English Premier League Match Previews - 1-3 December
Saturday, 01 December 2007
Aston Villa v Arsenal, 17:15
History
* Arsenal have not lost to Villa in the last 17 matches between the two in the Premier League since December 1998 when they were beaten 3-2
* In the eight matches since Arsenal have won four and drawn four with two of the draws ending goalless
* In 15 matches at Villa Park in the Premier League between the two sides Villa have just three wins, there have been six Arsenal wins and six draws
* Villa have never won by more than one goal against Arsenal
* Arsenal’s best win at Villa Park was 4-0 back in April 1995 with John Hartson and Ian Wright both scoring twice
* Referee Chris Foy has never taken charge of this fixture
* Arsenal legend Thierry Henry scored an amazing 12 league goals in matches against Aston Villa
Trends
* Arsenal go into the match as one of two unbeaten sides in the Premier League along with Liverpool
* The Gunners are the leading scorers in the Premier League this season with 29 goals, three more than the next best in the list
* Villa are looking for a fifth successive win in the Premier League and have conceded just one goal in their last four games
* In seven matches at Villa Park this season Villa have won five matches with just Liverpool and Manchester United leaving with wins
* Only nine of Arsenal’s 29 goals this season have come away from the Emirates
* 11 of Arsenal’s 29 goals have come in the last 10 minutes of games this season
* Do not expect any goals to be headers between these two sides, they have managed just three between them all season, Villa two and the Gunners one
* Arsenal have only played five matches on the road this season and have three wins and two draws to date
* The Gunners have scored in all five of their away matches this season and kept just one clean sheet
* Chris Foy has taken charge of Arsenal five times and only given two yellow cards
Betting
* Villa have scored in all seven of their home matches this season and kept clean sheets in four of those matches
* Only Gabriel Agbonlahor has scored more than once at Villa Park this season
* Villa have picked up 15 yellow cards at home this season with Nigel Reo Coker getting three of them
* Defender Martin Laursen is joint second in the Villa goal scoring chart behind Agbonlahor with three goals along with John Carew
* Villa have scored first in eight matches this season and gone on to win seven of them, the exception was the home match against United when they ended up losing 4-1
* In the five games that Villa have fallen behind in, they have only once gone on to win, at home to Fulham, 2-1
* Nine times Arsenal have scored first and have won the last eight of them the exception was a 1-1 draw at Blackburn
* Referee Chris Foy has booked 24 players in eight matches this season and 17 have been away booking
* Last six matches between the sides have produced 16 yellow cards
Blackburn v Newcastle, 15:00
History
* The last four matches between the two have all gone with the away side
* Newcastle have won on their last two visits to Ewood Park and with draws in the two matches before that are unbeaten in their last four visits there
* In 24 meetings in the Premier League Rovers have won 11, there have been eight draws and Newcastle have just five wins
* The last 0-0 draw was back in December 1998 at Ewood Park
* Rovers have managed just one win in the last seven home matches against the Geordies, a 5-2 win in October 2002
* Newcastle managed just one goal at Ewood Park in the first six meetings between the two
* It took Newcastle 13 games to get their first win in this fixture
* Referee Martin Atkinson has taken charge of this fixture once before giving four yellow cards in the match
* He has taken charge of Blackburn six times and given 12 yellows and has given Newcastle players 13 yellows in eight matches
Trends
* Rovers not won in their last four matches since beating Tottenham 2-1 at White Hart Lane
* Newcastle have not won in four with three defeats and a draw
* Newcastle have only been involved in one 0-0 draw all season
* Rovers failed to win in their last two home matches since beating Reading at the end of October
* In seven home matches this season Rovers have managed just two clean sheets
* After an opening day win at Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle have failed to win in five away games, losing three and drawing two
* Blackburn have conceded three goals form penalties this season and Newcastle have yet to concede a penalty
* Newcastle are yet to keep a clean sheet on the road this season
* Leading scorer Benni McCarthy scored four of his five goals at Ewood Park this season
* Blackburn have managed just three wins in there seven home matches this season
* Newcastle have scored five of their goals this season from headers compared to just one for Rovers
* Rovers have yet to concede a goal in the opening 15 minutes of a match this season
Betting
* Blackburn have not scored in their last two matches
* Newcastle have taken the lead seven times this season and gone on to win five of them
* Rovers have been involved in two 0-0 draws this season against Liverpool and Chelsea
* Rovers have taken the lead in five matches this season and won four and drawn one
* Rovers have had three players sent off at Ewood Park this season with Ryan Nelson dismissed twice. In contrast Newcastle have not had a player dismissed yet this season
