Premier League
Bullet point previews of Premier League matches
Match-by-match facts and statistics ahead of the 31st round of the Premier League from April 2-4 (all times in GMT).
Saturday, April 2
- Liverpool v Watford (1130)
* Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has been directly involved in 11 goals in seven Premier League matches against Watford, scoring nine and setting up two.
* Liverpool have won 12 of their 13 home league games against Watford.
* Watford have won eight points from their six Premier League away matches under manager Roy Hodgson (W2 D2 L2), as many as they had from their previous 17 on the road in the competition.
- Brighton & Hove Albion v Norwich City (1400)
* Neal Maupay has scored 26 goals in the Premier League for Brighton and is one goal away from becoming their highest goalscorer in the competition.
* Brighton have kept a clean sheet in all three of their Premier League meetings with Norwich.
* Both Brighton and Norwich have lost their last six Premier League matches.
- Burnley v Manchester City (1400)
* City’s Riyad Mahrez has scored more Premier League goals (eight) against Burnley than he has versus any other side in the competition.
* City have won their last nine meetings with Burnley in all competitions, scoring 32 goals during that run.
* Burnley have lost their last three Premier League matches, having conceded eight goals during that run.
- Chelsea v Brentford (1400)
* Kai Havertz has scored four goals in his last three Premier League matches for Chelsea, as many as he had in his previous 21.
* Chelsea have won six of their seven Premier League London derbies this season, having lost only at West Ham United.
* Brentford are aiming for their first win in nine matches against Chelsea in all competitions (L7 D1), last beating them in 1939.
- Leeds United v Southampton (1400)
* Leeds have lost only one of their 13 Premier League home matches against Southampton (W7 D5), with that loss coming in 1998.
* Southampton are looking to complete a double over Leeds United for the first time in the Premier League.
* Leeds forward Rodrigo has scored in each of his last two Premier League appearances.
- Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa (1400)
* Wolves have won three of their last five Premier League games against Villa (D1 L1), as many as they had in their previous 26 top-flight meetings with Villa.
* Villa won this fixture 1-0 last season. They last won consecutive away matches against Wolves in January 2012.
* Villa’s 20-year-old Jacob Ramsey has scored six Premier League goals this season. Only two men have scored more in a single campaign for the club while under-21.
- Manchester United v Leicester City (1630)
* Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 12 Premier League goals this season. In the competition’s history, only Gianfranco Zola has scored more in a single campaign while aged 36 or over, with 14 goals in 2002-03.
* United have scored a league-high 10 goals via substitutes this season, with Marcus Rashford netting four of those.
* Leicester are looking to complete their first Premier League double over United after beating them 4-2 in the reverse fixture.
Sunday, April 3
- West Ham United v Everton (1300)
* Everton have lost just one of their last 13 Premier League matches at West Ham (W8 D4), going down 3-1 in May 2018.
* West Ham have lost two of their last three Premier League outings (W1), as many as they had in their previous nine.
* Andriy Yarmolenko has scored two goals in his last three matches for West Ham in all competitions, as many as he had in his previous 38 appearances.
- Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United (1530)
* Spurs striker Son Heung-min has scored eight goals in his last eight Premier League matches at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
* Since their return to the top flight in 2017, Newcastle have won just one of their nine Premier League meetings with Spurs (D2 L6).
* Newcastle have not conceded more than once in any of their last 11 Premier League outings, shipping eight goals in that time.
Monday, April 4
- Crystal Palace v Arsenal (1900)
* Bukayo Saka (aged 20) and Emile Smith Rowe (aged 21) are Arsenal’s leading Premier League scorers this season with nine goals each. Only twice has a club had two players reach double figures while aged 21 or younger in a single Premier League campaign.
* Palace have failed to win any of their five Premier League home matches in 2022 so far (D2 L3).
* Arsenal have won each of their last five Premier League away matches.
-Reuters
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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