Aston Villa (13/2) – Liverpool (21/50)

10 May 2022

• Aston Villa won this exact fixture 7-2 last season – they’ve not beaten Liverpool in consecutive home league games since February 1998.
• Liverpool have won seven of their last eight Premier League meetings with Aston Villa, with the exception being a 7-2 loss at Villa Park last season.
• There have been 20 away wins in Premier League meetings between Aston Villa and Liverpool, with the Reds’ 14 wins at the Villans more than they’ve beaten any other side on the road. In fact, only Manchester City vs Manchester United (21) has been won by the away side more in Premier League history.
• Liverpool have scored 41 away Premier League goals this season, only failing to score in only one away game (0-1 vs Leicester). The Reds have only scored more away league goals in two seasons: 42 in 1946-47 (won the top-flight) and 48 in 2013-14 (finished 2nd in Premier League).
• Aston Villa have won their last two Premier League matches and are looking to win three in a row for only the third time in their last nine top-flight campaigns. Those two runs have come in the last two seasons, a four-game run in September/October 2020, and a three-game run in February/March this year.
• Liverpool haven’t dropped a single point against sides starting the day in the bottom half of the table this season, winning all 18 such games by an aggregate score of 52-4. No team in Premier League history has ever won 100% of their games against bottom half sides in a single campaign, with Liverpool’s 18 wins the joint-most along with Manchester United in 2006-07.
• Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has scored more Premier League goals against Liverpool than he has any other side (4), netting a hat-trick in this exact fixture last season.
• Sadio Mané has scored 14 Premier League goals for Liverpool this season, with only Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota netting more for the club. Liverpool could become just the second team in Premier League history to have three players reach 15 goals in a single campaign, after Manchester City’s title winning side of 2013-14 (Yaya Touré, Sergio Agüero and Edin Dzeko).
• Ollie Watkins has netted 10+ goals in each of his two Premier League seasons for Aston Villa (10 this season, 14 in 2020-21). He’s only the third Englishman to do so in consecutive seasons for Villa, only with Dion Dublin (11 in 1998-99, 12 in 1999-00) and Gabriel Agbonlahor (11 in 2007-08, 12 in 2008-09, 13 in 2009-10).
• Aston Villa’s Danny Ings has netted against former sides Burnley and Southampton in the Premier League this season, with Romelu Lukaku in 2017-18 the last player to score against three former sides in a season (Chelsea, Everton and West Brom).

Leeds United (4/1) – Chelsea (13/20)

11 May 2022

• Leeds are winless in their last seven meetings with Chelsea in all competitions (D2 L5), since a 2-0 home win in December 2002.
• Chelsea have won just 11% of their away league games against Leeds (5/46) – of all sides they’ve travelled to at least 15 times, the Blues’ lowest win rate in their league history is at Leeds.
• Chelsea have scored just three goals in their last 10 Premier League away games against Leeds, failing to score on seven occasions in that run (W1 D4 L5). Their only victory in that time was in April 2000 – 1-0 courtesy of a Jon Harley strike.
• Leeds United have conceded 34 home league goals this season, their most in a league season since 2011-12 in the Championship (41). In the top-flight, it’s their third-most home goals conceded in a single campaign, behind 1934-35 (35) and 1959-60 (46).
• Chelsea have dropped 20 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, last dropping more in a single campaign in 2015-16 (21).
• Since Leeds drew 0-0 with Chelsea at Elland Road in March last year, the Whites have kept just three clean sheets in 22 home Premier League matches, at least two fewer than any other ever-present team has kept on home soil in that time. The Whites are on their longest run of games without a top-flight clean sheet within a single season (10) since an 11-game run between August and December 1966.
• Leeds have only lost one of their last 41 home league matches in the month of May (W25 D15), a 3-1 defeat to Spurs back in May 1996. They are unbeaten in their last 19 at Elland Road in the league in May since (W12 D7).
• Chelsea have only conceded two first half goals in their last 14 Premier League matches, both against Arsenal in April. 13 of the last 15 goals they’ve conceded have come in the second half, with 71% of their overall Premier League goals conceded this season coming after half-time (22/31) – their highest ratio in a single campaign.
• Leeds manager Jesse Marsch has lost two of his first four home league games in charge (W1 D1), with Neil Warnock the last Whites manager to lose as many as three of his first five at Elland Road in 2012. Marsch hasn’t lost consecutive home league games with the same club since May/June 2015 with New York Red Bulls in MLS.
• Romelu Lukaku is Chelsea’s top scorer in all competitions this season with 14 goals, with seven of those coming in the Premier League. Lukaku netted a brace against Wolves last time out, last scoring 2+ goals in back-to-back Premier League appearances in February and March 2019 for Man Utd, against Crystal Palace and Southampton.