* Newcastle have picked up 21 yellow cards this season and 11 of them have gone to two players Alan Smith (6) and Nicky Butt (5)
* Referee Mark Atkinson has booked 24 players in nine matches this season with an even split 12 home players and 12 away players
* Atkinson has sent off one player this season and awarded just one penalty
* Last six matches between the sides have produced 21 yellow cards
Chelsea v West Ham, 12:45
History
* Chelsea have won all meetings between the two sides since West Ham returned to the Premier League with four straight wins out-scoring the Hammers 12 goals to three
* In the season West Ham were relegated in 2002/03 they did the double over Chelsea including a 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge - their last win there
* Chelsea last failed to score in this fixture back in March 2000 in a 0-0 draw at Upton Park, the last 0-0 draw between the two sides
* Only ever been one draw between the two sides at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, 0-0 back in November 1999
* There have only been three draws in 24 Premier League meetings between the two sides
* Overall Chelsea have won 12 of the 24 matches between the two and West Ham have nine wins
* Referee Howard Webb has taken charge of this fixture once before giving four yellow cards in the match
* Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink leads the scoring charts in this Premier League fixture with six goals
Trends
* Chelsea have a disappointing home record with three wins and three draws in six matches including two 0-0 draws against Fulham and Blackburn
* Chelsea have kept four clean sheet at Stamford Bridge with only Birmingham and Everton scoring
* West Ham are unbeaten in their last five matches since losing 1-0 at Aston Villa in early October
* Eight players have scored for West Ham this season and seven of them are British with Norberto Solano the exception
* Lee Bowyer in West Ham’s leading scorer this season with four goals, one more than Mattie Etherington, who has scored all his goals away from home
* Howard Webb has taken charge of Chelsea on 11 occasions and given them 23 yellow cards
* He is yet to send off a player from either side
Betting
* In the seven matches when Chelsea have scored first they have gone onto win six and draw one this season, and in the six matches they have won they have not conceded a goal (86%)
* Chelsea picked up nine yellow cards at Stamford Bridge and three of them have gone to Michael Essian and two to Juliano Belleti
* West Ham have been involved in one 0-0 draw this season, Portsmouth away
* The Hammers have kept four clean sheets in six matches on the road and have only conceded at Newcastle and Villa, both matches they lost
* In six matches on the road West Ham have picked up 14 yellow cards
* In the seven matches that West Ham have scored first in they have yet to lose, winning five and drawing two
* Chelsea have one of the worst records for scoring late in games with only one goal in the last 10 minutes of matches this season
* Howard Webb is refereeing his 10th match of the season and has so far given out 31 yellow cards and has yet to dismiss a player this season and awarded just the one penalty to date
Portsmouth v Everton, 15:00
History
* Everton have dominated this fixture since Portsmouth won promotion to the Premier League in 2002/03 as Championship winners with six wins in eight matches
* Everton have won three of the four matches between the sides at Fratton Park but last season Pompey ended a three match losing run with a 2-0 win
* Over the last two seasons it has been honours even with both sides winning a match apiece
* Portsmouth have failed to score in four of the eight matches between the two sides
* In the last four matches between the two the team scoring first has gone on to win and keep a clean sheet
* Referee Peter Walton has taken charge of this fixture once before and gave no cards in the fixture
* No player has played in all eight Premier League meetings – Stubbs and Yobo have played most with six appearances each
* Wayne Rooney scored twice in former league matches for Everton against Pompey
Trends
* Since losing the Merseyside derby Everton are unbeaten with three wins and a draw and scored 13 goals and conceded just three
* These two sides are the second and third highest scorers in the Premier League this season behind Arsenal with 25 (Portsmouth) and 26 (Everton) respectively
* Everton have scored in five of their seven away matches this season failing to score at Aston Villa and Reading
* On the road they have kept just one clean sheet all season, in the 2-0 win at Derby County
* Portsmouth have only scored in one of their last four home matches, and that was the 7-4 match with Reading
* Portsmouth have not been beaten in their last nine Premier League matches since losing to Arsenal back in early September
* Portsmouth’s Benjani is the leading scorer in the Premier League this season with eight whilst Everton’s leading scorer is former Portsmouth player Yakubu with five
* Pompey have only won two of their six home matches and drawn the other four and remain unbeaten at Fratton Park and are 11th in the Home League table
* Everton on the road this season have the eighth best record in the Premier League with three wins and a draw in their seven matches
