Liverpool have led the table for ten days this
term (plus six days dead level at the top). If
they match Man City until pipping them on
the final day they would be Premier League
champions with fewest days at the top
Fewest days leading table for champions
Man City, 2013-14
Man Utd, 2002-03
Man Utd, 1995-96
Arsenal, 2001-02
Arsenal, 1997-98
Man Utd, 1992-93
15 47
31
47 69
56
Newcastle United v Liverpool
Today, 12.30pm
TV: Live, BT Sport 1; Radio: talkSPORT
Newcastle (possible; 4-3-3)
M Dubravka — E Krafth, F Schär, D Burn,
M Targett — B Guimaraes, J Shelvey,
Joelinton — M Almíron, C Wood,
A Saint-Maximin
Injured K Trippier, C Wilson, I Hayden,
R Fraser, J Lewis
Liverpool (possible; 4-3-3)
Alisson — T Alexander-Arnold, J Matip,
V van Dijk, A Robertson — N Keita,
Fabinho, T Alcântara — M Salah, D Jota,
S Mané
Injured R Firmino
Doubt C Jones
Referee A Marriner 0 2 0 58
Steven Gerrard, who faces his Villa
predecessor Dean Smith here, has yet to
engineer a significant improvement at
Villa Park
Aston Villa managers’ league record since
start of last season
Dean Smith
Steven Gerrard
1.33pts per game(49 games, 65pts)
1.29(21 games, 27pts)
Aston Villa v Norwich City
Today, 3pm
TV: Highlights BBC1, 10.20pm
Radio: talkSPORT2
Aston Villa (possible; 4-3-2-1)
E Martínez — M Cash, E Konsa, T Mings,
A Young — J McGinn, D Luiz, J Ramsey
— L Bailey, P Coutinho — O Watkins
Injured L Digne, M Sanson, K Hause
Norwich City (4-2-3-1)
T Krul — S Byram, G Hanley, B Gibson,
D Giannoulis — M Normann, K McLean
— L Rupp, P Lees-Melou M Rashica —
T Pukki
Injured C Zimmermann, A Idah,
A Omobamidele, O Kabak
Doubt J Sargent
Referee J Brooks 0 0 0 16
Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse, who
found the net from a free kick against
Brighton last week, is nearly six times as
likely to score when shooting at a free kick
than the average top-flight player
James Ward-Prowse
Conversion rate of free kicks taken at goal
in top flight since November 2020
All other players
1 per 4.5 shots (8 in 36)
1 per 25.6 shots (22 in 564)
Southampton v Crystal Palace
Today, 3pm.
TV: Highlights BBC1, 10.20pm
Southampton (possible; 4-4-2)
F Forster — K Walker-Peters, J Bednarek,
Lyanco, R Perraud — S Armstrong,
J Ward-Prowse, O Romeu, N Redmond —
C Adams, A Broja
Injured T Livramento
Crystal Palace (possible; 4-3-3)
V Guaita — N Clyne, J Andersen,
M Guehi, T Mitchell — C Gallagher,
J McArthur, E Eze — M Olise, J-P Mateta,
W Zaha
Injured N Ferguson
Referee J Gillett 0 1 0 26
Watford’s Imran Louza has lived up to his
surname, losing 15 of his first 19 league games
since joining from Nantes
Most defeats in first 19 Premier League
appearances
J Bacuna, Huddersfield (debut Oct 2018)
O Burke, West Brom (Aug 2017)
J Drmic, Norwich (Aug 2019)
A Idah, Norwich (Jan 2020)
12 players, including I Louza, Watford
(Aug 2021)
17
16
16
16
15
Watford v Burnley
Today, 3pm.
TV: Highlights BBC1, 10.20pm.
Radio: BBC 5 Live.
Watford (possible; 4-3-3)
B Foster — K Femenía, C Kabasele,
Samir, H Kamara — M Sissoko, I Louza,
J Kucka — I Sarr, J King, E Dennis
Injured C Hernández, F Sierralta, S Kalu
Burnley (possible; 4-4-2)
N Pope — C Roberts, N Collins,
J Tarkowski, C Taylor — D McNeil,
J Brownhill, J Cork, J Rodriguez —
W Weghorst, M Vydra
Injured B Mee, A Westwood, E Pieters,
J B Gudmundsson
Doubt M Cornet, J Rodriguez
Referee C Pawson 0 2 0 101
The top-flight teams with most letters in their
names have the fewest goals in their games
this season. Wolves, top in both categories,
have had a stretch of low-scoring games back
to last season
Wolves in the league since late January 2021
Games Goals Goals per game
52 100 1.92
(for 48, against 52)
Wolverhampton Wanderers v
Brighton & Hove Albion
Today, 3pm.
