PREMIER LEAGUE WEDNESDAY: We preview Wednesday’s six Premier League games including the televised CHELSEA v SPURS all with a recommended BETDAQ bet and extended stats. PLUS bonus stats on the English Starting XI – 20-Year Anniversary.
ARSENAL V BOURNEMOUTH
7.45pm Another action packed night of Premier League football awaits on Wednesday night and we kick off with Arsenal hosting Bournemouth. The stats all point to an easy Arsenal win here; they have an excellent record against Bournemouth and Bournemouth are in woeful form away from home this season. They’ve lost their last eight away Premier League games and it’s hard to see how they can stop that run against this Arsenal side who have been impressive this season. Only Manchester City have a better home record than Arsenal this season in terms of points and we really expected Arsenal to be trading closer to the 1.35 mark here rather than their current odds of 1.46. That price is very tempting however we prefer them to cover the 1.5 goal handicap at 2.2 which looks absolutely massive considering how Bournemouth have performed away from home this season.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Arsenal -1.5 goals to beat Bournemouth at 2.2.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQArlBou
MATCH STATS
- Arsenal have won all four of their home meetings with Bournemouth in all competitions by an aggregate score of 11-1.
- Bournemouth have won just one of their eight meetings in all competitions with Arsenal (D1 L6), beating them 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium last season.
- Only Manchester City (39) have won more home Premier League points this season than Arsenal (35 – W11 D2 L1).
- Bournemouth have lost each of their last eight away Premier League games, conceding at least two goals each time. The only sides to lose more on the road in a row while conceding at least twice in the competition are Wimbledon (10 between December 1999-May 2000) and Ipswich (11 between January 1995-September 2000).
- English managers have collected just one point in their last 16 Premier League visits to the Emirates against Arsenal (P16 W0 D1 L15) since Garry Monk led Swansea City to a 1-0 win in May 2015.
- Bournemouth haven’t lost nine consecutive away league matches since losing 12 in a row between December 1933 and August 1934 in the Third Division South.
- Only Man City striker Sergio Aguero (8) has scored more Premier League goals during 2019 than Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette (5).
- Since the start of last season, Bournemouth have lost seven of their eight away Premier League matches when Callum Wilson hasn’t featured (W1 D0 L7), failing to score in six of those matches.
- Alexandre Lacazette has been involved in 29 goals in 37 appearances at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal in all competitions (23 goals, 6 assists).
- Josh King has been involved in five goals in his last five Premier League games for Bournemouth (4 goals, 1 assist).
SOUTHAMPTON V FULHAM
7.45pm It’s getting to the stage of the season when Fulham simply need to win; and starting tonight would go a long way to getting them back in with a chance of staying up. A win for Southampton would more than likely end Fulham’s hopes of staying up, so this is a massive game at the bottom of the table. The problem for Fulham tonight is they have yet to win away from home this season – they only team in the Premier League to do so, even Huddersfield have won away and they only have 11 points! Southampton obviously aren’t playing great football this season, as their position in the league table shows, however Fulham have been woeful away from home and this is a fantastic chance for Southampton to collect three points and hopefully jump up the table should results elsewhere go their way. The problem is the price – the 1.96 on Southampton just looks too short to back for us and we much prefer the draw as value at 3.7. Southampton were beaten by Cardiff here last time out and while Fulham are poor; we can see both sides cancelling each other out here.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Draw at 3.7.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQSouFul
MATCH STATS
- Southampton are unbeaten in their last 19 home league games against Fulham (W13 D6) since a 1-2 loss in October 1935 (second tier). Only against Coventry (22 games) have they ever had a longer unbeaten home run in their league history.
- Despite this being the 30th different league season in which they’ve faced, Fulham are looking to do the league double over Southampton for the very first time.
- Since winning their first Premier League match at St Mary’s under Ralph Hasenhüttl against Arsenal, Southampton have won just one of their subsequent five (W1 D1 L3).
- Since Claudio Ranieri’s first Premier League match in charge of Fulham, only Bournemouth (32) have conceded more goals than the Cottagers (30).
- Among the 17 teams to have featured in each of the last two Premier League seasons, Southampton have won fewer home games than any other side in that time (6 in 32 games).
- Claudio Ranieri is winless in 22 away Premier League games (15 for Leicester, 7 for Fulham). The last manager to have a longer winless run was Iain Dowie (23 games between November 2004 and May 2010).
- Southampton have lost all four of their Premier League games against newly-promoted teams this season. Only two teams have ever lost five in a single season – Ipswich Town in 1994-95 and Sunderland 2002-03, both of whom were relegated.