* Everton have had 12 different goal scorers this season and six of them have been English
* Portsmouth have scored seven goals form outside the penalty area this season whilst Everton have managed just two
Betting
* Portsmouth have scored first in six Premier League games this season and won them all, but only one has been at Fratton Park
* In the Form Guide (last 6 matches) Portsmouth are joint second with 14 points (4/2/-) whilst Everton are ninth with 10 points (3/1/2)
* They have picked up just nine yellow cards on the road this season with only Joleon Lescott getting more than one card
* Pompey have had three 0-0 draws in their last four home matches
* Everton have scored first in seven Premier League matches this season and won them all including three on the road, but in only two of the matches have they gone on to keep a clean sheet
* In six matches where Everton have conceded first they have yet to record a win, on the road in four games they have lost three and drawn one
* Both sides have done well in the opening 15 minutes of games with Everton scoring five times and Portsmouth four times
* Only Benjani has scored more than once at Fratton Park this season for Pompey
* There has never been a draw in the fixture
* Everton have conceded six goals in the final 15 minutes of games this season compared to just two for Pompey
* Referee Peter Walton has given out 26 yellow cards in seven matches this season, he has yet to send anyone off or give a penalty
* In nine matches with Pompey, he has given just eight yellow cards whereas in seven Everton matches he has given 13 yellows and 1 red card
* Last six matches between the sides have resulted in 21 yellow cards
Reading v Middlesbrough, 15:00
History
* Last season both fixtures went with home advantage with Reading opening day winners 3-2 in their first ever Premier League match
* The Royals were 2-0 after 21 minutes in this fixture before coming back to win 3-2
Trends
* Reading are looking to avoid a fourth successive defeat since beating Newcastle United 2-1 at home late in October
* Reading have scored in their last nine Premier League matches
* England International Stewart Downing is Boro’s leading scorer in the Premier League this season with three goals
* 16 of Reading’s 17 goals have come from English or Irish players with the exception Andre Bikey’s goal against Chelsea early in the season
* Kevin Doyle will be looking to improve his home strike rate which has seen just one of his four goals coming at home
* Only the bottom two, Derby and Wigan, have scored fewer goals than Middlesbrough’s tally of 12
* Reading have scored 42% of their goals in the last ten minutes of games this season, 7 of 17
* No win in nine matches for Middlesbrough since beating Birmingham City on the opening day of September
* Boro have failed to score in four of their last seven matches this season
* The Royals have only kept three clean sheets this season
* On the road Boro have lost five of their seven matches, winning just once at Fulham back in August
* Boro have failed to score in four of their seven away matches this season and managed just four goals
* No Boro player has scored more than once on the road this season
* At home this season Reading have won four of their seven matches
Betting
* In the five matches where Reading have taken the lead they have won four since they took the lead against Chelsea and were beaten 2-1
* Eight times Reading have fallen behind in Premier League matches this season and each time they have lost
* Reading have been on the scoresheet in 11 of their 14 matches this season and at home they have scored in six of their seven matches
* In seven matches on the road Boro have picked up 16 yellow cards
* In seven home matches this season Reading have picked up 11 yellow and one red card and Ivar Ingimarsson getting four of the yellow cards
* Both sides have been involved in just one 0-0 draw this season
* Boro have only taken the lead twice in Premier League matches this season, winning one and losing one of these games
* 11 times this season Boro have fallen behind in Premier League matches and only at Fulham have they come back to win, losing seven and drawing three of the remaining games
* Reading have failed to score in the opening 15 minutes of a match this season whilst Boro have scored three times in this period, 25% of their goals
* Reading are a 2nd half side with 12 of their 17 goals coming after the break whilst Boro have an even split, six in each half
* As well as scoring seven goals in the last ten minutes Reading have also conceded seven goals in this period whilst Boro have conceded just two goals in this period
* Alan Wiley has refereed 11 matches this season and given out 38 yellow cards with an even spilt between home and away players
* Wiley has yet to award a penalty and only dismissed one player this season
* In five previous matches Alan Wiley has only ever booked one Reading player – Leroy Lita
Sunderland v Derby, 15:00
History
* Former Ram Danny Higginbotham plays against his former club
* Last time thy met was in the 2001/02 season and this match ended 1-1 after Sunderland had won at Pride Park 1-0 earlier in the season
* Derby have never won at Sunderland in the Premier League in four matches - Sunderland have won two and there have been two draws
