Premier League Game Previews: 8-9 December 2007
Saturday, 08 December 2007
Aston Villa v Portsmouth, 12:45
History
* The sides have met eight times in the Premier League with Villa leading the series with four wins, there have been three draws and Portsmouth have just the one win
* Both matches ended as draws last season and in fact three of the last four games have ended as draws
* At Villa Park the home side have won three out of four with their winning run coming to an end last season in a 0-0 draw
* Portsmouth have not scored at Villa Park since the first meeting between the two sides back in January 2004 when Yakubu scored a 49th minutes equaliser before Villa went on to win 2-1, that was 311 minutes ago
* Portsmouth’s only win came in the first ever Premier League meeting between the two sides back in August 2003
* Referee Mike Riley has never taken charge of this fixture home or away
* He has also ref’d Pompey 10 times and given 12 yellow cards
* Former Villain Juan Pablo Angel managed four goals in previous Premier League matches against Portsmouth – more than any other player
Trends
* These two sides are level on 27 points from 15 matches with Portsmouth just ahead on goal difference
* Villa have scored more goal 26 to 25 but Portsmouth have conceded fewer 13 to 16
* Villa saw their five match unbeaten run come to an end last Saturday night losing 2-1 at home to Arsenal
* Villa have already played eiught time at home this season won five and lost three with the three defeats coming against three of the top four, Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal
* Villa have scored in all eight of their league games at Villa Park this season and have kept four clean sheets
* Pompey have a great away record this season with five away wins a draw and just two defeats, the defeats have come at Chelsea and Arsenal
* Eight of Villa’s goals at home this season have come from Englishmen
* Apart from the eight Englishmen to score for Villa the other three players are from the Nordics, Denmark, Sweden and Norway
* 30% of the goals Portsmouth have conceded have come in the first 15 minutes of matches
* Africans occupy four of the top six places in the Pompey goal scoring charts
* Pompey have scored seven of their 25 goals form outside the penalty area this season
* Pompey have conceded just one goal in their last five away matches and that was an own goal form Sol Campbell at St James’s Park
* Portsmouth’s Sylvain Distin has scored twice at Villa Park in previous league matches
Betting
* In eight matches at Villa Park this season Villa have picked up 18 yellow cards and had two player dismissed with Wilfred Bouma and Nigel Reo Coker collecting three yellow cards each
* Portsmouth have only had 16 players booked in eight away games this season with Sean Davis collecting five of them
* Villa have scored in their last 10 matches since losing 1-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium in mid September
* Portsmouth have taken the lead six times this season and gone on to win all six matches in the five games they have fallen behind in they have turned it round once beating Bolton 3-1 at Fratton Park
* Villa have been involved in just one 0-0 draw this season, away at Newcastle back in August
* When Villa have scored first this season in nine matches they have gone on to win seven of them, the two defeats were at the hands of the top two Arsenal and Manchester United
* Pompey have been involved in more 0-0 draws than any other side in the Premier League this season
* In the five matches when Villa have conceded first they have only come back to win once at home to Fulham
* Pompey have won five in a row on the road since losing 3-1 at the Emirates back in the first week of September
* Portsmouth have scored in seven of their eight away matches this season, only Chelsea have stopped them scoring this season
* Referee Mike Riley takes charge of his 14th Premier League match of the season and has given out 47 yellow cards and last Saturday gave out his first red card of the season to Wigan’s Mario Melchoit
* Riley has awarded more penalties than any other referee this season with five, four to the home side and one to the away side
Chelsea v Sunderland, 15:00
History
* Chelsea have won the last five matches between the two sides
* At Stamford Bridge Chelsea have won five out of six matches between the two sides including the last three in which they have kept clean sheets
* In 12 matches between the two sides Chelsea have won six matches, Sunderland four and there have been two draws
* Chelsea have won just
* Referee Peter Walton has taken charge of Chelsea just once before and gave three yellow cards in the match
Trends