- Fulham’s Ryan Babel scored his first Premier League goal for 3000 days in their 1-3 defeat at West Ham – it was the first time he’d scored in the division and failed to win that match (W11 D0 L1).
- Southampton have lost their last five top flight matches against newly promoted teams; the last team to have a longer losing run were Bristol City in December 1977 (six in a row).
- Fulham are the only Premier League team yet to win away from home in the Premier League this season (P14 W0 D2 L12). Among teams to have played at least 100 away from home in the competition, Fulham have the worst win ratio (14.6%, 38 wins in 261).
CHELSEA V TOTTENHAM
8pm The is undoubtedly the highlight of the night and the big games just keep on coming for the under pressure Sarri. You’d have to say that he was embarrassed on Sunday in the Carabao Cup Final with the goalkeeper not agreeing to be subbed off and surely that is a sign that he has lost the dressing room. They played well against City but they were poor against United in the FA Cup and this is a fascinating game. Spurs lost to Burnley at the weekend and this match has become massive for both sides.
The match odds at the time of writing currently trade; Chelsea 2.34, Tottenham 3.4 and the draw is 3.5. Spurs have a poor long-term record against Chelsea, only winning once in their last 32 visits here in all competitions. However it must be noted that win came last season, and obviously Spurs are an improving team. Chelsea appear to be in disarray at the moment with everything going on and after seeing their performance against United here, we’re happy to lay them at 2.34. Spurs have been grinding out some good results this season, and it would be unfair to judge them on the Burnley game so we’re happy to be against Chelsea here.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Lay Chelsea at 2.34.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQChlTtm
MATCH STATS
- Chelsea have only lost one of their last 32 home games against Spurs in all competitions (W20 D11). However, that defeat did come in this exact fixture last season (1-3).
- Tottenham have won three of their last four Premier League games against Chelsea (L1), as many as they had in their previous 20 against them (W3 D9 L8).
- Tottenham are looking to win three consecutive league games against Chelsea for the first time since a run of five between March 1961 and September 1963.
- Chelsea haven’t lost both league games against Tottenham in a single campaign since 1970-71.
- Only Arsenal (16 in 8 games) have won more points in Premier League London derbies this season than Tottenham (15 in 6 games).
- Chelsea have failed to score in three of their last four Premier League games. Their last three league games have produced a total of 15 goals (5 per game), with the Blues beating Huddersfield 5-0 and suffering 0-4 and 0-6 defeats against Bournemouth and Man City respectively.
- Only two teams in top flight history have had a longer run than Spurs (27) from the start of a season without a draw – West Brom in 1919-20 (29) and Stoke City in 1895-96 (30).
- Mauricio Pochettino has won four Premier League games against Chelsea as Tottenham boss – more than every other Spurs manager combined in the competition (Martin Jol x1, Harry Redknapp x2).
- Harry Kane has ended on the losing side in three of the last seven Premier League games he’s scored in (W4) – he lost just three of the first 76 Premier League games in which he found the net (W62 D11 L3).
- Christian Eriksen has been involved in 15 goals in 17 Premier League games played on Wednesday (7 goals, 8 assists), including two assists against Chelsea in January 2017.
CRYSTAL PALACE V MANCHESTER UNITED
8pm Crystal Palace will be buzzing for this fixture looking at the Manchester United injury list; they are severely lacking midfielders and it’s no surprise to see them trading 2.38 for this game which would be massive with a fully fit squad obviously. Palace enjoyed a super win at the weekend too; putting four goals past Leicester and surely this is a great chance for Palace to end their 21 Premier League game run against United without a win. However, United were able to battle through against Liverpool at the weekend even with three injuries in the first half and the draw has to make appeal here at 3.5. Since Solksjaer has taken over they have been excellent and really dug in to fight when they needed to – they could have easily won on Sunday too as they enjoy brief spells on top in the second half and Liverpool still created very little even with Untied struggling. We can see this being a very tight affair and it’s hard to get away from the draw at 3.5. The United lay makes some appeal at 2.38 however we much prefer the draw at the odds.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Draw at 3.5.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQCrlMun
MATCH STATS
- Crystal Palace have played more Premier League games without ever winning against Man Utd (D4 L15) than any side has against another in the competition’s history.
- Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 21 league games against Crystal Palace, since a 0-3 away defeat in May 1991 (W17 D4).
- Following their goalless draw at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture, Crystal Palace are looking to avoid defeat in both league meetings with Man Utd in a single season for the first time since 1989-90 (W1 D1).