* Halsey has sent off just one player this season
* Derby have scored on their last three visits to the Stadium of Light
Trends
* Derby have taken just a point from all their away games so far this season
* In 10 games so far this season referee Mark Halsey has given 28 cards with an even split of 14 to the home team and 14 to the away team
* Sunderland’s last win was on 15th September at home to Reading
* Mark Halsey has refereed 10 matches this season and given out 27 yellow cards and has the lowest booking per match average than any of the referees to have refereed over 10 times this season (2.7 per match)
* Halsey has booked at least one away player in his last nine matches this season
* Only three players have scored for Derby this season, two Englishman and a Scotsman
* Derby have not scored a goal on the road this season in 610 minutes of football
* Derby have picked up 13 yellow cards on the road with Steve Howard and Andy Griffin receiving three each
* With just five goals all season Derby are averaging a goal every 252 minutes
* Sunderland have scored in 11 of their 14 matches this season
* Three of Sunderland’s seven goal scorers this season come from Trinidad and Tobago
* In six home matches this season Sunderland have won two, drawn two and lost two
Betting
* Mark Halsey has refereed both sides six times previously and whilst he has given Sunderland just three yellow cards, he has given Derby players 15 yellows and two red cards
* In his last five matches he has given out just 10 cards, an average of just two per match
* Derby have not scored in their last six matches and have gone a total of 611 minutes since Kenny Miller scored in the home fixture against Reading
* Derby have only kept two clean sheets all season
* Derby have taken the lead just three times this season and only once have they won, when beating Newcastle 1-0
* Derby have fallen behind 10 times this season and lost every time
* Five of Sunderland’s 14 goals have come in the last ten minutes of matches but in that same period they have conceded six goals also this season
* Sunderland have not kept a clean sheet since the opening day of the season when they beat Spurs 1-0
* In the 10 matches when they have fallen behind this season Sunderland have yet to come back and win - they have lost eight and drawn twice, although in seven of them they have at least found the net
* Kenwyne Jones is Sunderland’s leading scorer this season with four goals but only one has come at the Stadium of Light
* In 14 matches Sunderland have only picked up 20 yellow cards and Dicksen Etuhu leads the way with four
Wigan v Man City, 15:00
History
* Steve Bruce’s first match in charge of Wigan
* Wigan have won all four meetings between the sides in the Premier League, including a 4-0 win at the JJB last season
* City have failed to scored in three of these four meetings
* Mike Riley has refereed 12 games this season in the Premier League, which is the most along with Steve Bennett
* No current player from either side has played in all four league meetings. Only player to do it is Everton’s Leighton Baines
Trends
* Man City have only won once away from home this season – their opening day success over West Ham
* Wigan’s ex-city midfielder Michael Brown is one booking away from suspension
* Wigan have failed to score in six of their last seven league games
* Wigan have lost their last three home games and have not scored a goal in the process. Prior to this they were unbeaten in their first three home games, winning two and drawing one
* Both sides have yet to receive a red card this season. City’s last one was in December 2006, and Wigan’s in April of last season
* Six of City’s goals this season have come from outside the 18 yard box. Wigan have yet to find the net from this distance
* Only 24% of Wigan’s goals conceded this season have come at home. 79% of City’s goals conceded this season have come away from home
* City’s Dietmar Hamann is one booking away from suspension
* City have won five of their last seven, drawing and losing just one to Chelsea at the end of October
* City have won both their other games against ‘bottom 3’ sides this season – both being 1-0 home wins
* In his 12 matches this season Riley has given out 43 yellow cards, 26 to the away side and 17 to the home side
* Riley has yet to give out a red card this season
Betting
* Wigan’s joint top scorer Marcus Bent with three goals has yet to score at the JJB this season
* Wigan have lost their last eight matches in the league
* Wigan have lost nine of 10 matches this season in which they have conceded first. However they have won two of four games in which they scored first
* Wigan have yet to score in the opening 15 minutes of a match this season and have only scored two of their 10 goals in the first half
* Wigan have conceded nine times in the final 10 minutes of matches this season
* Joint City top-scorer Blumer Elano has yet to score away from home this season
* City have won 100% of their games this season in which they have scored first (eight matches)
* However they have only won once in matches they have fallen behind in (Newcastle), losing three and drawing one
* City have not scored away from home since Martin Petrov’s goal on 22nd September in the 3-3 draw with Fulham
* Only Petrov has scored more than one goal for City in away games this season