* In their last eight matches (720 minutes) Chelsea have conceded just one goal, Tim Cahill’s equaliser at the Bridge
* Third placed Chelsea take on 15th placed Sunderland at Stamford Bridge with 18 points and 12 places separating the sides
* Chelsea are unbeaten in their last eight matches since losing at Old Trafford in Avram Grant’s first match in charge with six wins and two draws
* Five of Sunderland’s 15 goals have come from headers whilst Chelsea have managed just one in 22 goals
* Chelsea have yet to concede a goal from outside the penalty area yet this season whilst Sunderland have conceded five
* In seven matches at the Bridge Chelsea have collected 14 yellow cards and one red with Michael Essian and Juliano Belleti picking up three each
* In eight matches on the road Sunderland are yet to win with six defeats and two draws but they have managed to score in five of the matches but have yet to keep a clean sheet
* The Black Cats have only scored first once away from home this season, Grant Leadbitter got the opener in the 2-2 draw at Middlesbrough
* In the 1-0 win against Derby last Saturday they kept their first clean sheet since the opening day of the season
* Sunderland have already the other three Big Four sides this season and lsot to them all
* The only 0-0 draw between the two sides was at the Stadium of Light back in December 2001
Betting
* Chelsea have been involved in two 0-0 draws at Stamford Bridge this season against Fulham and Blackburn Rovers
* In the eight matches where Chelsea have taken the lead they have not lost, going on to win seven of them and drawing with Everton
* Five times Chelsea have fallen behind and have only twice come back to win, in the other three they have drawn one, Liverpool away, and lost away to Villa and Manchester United
* In five of seven matches at Stamford Bridge this season Chelsea have managed no more than one goal with nine of their 12 goals coming in two matches
* Chelsea have kept five clear sheets at home this season with only Birmingham and Everton scoring at the Bridge
* Six of Sunderland’s 15 goals have come in the last ten minutes of games whilst Chelsea have managed just one in 22
* In the five matches where Sunderland have taken the lead they have yet to lose with three wins and two draws.
* In the ten matches where Sunderland have fallen behind they have yet to come back and win, losing eight and drawing twice
* Peter Walton takes charge of his ninth game of the season and has given out 29 yellow cards so far this season
* Walton has yet to award a penalty this season or send anybody off yet
Everton v Fulham, 15:00
History
* These two sides have met in the Premier League 12 times since Fulham won promotion back in 2000/01 with both sides winning six matches apiece
* Bizarrely each side has won all six of their home matches in this series
* Last season in this fixture Everton were 4-1 winners
* Referee Steve Bennett has taken charge of this fixture once before and gave four yellows and one red card in the match
* Fulham legend Barry Hayles leads the clubs Premier League scoring charts in matches against Everton with three
Trends
* Everton are unbeaten in their last five matches since losing the Merseyside derby
* Five of Everton’s 12 goal scorers this season have been English
* Everton have failed to score in four of their 15 matches this season
* Everton have scored six of their 26 goals this season in the last 10 minutes of games whilst Fulham have managed just two
* 33% of all the goals Fulham have conceded this season have come in the final 10 minutes of games, eight out of 24
* Everton have the highest % of goals conceded in the last 10 minutes of games, six out of 16, 42%
* Fulham have only managed four goals on the road this season
* On the road Fulham yet to win in seven matches with three draws and four defeats and scored four times but never more than one goal in a match
* Fulham have managed just one clean sheet on the road but it was at Stamford Bridge in a 0-0 draw
Betting
* Last Saturday Everton were involved in their first 0-0 draw of the season
* Everton have scores in six of their seven matches at Goodison Park this season with only Manchester United stopping them from scoring
* The Toffees have conceded in six of their seven matches at home this season only Middlesbrough have failed to score there
* In seven matches at home this season Everton have picked up just four yellow cards along with two straight reds in the Merseyside derby and in four off the matches they have picked up no cards at all
* Everton have won seven out of eight of the matches where they have scored first – the exception was the Merseyside derby where they went in front thanks to a Sami Hyppia own goal.
