The Times - UK (2022-04-09)

Brighton have failed to capitalise on their
dominance of play for a second season in a row.
Brighton in Premier League this season:
League position: 13th
Shots difference rank: 6th (+28)

Last season:
League position: 16th
Shots difference rank: 4th (+129)

392 for

487 for

358 against

364 against

Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion
Today, 3pm. TV: Highlights, BBC One,
10.20pm. Radio: talkSPORT 2

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
A Ramsdale — Cédric, B White, Gabriel,
N Tavares — A Lokonga, G Xhaka —
B Saka, M Odegaard, E Smith Rowe —
A Lacazette. Injured T Partey, K Tierney.
Doubt T Tomiyasu, N Pépé.

Brighton (3-3-2-2)
R Sánchez — J Veltman, L Dunk,
M Cucurella — T Lamptey, P Gross,
S March — L Trossard, A Mac Allister —
N Maupay, D Welbeck.
Injured J Moder. Doubt A Lallana,
M Caicedo.

Referee D Coote 0 2 0 77
Odds Home win 8-13

James Ward-Prowse has proven more than

three times as likely to convert a free kick than

his rivals in the past three years.

Most direct free kick goals in Premier

League since March 2019:

11 (64)

5 (39)

3 (40)

Ward-Prowse, Southampton

James Maddison, Leicester

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool

(Attempts in brackets)

Southampton v Chelsea

Today, 3pm. TV: Highlights, BBC One,

10.20pm

Southampton (4-4-2)

F Forster — T Livramento, J Bednarek,

M Salisu, K Walker-Peters —

S Armstrong, J Ward-Prowse, O Romeu,

M Elyounoussi — A Armstrong,

C Adams. Ineligible A Broja (owned by

Chelsea). Doubt S Long, Lyanco,

A McCarthy.

Chelsea (3-4-3)

E Mendy — T Chalobah, T Silva,

A Rudiger — R James, Jorginho,

M Kovacic, M Alonso — H Ziyech,

K Havertz, M Mount. Injured C Hudson-

Odoi, B Chilwell. Doubt H Ziyech,

R Lukaku.

Referee K Friend 0 2 0 61

Odds Draw 13-5

Leeds’ absence from the top flight from 2004

would have lasted just two years – rather than

16 – had they not lost to Watford in the 2006

play-offs.

Biggest second-tier play-off final wins:

3-goal margin

2001

Bolton 3

Preston 0

2003

Wolves 3

Sheff Utd 0

2006

Watford 3

Leeds 0

Watford v Leeds United

Today, 3pm. TV: Highlights, BBC One,

10.20pm. Radio: BBC 5 Live

Watford (4-3-3)

B Foster — K Femenia, C Kabasele,

Samir, H Kamara — M Sissoko, I Louza,

J Kucka — I Sarr, João Pedro,

C Hernández.

Leeds (4-2-3-1)

I Meslier — L Ayling, D Llorente,

L Cooper, S Dallas — K Phillips,

A Forshaw — Raphinha, Rodrigo,

J Harrison — D James.

Injured P Bamford, J Firpo, T Roberts,

J Shackleton.

Referee A Marriner 0 2 0 56

Odds Away win 17-10

Villa have failed to score in two of their past five

home games but when they did find a

breakthrough it led to a cluster of goals.

(2 goals in 4mins), Man Utd 2

(3 in 13mins), Leeds 3

(3 in 10mins),

Southampton 0

Villa’s past five home games:

2

0 , Watford 1

0 , Arsenal 1

3

4

Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur

Today, 5.30pm. TV: Live, Sky Sports PL.

Radio: talkSPORT

Aston Villa (4-3-2-1)

E Martínez — M Cash, E Konsa, T Mings,

L Digne — J McGinn, D Luiz, J Ramsey —

P Coutinho, E Buendía — O Watkins.

Doubt L Digne, T Mings, E Buendia,

K Hause.