* Riley has awarded more penalties than any other referee this season, five
* The four previous league meetings between the sides produced nine yellow cards
Sunday, 02 December 2007
Liverpool v Bolton, 15:00
History
* The sides have met 16 times in the Premier League with Liverpool winning nine, and Bolton winning just three
* Liverpool have won seven out of eight league meetings at Anfield, with the other being a draw on New Years Day 2002
* Nicolas Anelka has scored four times in seven league matches against former club Liverpool
* Steve Bennett will be Refereeing his 13th game in the Premier League this season which is the most along with Mike Riley
* Steve Bennett has sent three different Liverpool players off in past Premier League Matches – Hamann, Alonso and Josemi
* Steven Gerrard and Jussi Jaaskelainen have both played in this fixture 12 times each over the years
Trends
* Liverpool have the second best disciplinary record this season with just 17 yellow cards in their 13 games played
* Both sides are yet to receive a red card this season
* Bolton’s Nicolas Anelka is the league’s second top scorer this season with seven goals. However only two of these have come away from the Reebok
* Bolton have yet to win away from home this season
* Dirk Kuyt has yet to score a home goal this season – all three of his strikes have come away from Anfield
* Jamie Carragher is one booking away from suspension
* Liverpool have won three of their last six, including their last two matches played
* The Reds have been involved in three goalless draws this season
* Liverpool have only received seven bookings in home games this season – and these have come in just two matches against Arsenal and Chelsea
* Liverpool have the best defensive record the Premier League with just six goals conceded
* Liverpool have won the last five league meetings at Anfield
* Bolton’s Kevin Nolan and Kevin Davies are both one match away from suspension
* Bolton’s win against Man United last week ended a run of three consecutive draws since Gary Megson took over
* It also was their first win of the season against the ‘Big 4’ having previously lost to Chelsea and Arsenal
* Bolton have yet to win away from home this season – drawing two and losing four of their six away matches. However they have drawn two of their last three
* Steve Bennett have given out 45 yellow cards this season and 24 have been to home side and 21 to the visitors
Betting
* Anelka has been first scorer on three occasions this season, and also last scorer on three occasions
* Fernando Torres is the leading home Premier League scorer this season (with Anelka) with all of his five goals coming at Anfield. Four of these goals have come in the 2nd half of matches
* Liverpool have only won twice in six matches at home this season – drawing the other four, placing them a mere 10th place in the home league table
* Liverpool have not conceded a goal in their last three matches
* Liverpool have won six of nine in which they have scored first
* Liverpool have only conceded first once this season – and that was an own goal in the Merseyside derby which they won 2-1
* Liverpool have scored first on nine occasions this season – winning six of these games
* 14 of Liverpool’s 22 goals this season have come in the 2nd half of matches. Six of these have come in the last 10 minutes
* 13 of Bolton’s 18 goals conceded this season have come in the 1st half
* No Bolton player other than Anelka has scored more than one goal this season
* Bolton have scored first five times this season and only won two of these games. Both of these games were at home however and in the two matches away from home where they scored first they ended up losing both. The other match ended up a draw at home to Villa
* They have yet to win a match in which they have conceded first, losing five and drawing three of eight games
* Bennett has dismissed four players this season, three yellow/reds and one straight red
* Steven Gerrard has scored four goals in past Premier League matches against Bolton
Tottenham v Birmingham, 16:00
History
* Spurs are unbeaten in four Premier League matches since Juande Ramos took charge
* The sides have met eight times in the Premier League and Spurs have won five times, and lost just once
* Spurs did the double over Blues last season, winning both matches 2-0, including a Boxing Day win at the Lane thanks to goals from Keane and Defoe
* Birmingham’s only win against Tottenham in the PL was a 1-0 success on the opening day of the 2003/04 season thanks to a winner from David Dunn
* Spurs have won all four meetings in the PL at the Lane
* Phil Dowd has awarded two penalties this season
* Robbie Keane has appeared for Tottenham seven times in the Premier League against Birmingham
Trends
* Robbie Keane is Tottenham’s leading scorer with six goals this season – three more than anyone else. Only two of these however have come at the Lane
* He has scored four times against Birmingham and three of these have come at the Lane
* Tottenham have only won two of their six home games this season
* Birmingham have only won once away from St Andrews this season
* Jermaine Jenas is Spurs leading scorer at the Lane this season with three – all coming in the first half of matches also
* Birmingham have yet to score a goal this season five minutes either side of half-time
* Paul Robinson has conceded eight goals from outside the box this season