- Manchester United have won their last seven away matches in all competitions, their best such run since April 2002 (also seven in a row); the last Premier League side to win eight away games in a row were Man City in November 2017 (11 consecutive wins).
- Only Huddersfield Town (6) have scored fewer home Premier League goals than Crystal Palace this season (9), with Selhurst Park seeing fewer goals than any other ground this season (21).
- Manchester United have won their last two Premier League matches in London, beating Spurs and Fulham; they haven’t won three consecutive league trips to the capital since November 2014.
- Luka Milivojevic has scored more Premier League goals than any other Crystal Palace player since his debut in February 2017 (20 goals).
- Manchester United have kept more clean sheets in the Premier League than any other side since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first game in charge (five).
- Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson has lost more Premier League matches against Man Utd (11) than he has against any other side.
- Against Liverpool, David de Gea became only the second Manchester United goalkeeper to keep 100 Premier League clean sheets, after Peter Schmeichel (112).
LIVERPOOL V WATFORD
8pm Liverpool went top of the Premier League again at the weekend with a point against Manchester United and they simply have to follow that up with a win here against Watford. Looking at recent Liverpool games has to be a worry for their fans though; they are creating very little – not half as many chances as they were at the start of the season and it will be very interesting to see can they beat Watford who are playing some good football at the moment. They banged in five goals on Friday night away to Cardiff and they’ve looked very hard to beat for the last few weeks. They’re in the FA Cup Quarter Finals while Spurs and Chelsea only managed one goal wins against them. We can see Liverpool again not creating much in front of goal but with their excellent home record they will more than likely get the job done in the end. We can’t get away from laying them at the odds though from a value point of view, they’re currently trading 1.3 and we expect a much closer game than those odds suggest.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Lay Liverpool at 1.3.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQLvpWat
MATCH STATS
- Liverpool are unbeaten in their last six league meetings with Watford (W5 D1), netting 20 goals and keeping four clean sheets in that run.
- Watford have lost 10 of their 11 top-flight away games against Liverpool, with the only exception being a 1-0 victory in their first ever Premier League game at Anfield in August 1999.
- Only against Arsenal (15) have Liverpool scored more Premier League goals at Anfield than they have against Watford (13) under Jurgen Klopp.
- Watford have lost their last 11 away Premier League games against ‘big six’ teams since beating Arsenal at the Emirates in January 2017.
- Liverpool have scored at least five goals in their last two home Premier League games against Watford (6-1, 5-0); the last top-flight team to do so against an opponent in three consecutive seasons back-to-back were Man City against Chelsea between 1956-57 and 1958-59.
- Watford’s Gerard Deulofeu became the first Hornets player to score a top flight hat-trick since Mark Falco in 1986 in their 5-1 victory at Cardiff City.
- Liverpool’s front three have all been directly involved in more than five goals each for the Reds in Premier League meetings with Watford – Mohamed Salah has six goals and one assist in three games, Sadio Mane has three goals and three assists in four games, and Roberto Firmino has five goals and three assists in seven games.
- Of players to have played at least three games against a specific opponent in the Premier League, no-one has a better goals-per-game ratio than Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah does against Watford (6 in 3, 2 goals-per-game, the same as Michael Owen vs West Bromwich Albion and Luis Suarez vs Norwich City).
- Watford have lost their last 10 top flight matches against teams starting the day top, a run stretching back to September 1986.
- Liverpool have lost just one of their last 26 home matches at Anfield in February in all competitions (W19 D6), a 2-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion in February 2013.
MANCHESTER CITY V WEST HAM
8pm Manchester City have no time to sit back and enjoy their Carabao Cup win at the weekend as they fight for the Premier League title. Liverpool have played their game in hand now and the gap is only one point – Liverpool have seemingly cracked under pressure so City really have to keep winning and keep the pressure on. West Ham are having a good season, however it’s hard to see anything but a City win here. The markets are confident too, with City trading as short as 1.17 at the time of writing. With City so short in the match odds market we have to look elsewhere for value and we like the Any Other Home Win (City to score four or more and win) lay at 2.78. We can see City getting the job done but West Ham keeping it reasonably close.
BETDAQ BEST BET:
Lay Any Other Home Win at 2.78.
You can view all markets here -> http://bit.ly/BDQMncWhu
MATCH STATS
- Manchester City have won 10 of their 12 league games against West Ham at the Etihad, drawing 1-1 in January 2008 and losing 1-2 in September 2015.
- West Ham are winless in their last six Premier League meetings with Man City (D1 L5), losing the last five by an aggregate scored of 3-17.