Tottenham (3-4-3)

H Lloris — C Romero, E Dier, B Davies —

M Doherty, P-E Hojbjerg, R Bentancur,

S Reguilón — D Kulusevski, H Kane, Son

Heung-min.

Injured O Skipp, J Tanganga.

Doubt R Sessegnon.

Referee G Scott 0 0 0 32

Odds Away win 6-5

Brentford’s five London league rivals all sit in

the top half of the table yet they have recorded

better results in these fixtures, including

victory away to West Ham.

Brentford points-per-league game this

season:

Against other London teams

Against the rest

1.38 (P8, Pts11)

0.96 (P23, Pts22)

Brentford v West Ham United

Tomorrow, 2pm. TV: Highlights, BBC

One, 10.30pm

Brentford (3-5-2)

D Raya — K Ajer, P Jansson, E Pinnock,

M Roerslev, C Eriksen, C Norgaard,

V Janelt, R Henry — B Mbeumo, I Toney.

Injured F Onyeka, J Jeanvier.

Doubt J Dasilva.

West Ham (4-2-3-1)

L Fabianski — R Fredericks, C Dawson,

K Zouma, A Cresswell — D Rice,

T Soucek — J Bowen, S Benrahma,

P Fornals — M Antonio.

Injured A Ogbonna.

Doubt M Lanzini.

Referee M Atkinson 0 2 0 49

Odds Draw 23-10

CLASSIC KITS CHELSEA AWAY, 94-95

Chelsea were moving into the

limelight in the mid-1990s by

starting to acquire glamorous

names from abroad but they

also grabbed attention by

adopting this remarkable

change outfit. Ruud Gullit was

familiar with orange from his

time in the Holland team but he

must have done a double take

when handed this “tangerine

and graphite” top to wear for

his debut in a friendly away to

Gillingham in 1995. Some of the

grey sat behind a curious wire

mesh design on the chest. By

the time Gullit had become

Chelsea manager a year later

this kit had been abandoned —

mercifully so, some might say.

Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota could become

only the third pair of team-mates to finish as the

Premier League’s top two scorers – the other

duos were also at Liverpool.

Top two scorers from same club

(Liverpool), Premier League era:

2021-22

2018-19

2013-14

Salah 20

Salah 22

Suárez 31

Mané 22

Sturridge 21

Jota 14

Manchester City v Liverpool

Tomorrow, 4.30pm. TV: Live, Sky

Sports PL. Radio: BBC 5 Live

Man City (4-3-3)

Ederson — K Walker, J Stones,

A Laporte, J Cancelo — K De Bruyne,

Rodri, B Silva — R Mahrez, P Foden,

R Sterling.

Injured R Dias, C Palmer.

Liverpool (4-3-3)

Alisson — T Alexander-Arnold, J Matip,

V van Dijk, A Robertson — J Henderson,

Fabinho, Thiago — M Salah, D Jota,

S Mané.

Referee A Taylor 0 4 0 84

Odds Draw 13-5

Crystal Palace’s 3-0 win over Arsenal last
Monday was their four consecutive clean
sheet. Their settled defence has proven
effective over the past two months.
Fewest goals conceded by top-flight sides
in past 11 games in all comps:
Liverpool
Crystal Palace
Man City
Leicester
Arsenal

4

5

5

10

11

Leicester v Crystal Palace
Tomorrow, 2pm. TV: Highlights, BBC
One, 10.30pm

Leicester (4-2-3-1)
K Schmeichel — J Justin, D Amartey,
C Soyuncu, L Thomas — H Choudhury,
N Mendy — J Maddison, K Dewsbury-
Hall, H Barnes — P Daka.
Injured J Vardy, W Ndidi, R Bertrand,
D Ward. Doubt A Pérez, B Soumaré.

Crystal Palace (4-3-3)
V Guaita — N Clyne, J Andersen,
M Guéhi, T Mitchell —C Gallagher,
C Kouyaté, J Schlupp — M Olise,
J-P Mateta, W Zaha.
Injured N Ferguson.

Referee R Jones 0 0 0 28
Odds Draw 12-5

Norwich have already faced the joint second

most penalties in a Premier League campaign.