Leicester City (2/5) – Norwich City (7/1)

11 May 2022

• Leicester are unbeaten in all three of their Premier League home games against Norwich (W2 D1), though these games have seen just four goals scored in total (2x 1-0 wins, 1x 1-1 draw).
• Norwich lost the reverse fixture against Leicester 2-1 back in August – only in one of the last seven campaigns in which the sides have met have the Canaries lost both league games against the Foxes (2015-16).
• Leicester are winless in five Premier League games (D2 L3), losing each of the last two. The Foxes haven’t lost three in a row since February 2019, and Claude Puel’s final three games in charge of the club.
• Norwich haven’t won any of their 15 away Premier League matches this season against sides in the division the previous year (D3 L12); their two away wins this season have come at Brentford and Watford, both of whom were promoted alongside the Canaries in 2020-21.
• Leicester have both scored and conceded in a league-high 23 different Premier League games this season, with the Foxes only doing so more in 1994-95 (25) and 2017-18 (24).
• Leicester have conceded a league-high 15 Premier League goals from corners this season. Since 2006-07 (when Opta has full data for goal-type), only two clubs have ever conceded more in a single campaign – Watford in 2016-17 and Brighton in 2017-18 (both 16).
• Coming into the midweek matches, Norwich have conceded a league-high 75 Premier League goals this season. Only in 2004-05 (77) have the Canaries ever shipped more in a single top-flight campaign.
• Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has been involved in 21 goals in his last 14 Premier League appearances against promoted sides, scoring 14 and assisting a further seven. Vardy has registered more than one goal involvement in eight of these 14 games and has only failed to score or assist a goal twice.
• Norwich manager Dean Smith has lost three of his four Premier League meetings with Leicester, though that one win did come at the King Power Stadium (1-0 in October 2020 with Aston Villa).
• All five of Patson Daka’s Premier League goals for Leicester have come at the King Power Stadium, four of which have come in starts. Only Jamie Vardy (6) has netted more often at home for the club in the top-flight in 2021-22.

Watford (17/5) – Everton (5/6)

11 May 2022

• Watford won the reverse fixture against Everton 5-2 in October and are looking to pick up consecutive league victories against the Toffees for the very first time.
• Everton have lost three of their last four Premier League away games against Watford, though they did win 3-2 on their last visit to Vicarage Road in February 2020.
• Watford have lost their last 11 home league matches, the longest run of home defeats in top-flight history. In Football League history, the only side to lose more than 11 in a row at home was Rochdale between November 1931 and August 1932 in the Third Division North, a run of 14 home defeats.
• Watford have been relegated from the Premier League before the final day of the season for the third time; on the previous two occasions, they lost their first match after relegation was confirmed (1-3 v Leeds in 1999-00 and 0-1 v Sheffield United in 2006-07).
• Watford have conceded 41 home Premier League goals this season – only three sides have ever shipped more in a single campaign; Wolves in 2011-12 (43), Derby in 2007-08 (43) and Swindon in 1993-94 (45).
• Everton are looking to win three consecutive Premier League games for the first time since March 2021, while they last won consecutive away league games in May the same year. Indeed, the Toffees’ 2-1 victory at Leicester ended a 15-game winless run on the road.
• Watford have lost each of their last six Premier League games, with the Hornets last having a longer run of consecutive league defeats between December 1972 and February 1973 (9).
• Watford striker Josh King has scored more Premier League goals against Everton than he has vs any other side in the competition (8), including a hat-trick at Goodison Park in the reverse fixture in October.
• Watford’s Samir and Hassane Kamara have ended on the losing side in all seven of their home Premier League appearances so far. No player in Premier League history has lost their first eight home games, with seven the record previously held by David Goodwillie (2011-12, Blackburn), Danny Ward (2009-19, Bolton & Cardiff) and Neeskens Kebano (2018-20, Fulham).
• Everton boss Frank Lampard has won all three of his Premier League meetings with Watford’s Roy Hodgson by an aggregate score of 9-2 – it’s his best 100% win rate as a manager in the top-flight, while only against Jürgen Klopp (8/8) and Mauricio Pochettino (5/5) does Hodgson have a higher 100% loss record.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (23/2) – Manchester City(1/4)

