Tottenham looking for their first away goal of the season. Since promotion in 2011/12 they have scored only 11 goals in 22 Premier League games on the road, and against a Spurs team that have conceded only twice in 6 games this term, could struggle once again.
Arsenal are the league's in-form side, sitting atop the table after 5 consecutive victories since the opening day loss to Aston Villa. The attacking performances of Mesut Özil, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud have proved too much for any opponent to handle, though they face a West Brom side confident on the back of an impressive and deserved victory at Old Trafford last week.
Twitter: @alitweedale
All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find yet more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings
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