This weekend marks the fourth round of Premier League games.
Before a full slate of 3pm matchups that includes Chelsea vs. Leicester, Liverpool vs. Bournemouth, and Manchester City vs. Crystal Palace, the weekend’s action gets underway with Southampton hosting Manchester United in the Saturday midday kickoff.
Arsenal, the only team with a perfect record heading into the weekend, plays Fulham in the game that will be shown in the evening. Tottenham’s turn is on Sunday with a trip to Nottingham Forest the highlight of a trio of games. Earlier, Wolves hosted Newcastle, and in the Midlands, Aston Villa and West Ham faced tough questions about their early form.
This is a thread for Matchweek 4 of the 2022/23 Premier League season. Join the discussion and share your views on the various matches.
Southampton started the 2022/23 season with a heavy defeat to Tottenham. But Ralph Hasenhuttl would have taken heart from the spirit his team showed in the first half, building on it to go back-to-back games without defeat. The Saints played out a 2-2 draw with high-flying Leeds United in Gameweek 2 before beating Leicester City last weekend to climb to 11th on the Premier League table.
On the other hand, Manchester United got off the mark earlier this week on Monday with a shock 2-1 win over bitter rival Liverpool. The Red Devils began the season with successive defeats, falling to Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening weekend before Brentford trounced them 4-0 two weeks ago. But Erik ten Hag’s charges will be buoyed by the display against Liverpool.
The corresponding fixture last season saw Manchester United come from a goal down to hold Southampton to a 1-1 draw.
Southampton are without a win in their last 12 Premier League games against Manchester United (D7 L5), since a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in January 2016. After losing four of their last six league games against Southampton at the Dell, the Red Devils have lost just once in 14 league visits to St. Mary’s (W8 D5) and are unbeaten in their last 11 at the ground since a 1-0 loss in August 2003.
Southampton have conceded more times in the Premier League against Manchester United than they have versus any other opponent in the competition (98). If the Red Devils net twice in this game, Southampton would be the fifth different team they will have scored 100+ goals against in the Premier League.
Southampton have lost five of their last seven Premier League home games (W1 D1), with their 1-0 victory against Arsenal the only game in which they have not conceded at least two goals in this run.
Manchester United have lost each of their last seven on the road, the club’s longest away league losing run since December 1936 (run of ten). They have conceded four goals in four of these defeats, as many times as they had shipped 4+ in their previous 143 away league games.
Following his goal against Liverpool on Monday, Marcus Rashford is looking to score in consecutive Premier League appearances for the first time since January, when he netted against West Ham United and Brentford, both times as a substitute. Rashford has not found the back of the net in an away Premier League goal when starting a match since Boxing Day 2020 against Leicester City.
Chelsea started the 2022/23 Premier League season with a hard-fought win over Everton. But things have taken a turn for the worse since then, with Tottenham Hotspur twice coming from a goal down to hold Thomas Tuchel’s charges to a 2-2 draw before they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Leeds United last weekend. The winless run has dropped Chelsea outside the top half.
On the other hand, Leicester City’s fortunes have been even worse, with the Foxes managing only one point from their first three games. Brendan Rodgers is facing the heat after his club’s lack of spending in the summer transfer window. And after starting the season with a 2-2 draw, Leicester suffered back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Southampton in the last two fixtures.
The corresponding fixture last season saw Chelsea come from a goal down to hold Leicester City to a 1-1 draw, with Marcos Alonso scoring the equaliser.
Leicester City have won just one of their last ten Premier League away games against Chelsea (D4 L5). However, the Blues have dropped points in five of their last seven home league fixtures against the Foxes.
Chelsea could lose back-to-back Premier League matches for the first time under Thomas Tuchel. In Tuchel’s first 30 league games in charge of Chelsea, the Blues scored 52 goals and conceded 17; in their subsequent 30, they have netted the same amount but let in 34.
Leicester City have two wins from their last 15 games away from home in the Premier League (D5 L8). The Foxes have kept a clean sheet in just one of their last 27 top-flight outings on the road.
Chelsea have won only five of their last 15 home games in the Premier League (D8 L2).
James Maddison could become the first English midfielder since David Beckham in 2000 to score or assist in eight consecutive games in the Premier League.
Arsenal will hope to clinch a fourth win against Fulham at the Emirates and keep their current momentum going. Arteta will know a big test awaits them in two weeks against Manchester United and will aim to go into that game with complete confidence and remain at the top of the table.
Fulham are one of the few teams in the league who have had an unbeaten start to their campaign. After being written off as relegation battlers before a ball got kicked this term, the Cottagers proved their doubters wrong with a solid display against Liverpool on the opening weekend.
Despite a brilliant start to their campaign, Fulham could only manage a goalless draw against Wolves, but last weekend’s result must have brought back some confidence. Aleksandar Mitrovic’s injury-time winner secured all three points for Marco Silva’s men against Brentford, thus earning Marco Silva his first win this campaign.
37 - Only Mohamed Salah (54), Harry Kane (49) and Son Heung-Min (45) have scored more Premier League goals than Bruno Fernandes (37) since his debut in February 2020. Breakthrough.
Fernandes
Dalot
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