Premier League: A statistical preview to this weekend's action, including Tottenham v Chelsea, Manchester United v West Brom and Swansea v Arsenal
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Your support makes all the difference.Providers of the largest online database for detailed football statistics WhoScored.com preview all of the matches in gameweek 6 of the Premier League.
Undoubtedly the highest profile game in England's top-flight this weekend will be the early kick-off on Saturday as the apprentice welcomes the master to White Hart Lane. Tottenham have only won 3 of their 42 Premier League games against Chelsea but there should be goals at either end with both teams netting in their last 4 meetings in North London.
An Aston Villa side without top scorer Christian Benteke face the visit of a rampant Man City outfit fresh from scoring 9 goals in the space of 3 days. The Villans have only conceded more than once in one of their last 6 games at Villa Park against City but have picked fewer points in their last 13 home games than any other current Premier League side (10).
Villa are the only side that have a worse home record in that timespan than Fulham (12 points in 13), so Cardiff will be confident upon their trip to Craven Cottage. This is a battle of the two teams to have mustered the fewest shots in the league so far (Fulham - 40, Cardiff - 41) so goals may be at a premium.
West Ham make the trip to newly promoted Hull, looking for their first win since the opening day against the only side that came above the Tigers in the Championship last season, Cardiff. The Hammers have scored 12 goals in their last 5 matches against Saturday’s opponents but Hull are unbeaten in 5 league games at home.
Manchester United welcome West Brom to Old Trafford and David Moyes will be confident of getting back on track in the league with the Red Devils boasting an impressive record against the Baggies. The champions have netted at least twice in the last 11 encounters between the sides and are unbeaten in 15 against them.
There have been 5 meetings and 5 years since Southampton and Crystal Palace both netted in one of their encounters, with the Saints winning the last two by two goals to nil. Rickie Lambert netted a brace the last time the sides met but since the arrival of strike partner Osvaldo neither he nor the Italian have scored from a combined total of 23 shots.
Swansea host Arsenal in the late kick-off hoping secure victory against the Gunners for the third time since returning to the top-flight in 2011. The Welsh outfit boast the best pass accuracy in the league thus far (87.3%), while only Tottenham have had more shots on target than these two sides (Arsenal – 33, Swansea – 31).
The likelihood of their being an abundance of goals when Norwich head to the Britannia is very slim, with 4 of their last 5 meetings with Stoke ending in a 1-0 scoreline. The Potters have won their last five matches against the Canaries at home so if either side is to win by a single goal once again it’s likely to be Hughes’ men.
Luis Suarez returns to league action for the first time since a 10-match ban against a Sunderland side that sacked manager Paolo Di Canio after defeat last weekend. The Reds will be strong favourites on Sunday against a Black Cats outfit that are now the only side without a league win, but they’ve only won once in their last 4 visits to the Stadium of Light.
Newcastle go to Everton on Monday night and though they won their last away game at Villa it was only their third victory on the road in 22 league matches. The Toffees, therefore, are far from ideal hosts for Pardew’s men having lost just 1 of their last 25 league matches at Goodison Park and had a larger average share of possession than any other side this season (59.6%).
Follow @martinlaurence7
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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