TV: Highlights, BBC1, 10.20pm.
Wolves (possible; 3-4-3)
J Sá — W Boly, C Coady, R Saiss —
N Semedo, L Dendoncker, J Moutinho,
Jonny — R Jiménez, F Silva, Hwang
Hee-chan
Injured R Neves, D Podence, M Kilman
Brighton (possible; 4-3-1-2)
R Sánchez — J Veltman, A Webster,
L Dunk, M Cucurella — E Mwepu,
Y Bissuoma, M Caicedo — A Mac Allister
— L Trossard, N Maupay
Injured J Sarmiento, J Moder
Doubt T Lamptey, S Duffy
Referee S Hooper 0 0 0 43
CLASSIC KITS MAN UNITED, 1992-94
The first season of the Premier
League (1992-93) also marked
100 years since United,
originally known as Newton
Heath, had entered the Football
League. As a nod to the colours
that Newton Heath used,
United brought out a yellow
and green top as a third kit (the
first and second-choice jerseys
were red and blue
respectively), complete with
lace-up collar. United sported
this unusual shirt for a crucial
2-0 win away to Crystal Palace
that extended their lead at the
top of the table over Aston Villa
to four points with two games
left. They duly clinched their
first league title for 26 years.
12 1GS Saturday April 30 2022 | the times
BILL EDGAR’S GUIDE TO THE
PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKEND
Times De Bruyne has
scored in first five
minutes in past ten
City appearances
4
Liverpool points lost
in their past 13 league
games (draw with
Manchester City)
2
Places Newcastle
have risen in the
league since January
— 19th to ninth
10
A brief history of
Coventry City
Founded as Singers FC in 1883 by
workers at the cycle firm of that name,
they became Coventry City in 1898 and a
year later moved to Highfield Road
601
Goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic played
a record 601 games from 1984-2000,
and scored in 1986 against
Sheffield Wednesday
Coventry joined the league in 1919 and
their 34 top-flight seasons came in one
spell from 1967 to 2001.
Clarrie Bourton, who joined the club
ahead of the 1931-32 season, scored a
club high 182 goals in the 1930s.
Cristiano Ronaldo is close to United’s best
league goal tally in a season since Sir Alex
Ferguson retired
Most Man Utd league goals in a season
since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013
B Fernandes, 2020-21
C Ronaldo, 2021-22
W Rooney, 2013-14
Z Ibrahimovic, 2016-17
A Martial, 2019-20
M Rashford, 2019-20
18
17
17
17
17
17
Manchester United v Brentford
Monday, 8pm. TV:
Live, Sky Sports PL. Radio: BBC 5 Live.
Manchester United (possible; 4-2-3-1)
D de Gea — D Dalot, V Lindelof,
R Varane, A Telles — S McTominay, Fred
— A Elanga, B Fernandes, M Rashford —
C Ronaldo
Injured P Pogba, L Shaw, J Sancho (ill).
Doubt Fred, H Maguire, E Cavani,
A Wan-Bissaka
Brentford (possible; 4-5-1)
D Raya — K Ajer, P Jansson,
M B Sorensen, R Henry — B Mbeumo,
V Janelt, C Norgaard, C Eriksen, Y Wissa
— I Toney
Injured E Pinnock, S Canos,
M Jorgensen, F Onyeka, S Ghoddos
Doubt C Norgaard, K Ajer
Referee C Kavanagh 0 2 0 55
Arsenal are alone in having used the same
Premier League starting XI five times –
and they have done so with two different XIs
Most used XIs by any team in top flight this
season*
*At any point in season, not necessarily consecutively
Arsenal, five times
Ramsdale, Cedric,
White, Gabriel,
Tierney, Partey, Xhaka,
Odegaard, Saka,
Martinelli, Lacazette
Arsenal, five times
Ramsdale, Tomiyasu,
White, Gabriel,
Tierney, Partey, Xhaka,
Odegaard, Saka,
Martinelli, Lacazette
West Ham United v Arsenal
Tomorrow, 4.30pm.
TV: Live, Sky Sports PL.
Radio: BBC 5 Live.
