Previews of Premier League matches this week

LONDON: Match-by-match facts and statistics ahead of the Premier League matches this week.

● TOMORROW Fulham vs Watford

TOMORROW’S match marks the first Premier League meeting between the two sides since January 2007.

Fulham have won 10 and lost nine of their 27 meetings with Watford, with eight draws between the teams.

Watford won 5-0 on their last visit to Fulham in the Championship in 2014, with Troy Deeney scoring a hattrick.

Watford tasted defeat for the first time this season when they were beaten 2-1 at home by Manchester United.

Fulham have three defeats in their first five league games, and lost 3-0 to Manchester City in their last match.

Burnley vs Bournemouth

BURNLEY are bottom of the league with four defeats and a draw; Bournemouth are fifth with three wins, a draw and one defeat.

The teams have faced each other four times in the Premier League with each side winning two matches.

Bournemouth’s return of 10 points from their first five games is their best start to a season since the 2009-10 League Two campaign when they earned 12.

Eddie Howe and Sean Dyche are the current longest serving managers in the Premier League, with each managing 119 games in the competition.

Bournemouth have scored 10 Premier League goals this season and Ryan Fraser has been involved in half of them, scoring three and assisting two.

Cardiff vs Manchester City

HOLDERS Manchester City are third in the league while promoted Cardiff are 17th with two draws and three defeats so far.

The sides have met twice in the Premier League before, with Cardiff winning 3-2 at home and losing 4-2 away in the 2013-14 season.

Manchester City have won 16 and drawn five of their last 21 Premier League games against promoted sides since losing 1-0 to Burnley in March 2015.

City have the highest passing accuracy in the Premier League this season while Cardiff have the lowest.

Cardiff have scored three goals and conceded nine so far, while City have the best goal difference in the division after scoring 14 and conceding three.

Crystal Palace vs Newcastle

NEWCASTLE are second-bottom of the league, with one point from their opening five games.

Palace snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Huddersfield Town 1-0 last weekend.

Neither side have won at home yet this season, with Palace losing twice at Selhurst Park and Newcastle losing three times at St James’ Park.

Palace have won two of their 14 previous Premier League meetings with Newcastle, with their most recent victory a 5-1 home win in November 2015.

Wilfried Zaha has scored three of Palace’s four goals this season.

Leicester vs Huddersfield

LEICESTER have won eight of their last nine league matches against Huddersfield, with one draw between the teams. Town have lost each of their last seven league trips to Leicester, including a 3-0 defeat on their last visit in January.

Leicester have lost two games in a row going into the match, while Town have one victory in their last 15 Premier League games stretching back to last season.

Town’s tally of two goals in their first five matches is the lowest in the division and they also have the worst goal difference, having conceded 11.

Jamie Vardy has scored for Leicester in his last two league appearances against Huddersfield.

Liverpool vs Southampton

LIVERPOOL are one of two teams in the division to have won all five of their opening matches. Chelsea, who are top on goal difference, are the other.

Southampton have not scored in their last four league matches with Liverpool and the Merseysiders won their last two fixtures against the Saints by an aggregate 5-0 scoreline.

Southampton’s last league victory at Anfield was in September 2013.

Liverpool last conceded a league goal at Anfield against West Ham United in February and have since gone seven home games without being breached.

Danny Ings is Southampton’s top scorer with three goals but cannot play against his parent club Liverpool, who loaned him to the Saints on transfer deadline day.

Man United vs Wolverhampton

WOLVES are currently the highest of the three promoted sides, occupying ninth place in the table, while United are a place and a point above them. Wolves have lost on their last eight visits to Old Trafford in all competitions.

The last time the sides met in the Premier League was in the 2011-12 season when United won 4-1 at home and 5-0 away.

Both United and Wolves have won their last two league matches, but Wolves have not won three in a row in the top flight since March 1980.

United lost their last home game to Tottenham Hotspur and are looking to avoid consecutive home defeats in the Premier League for the first time since March 2014.

Brighton vs Tottenham

TOTTENHAM are looking to avoid three consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time since November 2012 after back-to-back losses to Watford and Liverpool.

Harry Kane scored twice in the league in August, the first time in nine seasons the Spurs striker has managed that feat, but has not found the net in September.

Glenn Murray has scored four of the seven goals Brighton have managed this season.

Brighton have lost one of their last nine home league games, a 2-0 defeat by Leicester in March.

Tottenham’s last league visit to Brighton ended in a 1-1 draw, but the last time Brighton beat Spurs was in the old First Division in April 1983.

● SUNDAY

West Ham vs Chelsea

THE two London clubs have met 110 times before in all competitions with Chelsea victorious on 49 occasions, West Ham on 40, with 21 draws between them.

West Ham got the better of Chelsea last season, winning 1-0 at home and playing out a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea, who are aiming to win their first six Premier League games for a third time, have won the league both times they previously achieved the feat – in the 2005-06 and 200910 seasons.

Marko Arnautovic has scored three of West Ham’s five goals so far this season.

Eden Hazard has scored five and laid on two assists for Chelsea so far, including a hat-trick against Cardiff in his last match.

Arsenal vs Everton

EVERTON have not won in 24 visits to Arsenal in all competitions, a run that stretches back to January 1996.

Arsenal put 10 goals past Everton in the league last season, winning 5-2 at Goodison Park in October before beating the Merseysiders 5-1 in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium in February.

Arsenal are on a three-game winning streak after losing their first two matches, while Everton have one win and three draws and suffered their first defeat of the campaign against West Ham last weekend.

Forty-nine players have scored a Premier League goal for Arsenal against Everton. The only side to have more scorers against an opponent in the competition are Chelsea, for whom 52 players have scored against Spurs.

Arsenal have scored 105 Premier League goals against Everton, more than any side has managed against another in the competition’s history. — Reuters