11 May 2022

• Wolves lost this exact fixture 3-1 last season – they’ve not lost consecutive home league games against Manchester City since April 1981.
• After losing both league games against Wolves in 2019-20, Man City have won each of their last three against them. They last won four in a row against Wolves between April 1980 and December 1981.
• In 2022, Wolves have alternated between a win and a defeat in all eight of their home Premier League matches – they lost 3-0 at Molineux last time out against Brighton and Hove Albion.
• Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 16 away Premier League games (W13 D3) – it is their longest ever away unbeaten league run in their history, with their 4-0 win at Leeds taking them one ahead of the 15-game run under Joe Royle between December 1998 and September 1999.
• Although Wolves have only recovered four points from losing positions in the Premier League this season (the joint fewest of any team), those four points have all come from being two goals down in matches, winning 3-2 against Aston Villa in October and drawing 2-2 with Chelsea last time out.
• Man City have kept a clean sheet in their last five away Premier League matches, with only three sides ever keeping more than five consecutively in the Premier League: Chelsea (7 in a row, 2008), Manchester United (7, 2008-09) and Liverpool (6, 2014-15).
• Manchester City have won their last four Premier League games while scoring at least three goals each time. Only once have had they had a longer such run, doing so in six consecutive matches between October and November 2011.
• Manchester City have scored 20 goals from set-piece situations in the Premier League this season (excluding penalties), while conceding just one such goal themselves. Their set piece goal difference of +19 is the highest on record in a single Premier League campaign (since 2006-07).
• Wolves winger Chiquinho has assisted three goals in just 69 minutes of Premier League football, all as a substitute. He is only the second player in Premier League history to assist three goals before ever starting a match, along with Hope Akpan for Reading in January 2013.
• Conor Coady has scored four goals from four shots on target in the Premier League this season for Wolves, and five goals from six overall in his Premier League career. He’s the first player to have scored as many as four times and netted every shot on target (excl. penalties) in a Premier League season since Mohamed Diamé in 2014-15 for Hull City (also 4/4).

Tottenham Hotspur (11/10) – Arsenal (12/5)

12 May 2022

• Tottenham are unbeaten in their last seven home league games against Arsenal (W5 D2), their longest such run against their north London rivals since a run of nine between 1960 and 1968.
• Following their 3-1 victory at the Emirates in September, Arsenal are looking to complete their first league double over Tottenham since the 2013-14 campaign.
• Tottenham are looking to win three consecutive home league games against Arsenal for the first time since August 1961.
• This is just the second ever meeting between Tottenham and Arsenal on a Thursday, with the other coming almost exactly 50 years ago to the day – a 2-0 win for Spurs at Highbury on 11th May 1972.
• After a run of four straight Premier League victories, Tottenham have won just one of their last four (D2 L1). However, Spurs have won four of their last five home league games (L1), netting at least three goals in all four victories.
• Victory for Arsenal will secure them their highest Premier League finish (at least fourth) since the 2015-16 campaign when they finished second. It will also be the first time since that season that they have finished above their north London rivals Tottenham.
• Spurs manager Antonio Conte has won just one of his eight meetings with Arsenal in all competitions (D4 L3), with all of these coming as Chelsea manager between 2016 and 2018. Of clubs he’s faced at least five times in his managerial career, against no side does the Italian have a lower win rate than against the Gunners (12.5%).
• After failing to score or assist in any of his first nine Premier League games against Arsenal, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min has had a hand in five goals in his last four north London derby appearances (3 goals, 2 assists).
• Tottenham striker Harry Kane is the top scorer in north London derby history in all competitions, netting 11 goals in his 16 games for Spurs against Arsenal. However, he’s not scored in either of his last two appearances against the Gunners, his longest drought against them in his career.
• Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka were both on the scoresheet for Arsenal in their 3-1 victory against Spurs in the reverse fixture. The last Englishman to score for the Gunners in both home and away fixtures against Spurs in a single season was Ian Wright in 1993-94.