This Saturday’s super game sees Manchester United play hosts to Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur, in a clash that will help define the top four at the end of the season.
This highly anticipated game will be the last fixture of the day, with Brighton vs Liverpool and Brentford vs Burnley being the early kickoffs.
Here are nine stats ahead of all these games:
Brighton vs Liverpool
- Liverpool saw their 15-match unbeaten streak (W13, D2) come to an end in midweek Champions League action against Inter Milan (L 0-1), albeit they’ll consider it job done after reaching the quarter-finals with a 2-1 aggregate win. Preserving a seven-match winning run in the PL, including five clean sheets, will now take focus, as their relentless pursuit of league-leaders Manchester City continues.
- They travel here as the league’s highest scorers, and will be looking to flex their muscles once again as Liverpool are only two goals shy of becoming only the second team to score 2000 PL goals, after Manchester United. History surely beckons for the Reds since they’ve scored 2+ goals in ten of their 13 away league matches this campaign, making them odds on favourites to do so again here.
- Despite this downward trajectory in terms of form, Brighton look unlikely to be sucked into a relegation battle. However, they won’t welcome Liverpool with open arms given that they’ve failed to beat the Merseysiders at home since returning to the PL (D1, L3). They’ve also won only 14 of their 33 league points at the Amex Stadium this season, yet their come-from-behind 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture might give them some confidence – that was one of their joint league-high 12 stalemates this campaign.
Brentford vs Burnley
- A thumping 3-1 victory over Norwich arrested an eight-game winless Premier League (PL) run (D1, L7) for Brentford, soothing their relegation fears. Having played more games than some of their relegation rivals, the ‘Bees’ will still be anxiously looking over their shoulder, but a victory against bottom-three Burnley would open up some much-needed daylight.
- A second-half collapse saw Burnley slump to a 4-0 home defeat against Chelsea last weekend, and one more defeat ‘to nil’ would mark the first time Burnley have fallen to three PL losses in a row without reply since the end of 2020/21. Yet there’s hope to end their goalless run in West London, given that Burnley have scored three goals in four of the last five away H2Hs (W4, L1).
- There’s no guarantee of history repeating itself though, with Burnley holding the joint-fewest PL away wins this season (one). However, the Clarets are unbeaten in their last four PL visits to the capital (W1, D3), and a clean sheet may hold the key to victory, with nine of Burnley’s last ten PL away wins coming to nil.
Man United vs Tottenham Hotspur
- This match carries extra top-four significance as Tottenham – now two points behind United with two games in hand following Monday’s 5-0 thrashing of Everton – could overtake Man United by winning here. That Everton victory was an ideal way to bounce back from their FA Cup exit to Middlesbrough and with one loss in four PL matches (W3), they’re heading in the right direction.
- Tottenham remain inconsistent on the road though, with their last five league away games featuring three wins after scoring 3+ goals but also two defeats to nil after a goalless first half. Those ups and downs are exactly what Spurs manager Antonio Conte must eliminate if their top-four challenge is to succeed – or as he put it, to make them a “stable” team.
- A four-match unbeaten league run at Old Trafford (W2, D2) with three clean sheets has given them something to shout about, but they’ll be wary of Tottenham Hotspur after losing two of the last three Old Trafford H2Hs, conceding an average of 3.33 goals per game (W1).
(Source: Opta)
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