West Ham (possible; 3-4-3)
L Fabianski — B Johnson, K Zouma,
A Cresswell — V Coufal, T Soucek,
M Noble, A Masuaku — A Yarmolenko,
P Fornals, S Benrahma
Injured A Ogbonna, I Diop
Suspended C Dawson
Arsenal (possible; 4-2-3-1)
A Ramsdale — Cedric, B White, Gabriel,
N Tavares — M Elneny, G Xhaka —
B Saka, M Odegaard, E Smith Rowe —
E Nketiah
Injured T Partey, K Tierney
Referee M Dean 0 2 0 70
Everton could become the first team since
1911 to be relegated after three wins and a
draw or better in their opening four games
Top-flight collapses
Everton, 2021-22:
Nottingham Forest, 1910-11:
First four games: 10pts
First four games: 10pts*
*Assuming 3pts for a win
Present position: third bottom
Finished: bottom
Everton v Chelsea
Tomorrow, 2pm. TV: Live, Sky Sports
PL. Radio: BBC 5 Live
Everton (possible; 4-3-3)
J Pickford — S Coleman, Y Mina,
M Keane, V Mykolenko — Allan,
A Doucouré , A Iwobi — A Gordon,
D Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison
Injured B Godfrey, D van de Beek,
A Gomes, A Townsend, T Davies,
N Patterson
Chelsea (possible; 3-4-3)
É Mendy — C Azpilicueta, T Silva, A
Rüdiger — R James, R Loftus-Cheek,
Jorginho, M Alonso — M Mount, K
Havertz, T Werner
Injured M Kovacic, C Hudson-Odoi, B
Chilwell. Doubt A Christensen
Referee K Friend 0 20 63
The frequent swings in Tottenham’s league
race with Arsenal this season are partly a
result of the pair taking it in turns to win
10
9
7
6
6
4
Both won in a round of Premier League
matches this season*
Arsenal/Chelsea
Tottenham/Chelsea
Tottenham/West Ham
Arsenal/West Ham
Chelsea/West Ham
Arsenal/Tottenham
*Among
London’s top
four clubs
Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City
Tomorrow, 2pm.
TV: Highlights BBC1, 10.30pm.
Tottenham (possible; 3-4-3)
H Lloris — C Romero, E Dier, D Sánchez
— E Royal, P-E Hojbjerg, R Bentancur,
B Davies — D Kulusevski, H Kane,
Son Heung-min
Injured S Reguilón, O Skipp, M Doherty,
J Tanganga
Leicester (possible; 4-3-3)
K Schmeichel — J Justin, W Fofana,
C Soyuncu, L Thomas — Y Tielemans,
N Mendy, K Dewsbury-Hall —
J Maddison, P Daka, A Lookman
Injured W Ndidi, R Bertrand
Referee J Moss 0 4 0 52
FANS OF THE DAY
If Wycombe Wanderers reach
the Sky Bet League One play-
offs, that will be partly thanks
to a group of Spaniards.
There were 100 of them
present at Wycombe’s final
home game of the season
against Sheffield Wednesday
last week, all because of Ilie
Oleart. The Spanish journalist
runs a site on English football,
La Media Inglesa, and in 2018
he sent an email to all 92
professional clubs asking them
which English team they
should support. Wycombe
were the only ones who replied
in Spanish, and since then they
have forged an unlikely
partnership.
HOW THEY STAND
P W D L GD Pts
(^1) Man City 33 25 5 3 59 80
2 Liverpool 33 24 7 2 63 79
3 Chelsea 33 19 9 5 40 66
4 Arsenal 33 19 3 11 12 60
5 Tottenham 33 18 4 11 18 58
6 Man United 35 15 10 10 2 55
7 West Ham 34 15 7 12 8 52
8 Wolves 33 15 4 14 4 49
9 Newcastle 34 11 1013 -15 43
10 Leicester 32 11 9 12 -4 42
(^11) Brighton 34 9 14 11 -11 41
12 Brentford 34 11 7 16 -8 40
13 Southampton 34 9 13 12 -16 40
14 Crystal Palace 33 8 14 11 2 38
15 Aston Villa 32 11 4 17 -4 37
16 Leeds 33 8 1015 -30 34
(^17) Burnley 33 6 13 14 -16 31
(^18) Everton 32 8 5 19 -21 29
19 Watford 33 6 4 23 -36 22
20 Norwich 33 5 6 22 -47 21
TOP SCORERS
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) 22
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) 17
Son Heung-min (Tottenham) 17
Diogo Jota (Liverpool) 15
TOP ASSISTS
Salah 13
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 12
Andy Robertson (Liverpool) 10
Mason Mount (Chels), Paul Pogba (Utd) 9
A club high sixth-place
finish in 1970 brought
their only European
campaign, where
Bayern Munich beat
them in the Fairs Cup.
They won the 1987 FA
Cup by beating
Tottenham Hotspur 3-2
in their only major final.