* Both Spurs and Birmingham have yet to receive a red card this season
* Liam Ridgewell and Mehdi Nafti are both one booking away from a suspension
* Birmingham have lost six of the last seven games, including their last three. Their only success in this time was a 3-2 win over Wigan in October
* Blues have lost five of seven away games this season. Their only win was at Pride Park in August
* Phil Dowd is taking charge of just his 7th match of the season. In his previous six he has given out just 15 yellow cards and two straight reds
* Dowd has taken charge of both sides on nine occasions and has given both sides 12 yellow cards and one red card
Betting
* Four of Keane’s goals have come in the second half of matches
* Birmingham have lost six of their last seven matches
* Spurs have scored first eight times this season and won just twice. They have been pegged back to four draws and two defeats in this time
* In matches where Spurs have conceded first they have yet to win – losing four and drawing two including last week’s match at West Ham
* Apart from their opening home match of the season against Everton, Tottenham have scored first in every match at home in the Premier League this season
* Tottenham have scored six times in the opening 15 minutes of matches this season
* They have also conceded six times in the final ten minutes of matches this season. Birmingham have conceded five in this period also
* Birmingham have conceded first on nine occasions this season and have lost eight of these games. Their only success when conceding first was the 3-2 win over Wigan
* Of Phil Dowd’s 15 yellow cards this season, 13 have been to away players and just two to home players
* He has taken charge of this fixture once before – giving five yellow cards in the match
Monday, 03 December 2007
Man Utd v Fulham, 20:00
History
* United have won the last five meetings between the sides in the Premier League home and away
* Fulham have only beaten United once in 12 Premier league meetings – a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford in October 2003
* United have not received a home red card in the Premier league since David Elleray sent off Roy Keane in April 2001
* United have won five of their six meetings at Old Trafford in the league
* Referee Rob Styles takes charge of his first United Fulham fixture
* He has sent off two players from either side in previous matches
* Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes have played nine of the 12 Premier League meetings between the sides – Steed Malbranque managed 10 for Fulham
* Ruud Van Nistelrooy managed eight goals in league matches against Fulham
Trends
* United have the third best disciplinary record in the Premier league with just 18 cards received from their 14 matches this season
* United also have the third best home record in the Premier League taking 19 points from their seven matches so far this season. Only Arsenal and Man City have taken more points
* Fulham have taken just three points from their six away matches so far this season – with no wins just show, just three draws and three defeats
* Last week’s defeat at Bolton was the first match since 19th August that United have failed to score in
* United have not lost this season in any game in which they have scored
* Fulham have only scored four times away from home this season
* Only eight of Fulham’s 20 goals conceded this season have come away from home
* In 12 Premier League meetings between the sides, United have won 8, drawn 3 and lost once
* Fulham have played all three of the other ‘Big 4’ clubs this season – losing two and drawing with neighbours Chelsea at Stamford Bridge
* Fulham have only won once in their last twelve games, and have drawn three of their last five
* Rob Styles will be refereeing his 10th game of the season in the Premier League
* To date he has given out 35 yellow cards with 16 to home players and 19 to away players
Betting
* Cristiano Ronaldo has scored five times in seven starts in the Premier League against Fulham – equal most with Wigan and Aston Villa
* United have won eight times this season out of 10 matches in which they have scored first. The other two ended as draws against Arsenal and Portsmouth
* United have conceded first only three times this season and ended up losing two of those matches – local derbies against Man City and Bolton Wanderers. The only game they turned around was away to Villa
* United have only failed to score at home once this season – on the opening day to Reading. They have been first goalscorers in each of the other seven home games
* Carlos Tevez has been first scorer twice at home this season
* Fulham have conceded eight times in the last 10 minutes of matches this season
* United have only kept two clean sheets in 12 Premier League meetings with Fulham
* United have won their last six home matches
* Fulham have scored first on eight occasions this season and have only won once – a 3-1 victory over Reading. They have drawn four and lost three of these games
* Rob Styles has given out three straight red cards, equal most in the Premier League, and one yellow red card this season
* He has also awarded four penalties this season with an even split, two to the home team and two to the away team
* Danny Murphy has scored three times at Old Trafford in previous matches