* In six matches this season they have fallen behind and not once come back to win, losing four and drawing twice
* Fulham have only conceded five goals in the first half of matches and 19 in the second 45 minutes
* American Clint Dempsey is Fulham’s leading scorer away form home with two goals and on each occasion he was the first scorer
* Steve Bennett is taking charge of his 14th Premier League match of the season and has given out 48 yellow cards, 24 each to the home and away sides
* Bennett has sent off four players and awarded just the one penalty
Man Utd v Derby, 15:00
History
* The last meeting between the two at Old Trafford saw United comfortable 5-0 winners in December 2001
* These two sides have met 12 times with United winning six of them, they have been four draws and Derby have won twice, both times at Old Trafford
* Derby were last winners at Old Trafford back in May 2001 when they left with a 1-0 win thanks to a Malcolm Christie goal
* Former United favourite Dwight Yorke leads United’s Premier League scoring record against Derby with five goals. Malcolm Christie has managed three for Derby against United
Trends
* United are unbeaten at Old Trafford this season with seven successive wins since their opening weekend draw with Reading
* They have kept seven clean sheets at Old Trafford with only Jeremy Aliadiere scoring against them
* United have scored 16 goals at home this season and Ronaldo leads the way with six of them whilst Wayne Rooney in the only English player to score at home this season
* Ronaldo is United leading scorer with eight goals twice as many as the next players in the list, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney
* United have met the other two bottom three sides this season and put four goals past them both, Middlesbrough and Wigan
* United lead the way in headed goals in the Premier League this season with seven whilst only one of Derby’s five goals has been a header
* Derby have conceded seven of their 34 goals this season with strikes from out side the penalty area
* Derby have lost seven of their eight away matches this season, the one exception was a 0-0 draw against Fulham
* Rob Earnshaw is the only member of the Derby squad to have scored at Old Trafford
Betting
* Nani, Ronaldo and Tevez have all been first scorer twice at Old Trafford this season
* In eight home matches United have collected just nine yellow cards
* United have scored first in 11 of their 15 matches this season winning nine of them and drawing twice to Arsenal and Portsmouth
* They have lost two of the three matches they fell behind in away at local rivals Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers but going on to win 4-1 at Villa Park
* Derby have managed just five goals all season, a goal every 270 minutes and have yet to score on the road this season but n the process have conceded 20 goals
* Derby have managed just one clean sheet on the road when they drew 0-0 at Craven Cottage against Fulham
* Despite conceding 34 goals this season only three have come in the last 10 minutes of matches and once has that cost them the match, last Saturday’s defeat at Sunderland
* In seven matches on the road this season Derby have picked up 13 yellow cards with Steven Howard and Andy Griffin leading the way with three each.
* Referee Chris Foy is taking charge of his 10th Premier League match of the season and to date has given out 29 yellow cards and just the one red card
* Foy has awarded just the one penalty this season
Newcastle v Birmingham, 15:00
History
* These two sides have met eight times in the Premier League with Newcastle leading the series with four wins, City have won once and there have been three draws
* At St James’s Park Newcastle have won three out of four with City leaving with a 1-0 win in August 2003
* Referee Rob Styles has taken charge of this fixture once before and gave three yellow cards in the match
Trends
* The only 0-0 draw between the two sides was at St Andrews back in April 2006
* Six of Newcastle’s goals have come from headers this season compared to three for the visitors
* Newcastle have gone six games without a win since winning 3-1 at home to Tottenham
* Newcastle have conceded eight of their 25 goals with shots from outside the penalty area
* Newcastle made an excellent start to the season at St James’s Park with four wins and a draw in their first five matches since then they have lost two and drawn one, conceding eight goals and scoring two
* In eight matches on the road City have won twice with wins at Derby and Tottenham
* Cameron Jerome has scored all four of his goals away from home this season and three of them have come in the second half
* Birmingham’s win at White Hart Lane last Sunday ended a three match losing run
Betting