Faced most penalties in one Premier

League season (since 1992):

13

11

11

11

Penalties

Converted

11

6

7

8

Hull, 2016-17

Blackburn, 2006-07

West Brom, 2020-21

Norwich, 2021-22

Norwich v Burnley

Tomorrow, 2pm. TV: Live, Sky Sports

PL. Radio: BBC 5 Live

Norwich City (4-3-1-2)

T Krul — M Aarons, G Hanley, B Gibson,

B Williams — B Gilmour, M Normann,

P Lees-Melou — K McLean — T Pukki,

M Rashica. Injured: O Kabak, A Idah,

A Omobamidele. Doubt: L Rupp,

M Aarons, B Williams, J Sargent,

P Placheta.

Burnley (4-4-2)

N Pope — C Roberts, N Collins,

J Tarkowski, C Taylor — A Lennon,

A Westwood, J Brownhill, M Cornet —

J Rodriguez, W Weghorst. Injured

B Mee, E Pieters, J B Gudmundsson.

Referee M Oliver 0 4 0 64

Odds Away win 6-4

12 1GSK1 Saturday April 9 2022 | the times

BILL EDGAR’S GUIDE TO THE

PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKEND

Man City goals in

first 8mins since

Dec 1 (Liverpool 0)

8

Arsenal score

draw in past 44

games

1

Salah games for club

and country without

open-play goal

10

A brief history of

Plymouth Argyle

Formed as Argyle FC in 1886, they have

played since 1901 at Home Park, which

was bombed in the Second World War

They were Third Division South runners-up

for six straight seasons in the 1920s — only

the champions were promoted — with

the help of the Scottish winger Sammy

Black, who hit a club-record 182 goals

1964

Plymouth were managed

for 28 years from 1910 by

Bob Jack, father of David

Jack, the first footballer

transferred for £10,000

FAN OF THE DAY

You may have spotted them

during Newcastle United’s 1-1

draw at West Ham United in

February: a group of five

Newcastle fans wearing

Hawaiian shirts emblazoned

with Joelinton’s face.

Dylan Brett, 18, and his

friends did not expect the

reaction that followed. As well

as images of them being

shared widely, Brett, right,

received a message from

Joelinton himself offering to

meet the group. The Brazilian

delivered on his promise,

posing for photos outside the

club’s training ground. Now

the group hope he might use

a shirt in a goal celebration.

HOW THEY STAND

P W D LGD Pts

1 Man City 30 23 4 3 52 73

(^2) Liverpool 30 22 6 2 57 72
(^3) Chelsea 29 17 8 4 35 59
(^4) Tottenham 30 17 3 10 15 54
5 Arsenal 29 17 3 9 10 54
(^6) West Ham 31 15 6 10 11 51
(^7) Man United 30 14 9 7 8 51
8 Wolves 32 15 4 13 5 49
9 Crystal Palace 30 8 13 9 4 37
10 Leicester 28 10 7 11 -4 37
11 Aston Villa 30 11 3 16 0 36
12 Southampton 30 8 12 10 -9 36
13 Brighton 30 7 13 10 -10 34
14 Newcastle 31 8 10 13 -20 34
15 Brentford 31 9 6 16 -11 33
(^16) Leeds United 31 7 9 15 -33 30
(^17) Everton 297 4 18 -20 25
18 Burnley 294 12 13 -17 24
(^19) Watford 30 6 4 20 -28 22
(^20) Norwich 30 4 6 20 -45 18
TOP SCORERS
Salah (Liverpool) 20
Son (Tottenham) 14
Jota (Liverpool) 14
Kane (Tottenham) 12
TOP ASSISTS
Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 11
Salah (Liverpool) 10
Robertson (Liverpool) 10
Pogba (Man Utd) 9
Only Salah (20) has more league goals
this season than the in-form Jota’s 14
In 1964 John Newman took a
penalty for Plymouth by passing to
team-mate Mike Trebilcock to score
against Manchester City