- Man City have won all six of their meetings with West Ham in all competitions under Pep Guardiola, scoring 22 goals and conceding just three.
- Since beating each of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City at the start of the 2015-16 season, West Ham are winless in their last 17 away league games against ‘big six’ opponents (D6 L11).
- Manchester City have scored at least twice in each of their last 15 Premier League home games (W14 D0 L1), the longest such run in the top-flight since Spurs did so in 16 consecutive home matches between March-December 1965.
- Sergio Aguero could become the first player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in three consecutive home appearances – the Argentinian hit hat-tricks against Arsenal and Chelsea and has scored 25 goals in his last 16 starts at the Etihad for Man City.
- Sergio Aguero has ended on the winning side in each of his last 23 Premier League starts at the Etihad for Man City, scoring 29 goals and assisting seven in those matches.
- West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini will be just the third different manager to play away against Man City having previously managed them in the competition. Of the two, Peter Reid lost his return to Maine Road (2-4 in August 2000), while Mark Hughes’ record at the Etihad after leaving was P9 W1 D2 L6.
- David Silva has scored more goals in all competitions against West Ham as a Manchester City player than he has vs any other opponent (6).
- West Ham have lost 19 of their 22 away Premier League matches against the reigning champions (W1 D2), with their only win coming against Manchester United in December 2001 under Glenn Roeder.
English Starting XI – 20-Year Anniversary
- This Wednesday will be the 20-year anniversary of the last time that a Premier League team played a game with a fully English starting XI; Aston Villa vs Coventry on 27th February 1999.
- There hasn’t been a Premier League starting XI featuring 11 English players since February 27, 1999, when John Gregory named a line-up of Michael Oakes, Steve Watson, Gareth Southgate, Dion Dublin, Simon Grayson, Ricardo Scimeca, Alan Wright, Lee Hendrie, Paul Merson, Ian Taylor and Julian Joachim against Coventry City at Villa Park (incidentally the three subs used by Villa that day were also English – Mark Draper, Gareth Barry and Stan Collymore). Coventry won the match 4-1 with braces from a Dutchman (George Boateng) and an Australian (John Aloisi).
- That Aston Villa starting XI in February 1999 was only the 55th time a fully English starting XI had been named in 2,792 Premier League games up until that date. The other teams to do so are Arsenal (5 times), Coventry City (4), Leeds United (1), Leicester City (3), Newcastle United (14), Norwich City (1), Oldham Athletic (3), Sheffield Wednesday (2), Southampton (1) and Tottenham Hotspur (2); while Aston Villa have named the most English starting XIs in Premier League history (19).
- There has never been a Premier League match in which all 22 players in the starting XI of both sides were English – the most is 21, when QPR faced Newcastle in January 1994. The only non-Englishman was QPR goalkeeper Tony Roberts; a Welshman.
- The last Premier League season in which an entirely English starting XI was named (1998/99) was the first season in which the percentage of English players used in the Premier League dropped below 50 (48.2%).
- Since the last time there was a full English starting XI, there have been 12 cases in which 10 Englishmen featured in a Premier League line-up – 10 of those were John Gregory’s Aston Villa. The most recent two are West Ham in March 2003 against Spurs (Czech Republic’s Tomas Repka the odd one out) and Middlesbrough against Fulham in May 2006 (Scotland’s James Morrison the only non-Englishman).
- Ironically, the first time a Premier League starting XI contained no English players was against Aston Villa at Villa Park in October 1999, just 238 days after Villa’s game with Coventry. Norwegian manager Egil Olsen’s Wimbledon side featured three Jamaicans, two Scotsmen, two Welshmen and one apiece of players from Guyana, Iceland, Norway and the Republic of Ireland.
- Three of the five English managers to name starting XIs in the Premier League featuring no Englishmen have managed the English national team – Kevin Keegan (once in November 2002, the first English manager to do so), Sam Allardyce (six times) and Steve McClaren (four times). The other two English managers to do this are Brian McDermott (once) and Alan Pardew (five times).
- Arsenal have named the most Premier League line-ups with no Englishmen (173), followed by Wigan Athletic (42) and Chelsea (30). Manchester United have only done this once – in their 2-0 win in the Manchester derby in May 2009, with Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes coming off the bench.
- Since the turn of the Millennium, the only non-British or Irish manager to name as many as nine Englishmen in a Premier League starting XI was Frenchman Gerard Houllier in March 2011 (Aston Villa vs Bolton). Only two other foreign managers have done so in Premier League history – Ossie Ardilles (32 times) and Arsene Wenger (20 times) during the 1990s.
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