* After keeping clean sheets in their first two home matches of the season they have failed to do so in their last six matches
* Newcastle have gone ahead in eight matches this season and in five of them they have gone on to win whilst losing away at Blackburn and Manchester City and drawing 2-2 at Middlesbrough
* In eight matches at home this season Newcastle have collect 15 yellow cards with Nicky Butt and Alan Smith collecting four each
* In six matches that Newcastle have fallen behind in they have yet to come back and win, they have lost four times but managed draws against Sunderland and Arsenal
* Birmingham have kept just one clean sheet on the road when they got a 0-0 draw at Anfield back in September
* In eight matches on the road Birmingham have collected just 12 yellow cards with only Liam Ridgewell getting more than one, although they collected at least one in each game
* Birmingham have taken the lead in just five matches this season and have won three of them, losing one and draw one of the remaining two
* In the nine matches they fell behind in they lost eight and managed just the one win at home to Wigan
* Rob Styles will be refereeing his11th Premier League match of the season and so far has given out 38 yellow cards just favouring the home side 18 to 20
* Styles has awarded four penalties with an even 2/2 spilt home and away
* Neither side has had a player dismissed this season whilst both players have collected 27 yellow cards each
* The last four matches between the sides have produced 17 yellow cards
Reading v Liverpool, 17:15
History
* Liverpool did the double over Reading last season, winning the equivalent fixture 2-1 in April thanks to a late Dirk Kuyt winner
* Reading’s Ivar Ingimarsson is one booking away from suspension
* Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher is one booking away from suspension
* Dirk Kuyt scored three times against Reading last season, scoring two at Anfield in a 2-0 win and the winner away at Reading
* Referee Andre Marriner has taken charge of Liverpool just once and Reading twice. He has given Reading just one yellow card and Liverpool two in this time
* Fernando Torres scored a hat-trick earlier this season away at Reading in the Carling Cup
Trends
* Liverpool have the joint best disciplinary record in the league alongside neighbours Everton with just 17 yellow cards received this season from their 14 matches
* Reading have the 10th best home record in the league with four wins, one draw and three defeats from their eight matches
* Liverpool have the best away record in the league with five wins and two draws from their seven matches this season
* Liverpool are third in the recent form table over the last six matches behind Arsenal and Chelsea
* Last weeks draw at home to Boro stopped a run of three consecutive defeats for Reading since beating Newcastle at the end of October
* Liverpool have scored six times from outside the 18 yard box this season
* Reading have scored nine home goals this season and Liverpool 10 away
* Reading have conceded the second most goals in the league this season with 32 in 15 games
* Liverpool have conceded the least with just six goals conceded and also have the best away record with just two away goals leaked
* Reading have conceded eight times from outside the 18 yard box this season
* Liverpool have won their last three matches and kept clean sheets in each
Betting
* Reading have scored in every game since 1st September
* Dave Kitson is Reading’s top scorer this season with five goals – four of these have come in the second half of matches
* Kitson has scored first on three occasions this season
* Reading have yet to win against any of the ‘big 4’ this season – losing to Arsenal and Chelsea and drawing with Man United on the opening day
* Reading have scored first six times this season and have won four, drawn one and lost one. This loss was their first home game of the season against Chelsea and this was followed by four straight wins when scoring first. Boro ended the run last week
* All six of these matches have come at home
* Reading have conceded first eight times this season and have lost every time
* Reading have only conceded first twice at home this season
* Reading have scored just five goals in the first half of matches this season, with 13 coming in the second half
* Both sides have scored seven times in the last 10 minutes of matches this season
* Reading have conceded eight times in the last 10 minutes of matches this season
* Liverpool have yet to concede in the opening 15 minutes of a game this season whereas Reading have conceded three in this period
* Liverpool have not conceded a goal since Fabregas’ late equaliser for Arsenal at the end of October – 370 minutes of football
* Ryan Babel has been the last goalscorer in the last two matches
* Fernando Torres is Liverpool’s top scorer with six but has yet to score away from Anfield
* Dirk Kuyt has scored all three of his goals this season away from home
* Liverpool have scored first 10 times this season and only won six of these – although they have not losing, drawing the other four
* Liverpool have only conceded first once this season and went on to win the game away at Everton in the Merseyside derby
* Steven Gerrard has scored in five matches this season and Liverpool have won four and drawn one of them
* Liverpool have yet to concede first in an away game this season
* Andre Mariner has refereed six matches so far this season and given out 18 yellow cards and dismissed two players,13 of the yellow cards have gone to away players
Sunday, 09 December 2007
Blackburn v West Ham, 16:00
History
* The sides have met 20 times in the Premier League with West Ham shading it with 10 wins to date, to Blackburn’s eight
* In form David Bentley is suspended for the visit of the Hammers, joining captain Ryan Nelson on the suspended sidelines
* Christopher Samba is one booking away from suspension
* West Ham did the double over Blackburn last season, winning both matches 2-1
* Carlton Cole is one booking away from suspension
* Referee Alan Wiley has given Blackburn players six red cards in 18 previous matches he has taken charge of them
Trends
* Blackburn have the sixth best home record in the league with four wins, two draws and two defeats from their eight games
* West Ham have the ninth best away record in the league with three wins, one draw and three defeats from their seven games
* Both sides are in similar form with West Ham taking nine points from their last six games and Blackburn eight
* Last weeks win over Newcastle was Blackburn’s first in six games since beating Spurs at the end of October
* Blackburn have a good record against the ‘non Big 4’, winning seven of 11 matches, losing two and drawing two
* Blackburn’s three goals against Newcastle ended a run of two home games without a goal
* Both sides score heavily in the second half of matches with 14 of Rovers’ 20 and 13 of the Hammers’ 19 coming in the second 45
* Despite their lower league position and seven point defecit, West Ham have conceded six fewer goals than Blackburn this season and scored just one less
* Blackburn have only won once in the last seven meetings between the sides
* Last weeks defeat to Chelsea was West Ham’s only defeat of their last six games
* Alan Wiley has booked Hammer Lucas Neill five times in previous matches for Blackburn
Betting
* Both sides are high on the disciplinary charts with Blackburn having the joint worst record with 34 cards including 4 reds. West Ham have had 30 yellow cards and no reds
* Blackburn top scorer Benni McCarthy has five goals with four of these coming at Ewood Park
* Three of David Bentley’s four goals have also come at Ewood
* Blackburn have scored first five times this season and have yet to lose – winning four and drawing one
* Benni McCarthy has scored in three matches this season and Blackburn have won all three of them
* Twelve of Blackburn’s 18 goals conceded have come in the second half of matches, and five of these in the last 10 minutes
* There have only been two draws in 20 Premier League meetings between the sides
* West Ham have won four of the last five meetings between the sides
* Blackburn have won seven of 10 PL meetings between the sides at Ewood Park
* West Ham have scored first seven times this season and have yet to lose when doing so – winning five and drawing two
* However when conceding first they have yet to win – losing five and drawing one of six matches
* Lee Bowyer has scored in three matches this season and West Ham have yet to lose – winning two and drawing one
* West Ham have scored first in three of seven away games this season
* Matthew Etherington has scored three times away from home for West Ham this season and all three have come in the second half of games
* The last four matches between the sides have produced 20 yellow cards
* Alan Wiley has refereed 12 matches this season and given out 41 cards and 21 of those have gone to home players
* Wiley has only sent off one player and awarded one penalty
Bolton v Wigan, 15:00
History
* The sides have met four times in the Premier League with Wigan edging it two wins to Bolton’s one with one draw
* Wigan won the equivalent fixture last season 1-0 thanks to a late Lee McCulloch winner
* Scharner and Bramble are both one booking away from suspension
* Last weeks draw against Man City stopped a run of eight consecutive league defeats for Wigan
* Referee Martin Atkinson has taken charge of Bolton three times and given eight yellow cards in this time. This will be his sixth game in charge of Wigan and has given five yellow cards in this time
* Kevin Davies is the only player currently at either side to have played in all four previous Premier League meetings
Trends
* Wigan are bottom of the form table with just one point from their last six games, this coming in their last match against Man City
* Last week’s defeat to Liverpool was Bolton’s first under Gary Megson in five games since losing to Arsenal in October
* Bolton have only scored one goal in their last three matches and have taken four points in this time
* Five of Anelka’s seven goals this season have come at the Reebok
* Bolton have won just two of the seven matches Anelka has scored in
* Bolton have only lost one of last five home matches – 1-0 to Chelsea at beginning of October
* Eight of Bolton’s 12 goals this season have come at the Reebok
* Five of Wigan’s 11 goals this season have come away from home
* Wigan have scored three penalties this season and Bolton have yet to score one
* Wigan have conceded 19 of 26 goals this season away from home
* Wigan have yet to lose to Bolton at the Reebok in the Premier League having won one and drawn one
* Bolton have yet to receive a red card this season whereas Wigan have had two
* Paul Scharner’s equaliser last week against Man City was Wigan’s first goal since Marcus Bent scored against Birmingham five games ago
* All three of Bent’s goals this season have come away from home
* Wigan’s last win was 12 matches ago back in August against Sunderland
Betting
* Wigan have the joint worst away record (with Derby) in the Premier League with just one point from eight matches
* Nicolas Anelka is the only Bolton player to have scored more than one goal this season
* Anelka has been first goal scorer three times this season and has also been last goal scorer three times
* Bolton have played the other two ‘bottom 3’ sides this season and drawn both of them – 0-0 with Boro and 1-1 with Derby
* Bolton have scored first five times this season and won twice, lost twice and drawn once
* They have also yet to win in a match in which they have conceded first – losing six and drawing three of nine matches
* Eight of Wigan’s 11 goals this season have come in the second half of matches
* 15 of Bolton’s 22 goals conceded have come in the first half of matches
* Wigan have conceded nine times in the last 10 minutes of matches this season
* Wigan have scored first just four times this season and have two of these games – both home wins from back in August
* Wigan have conceded first 11 times this season and have lost nine of these and drawing two
* Marcus Bent has scored three times for Wigan this season in two matches and they have lost them both
* In eight away games this season Wigan have scored first twice and scored last just once
* Referee Martin Atkinson has refereed 10 games this season and given out 29 yellow cards with 14 home players in the book and 15 away players
* Atkinson has only dismissed one player all season and awarded just one penalty
Middlesbrough v Arsenal, 13:30
History
* The sides have met 24 times in the Premier League and Arsenal dominate the fixture with 15 wins to Boro’s four, with five draws also
* Middlesbrough’s last win over Arsenal was 2-1 home success in September 2005 thanks to goals from Yakubu and Maccherone
* The sides have met 11 times at the Riverside and Arsenal have won eight of these meetings and Boro winning just twice. Boro’s other home league success was at the old Ayresome Park in the 92-93 season
* Both matches between the sides last season ended in a 1-1 draw
* Arsenal legend Thierry Henry scored 12 times for Arsenal in league matches against Middlesbrough
Trends
* Middlesbrough have the joint worst disciplinary record in the league with 34 yellow cards received from their 15 games
* Boro’s top scorer this season is Stewart Downing with just three goals – all three have come at the Riverside
* Arsenal’s three match winning run came to an end at Newcastle on Wednesday night and they have drawn three of their last six matches now
* George Boateng is one booking away from suspension
* In seven matches on the road Arsenal have yet to lose with four wins and three draws
* In their seven matches on the road Arsenal have scored in every match but only kept one clean sheet, at West Ham
* Middlesbrough have not won since 1st September – a run of 10 matches, six defeats and four draws
* They have only lost once in their last four however – their last home game to Aston Villa
* Arsenal have scored in all 15 of their Premier League matches this season but managed just five clean sheet
* Both sides have done well not conceding in the last 10 minutes of matches with both sides on two, but Boro’s two is out of 27 goals and Arsenal’s out of 12 goals!
* Referee Howard Webb has given Boro players 24 yellow cards in 11 previous matches, including George Boateng 4 times for Boro
* On the road Emmanuel Adebayor has scored five of his sides 12 goals
Betting
* Boro have the second worst home record (behind Derby) in the league with just six points coming from their seven league games at the Riverside
* Boro have played ‘big 4’ sides twice this season and have lost both of them – away to Man United and home to Chelsea
* Boro have only scored first in a match twice this season and both these were at the Riverside. They have conceded first 12 times and only won one of these matches (away to Fulham in August). They have lost seven and drawn four
* Middlesbrough have conceded first in five out of seven home matches so far this season
* Arsenal took the lead at St James’s Park and for only the second time on ten occasions this season did not gone on to win
* Four of Boro’s 13 goals scored this season have come in the last 10 minutes of matches, 31%
* For Arsenal the figure is higher with 34% of their goals coming in the last 10 minuts of matches 11 out of 32
* There have been nine red cards in Premier League matches between these two sides – six for Boro and three for Arsenal
* On the road this season the Gunners have picked up 16 yellow cards in seven matches
* The last six matches between the sides have also produced 24 yellow cards
* Referee Howard Webb has refereed 10 matches this season and given out 39 yellow cards, 17 to home players and 22 to away players
* Webb has not yet given a red card and only awarded one penalty goal
Tottenham v Man City, 15:00
History
* Tottenham come into the game on the back of first defeat since Ramos took charge
* City now down to 5th in the league – their lowest position of the season after last weeks draw at Wigan
* The sides have met 20 times in the Premier League and Spurs have won 14 of these meetings. City have won just two and there have been four draws
* Tottenham have done the double over City in each of the last three seasons
* City’s last win over Tottenham in the league was a 2-0 win at the Lane in April 2003
* Dietmar Hamann is suspended after picking up his fifth booking of the season at Wigan last week
* Geovanni’s first minute goal last week was City’s first away from home since 22nd September
* Referee Mark Halsey has never taken charge of a PL match between these two sides
* He has taken charge of City 13 times and given just 9 yellow cards. In 18 matches for Spurs he has given 16 yellows and one red card
Trends
* Both sides have received 24 cards in their games this season
* Suspended Robbie Keane is now joint top scorer in the league with eight goals. Six of these have come in the 2nd half of matches
* Spurs have lost four home games this season but still have a positive goal difference (+2)
* City have only won once away from home this season and that was the first game of the season
* Spurs have only won once in the last 12 league matches
* Robbie Keane’s sending off against Birmingham was Spurs’ first red card of the season
* Despite the difference in league positions, Tottenham have scored seven more goals than City this season. However they have conceded 13 more goals
* Spurs have conceded 10 goals from outside the 18 yard box this season. City have only conceded one from this range
* Tottenham have conceded more goals at home than away this season – 15 to 13
* City have conceded 12 times away from this season compared to just three at home
* In 10 Premier League meetings at the Lane, Spurs have won seven, drawn two and lost just once
* City have only lost once in their last 10 league matches and are two away matches unbeaten having drawn their last two aways
* Robbie Keane has scored three times against City in Premier League matches for Spurs
Betting
* In eight matches where Spurs have scored first they have only won twice. They have drawn four and lost two also
* Spurs have conceded first seven times and have lost five times, drawn twice and have yet to wins
* Spurs have yet to win a match in which Robbie Keane has scored. They have lost three and drawn three of the six matches he has scored in
* In seven home matches this season, Tottenham have scored first five times but only been last match scorers three times
* Tottenham have scored six times this season in the opening 15 minutes of matches
* They have also conceded seven times in the last 10 minutes of matches
* City have scored first twice in seven away matches this season
* City’s two leading away scorers have just two goals away this season (Petrov and Geovanni)
* City have scored first on nine occasions this season and have yet to lose - won eight and drawn one. Last week’s draw against Wigan was the first time they failed to win
* They have conceded first five times and have lost three of these, winning just one and drawing one
* Elano has scored in three matches this season and City have won all three
* Referee Martin Halsey has stood in 11 matches this season and only given out 27 yellow cards with 13 going to the home side and 14 to the away side
* Halsey has only sent one player off but has awareded three penalties, two to the away side and one to the home side
