EPL

Premier League data dive: Relegation battlers claim big results

By Sports Desk March 18, 2023

Leeds United, Everton, Southampton and Leicester City all earned big results on Saturday in their efforts to beat the drop.

The Premier League's struggling sides were the big winners from the five matches to take place.

Leeds beat fellow relegation candidates Wolves 4-2, while Everton pegged back Chelsea twice at Stamford Bridge and Southampton came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Tottenham.

Leicester, meanwhile, snatched a draw at Brentford, though 19th-placed Bournemouth lost 3-0 at Aston Villa.

Wolves 2-4 Leeds United: Six-goal thriller and two reds at Molineux

Leeds came out on top in an enthralling encounter at Molineux, with Javi Gracia's side claiming what could be a vital three points in their bid to survive this season.

Jack Harrison put them ahead early on, and he has now been directly involved in four goals (two goals, two assists) in his four Premier League games under Gracia, just one fewer than in his previous 21 matches under Jesse Marsch and Michael Skubala this season (five).

Luke Ayling netted his first league goal since doing so against Wolves exactly a year ago (March 18, 2022) to make it 2-0, with Rasmus Kristensen putting Leeds three ahead.

Their hopes of a comfortable win were dashed when Illan Meslier, on the day he became the youngest goalkeeper in Premier League history to reach 100 appearances, made a mistake that Jonny pounced on, volleying in from 41 yards. That is the furthest distance a player has scored from in the top flight since Wayne Rooney's 58-yard strike for Everton against West Ham in November 2017.

A deflected Matheus Cunha strike gave Wolves hope, but Jonny became the first Wolves player to both score and be sent off in any league game since September 2008. 

Julen Lopetegui was fuming that Wolves were not awarded a first-half penalty and that a foul was not given in the build-up to Rodrigo's late effort for Leeds, with Matheus Nunes then sent off even though he was on the substitutes' bench.

"I'm not waiting for [further apologies]. I just want them [the officials] to do their job," Lopetegui said.

Southampton 3-3 Tottenham: Conte left seething after Ward-Prowse seals comeback

Southampton came from two goals down to avoid defeat for a second time in the Premier League this season, with only Manchester City (P3 W2 D1) avoiding defeat having fallen two goals behind on more occasions this term.

Tottenham, who took the lead through Pedro Porro but saw it cancelled out by Che Adams, restored their advantage through Harry Kane – he has now scored nine headers in the league this season, equalling Duncan Ferguson's single-season record in the competition from 1997-98.

Ivan Perisic took Spurs' tally of Premier League scorers to 162, with only West Ham (164) having more different scorers in the competition's history, yet Theo Walcott pulled one back for Saints. The former Arsenal winger has more top-flight goal involvements (12) and goals (seven) against Tottenham than he does against any other opponent.

Yet Spurs conceded a 14th goal since the season restarted when Pape Sarr was deemed to have fouled Ainsley Maitland-Niles, and James Ward-Prowse converted the penalty. He has been involved in more Premier League goals against Tottenham than he has any other opponent (nine – five goals, four assists).

Brentford 1-1 Leicester City: Barnes holds the Bees

Brentford remain without a win against Leicester in the Premier League (P4 D2 L2). The Bees have not beaten the Foxes in the league since March 1953 (P8 D3 L5 since).

Leicester ended a run of four consecutive defeats in the Premier League but this was just the eighth point they have picked up in 2023 (P10 W2 D2 L6). Only Crystal Palace (five) have picked up fewer points since the turn of the year, while only Everton and Bournemouth (20 and 18 respectively) have conceded more goals in the competition this calendar year than Leicester's 17.

Only Ivan Toney (eight) has scored more home goals for Brentford in the Premier League this season than Mathias Jensen (five), whose goal was the Bees' 19th from a set-piece this term – more than any other side in the division.

Leicester scored from their only shot on target of the game. Harvey Barnes' goal was his ninth of the season – his joint-most in a single Premier League campaign (also nine in 2020-21).

Chelsea 2-2 Everton: Simms snatches huge point

Substitute Ellis Simms scored his first goal for Everton as Sean Dyche's team drew 2-2 at Stamford Bridge, twice coming from behind.

 

Chelsea are unbeaten in their last 28 Premier League home games against Everton (W15 D13), but the Toffees can take plenty of confidence from this result.

Joao Felix put Chelsea ahead with his first home goal for the Blues, but Abdoulaye Doucoure equalised from a corner; four of Everton's seven goals under Dyche have come from set-pieces.

Kai Havertz converted a spot-kick to restore Chelsea's lead. He has scored in three consecutive games for the Blues for the second time, previously doing so in March 2022.

However, Simms came on from the bench to earn a point for Everton. The Toffees have now had 13 different goalscorers in the competition this season, with only Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds (14 each) having more.

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    Arne Slot insists Liverpool still have a lot to prove despite winning all three of their opening Premier League fixtures ahead of welcoming Nottingham Forest to Anfield on Saturday.

    The Dutchman is looking to become the first manager to keep four clean sheets in their first four league games at the helm, with the Reds the only side in the division yet to concede this term.

    Liverpool's defensive improvements have been overshadowed by their fluidity in attack, which was evident in their impressive 3-0 win over Manchester United before the international break.

    But Slot explained that not much needed tweaking to resolve the Reds' defensive rearguard that conceded 41 goals last year, acknowledging his side's good start means nothing just yet.

    "I normally don't use the word 'proud' but what I think we did very well in all three games is, like I just mentioned, the work rate without the ball," Slot said.

    "So, we try to press the opponent as high as we can but if they play through or over our press, I see everybody working really hard to make sure we don't need Alisson. 

    "I don't think that much difference. You are used to, if you followed Liverpool for a long time, them pressing really high. That's what we try to do now as well.

    "Like I said, three games played, the first two with Ipswich and Brentford were difficult opponents. A good start, let that be clear, but still a lot to prove.”

    Forest, meanwhile, will be looking to put an end to Liverpool's perfect start to the season to maintain their own unbeaten run in the top flight this term. 

    Nuno Espirito Santo had to settle for a point against former club Wolves last time out but will be able to unleash his late additions in the transfer window at Anfield. 

    James Ward-Prowse and Morato joined on the final day of the window, with the Forest head coach hopeful the pair can provide the rhythm that was missing last time out. 

    "First half the game was not in the rhythm - too much disruption," Nuno said. 

    "The rhythm of the game for both teams was lose possession, a disrupted game. One positive is we scored and the negative is we conceded so quickly.

    "It changed in the second half, we were more dominant and we put Wolves against the ropes."

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Liverpool – Diogo Jota

    Jota has enjoyed his previous meetings with Forest, scoring six goals in five appearances against them in all competitions. 

    He has netted in all three of his games against the Tricky Trees for Liverpool (four goals), which is his longest scoring run against a single opponent in his English club career.

    Nottingham Forest – Chris Wood

    Wood has scored four of Nottingham Forest's last five Premier League goals, including two of their three so far this season.

    However, Wood has never scored in 11 league appearances against Liverpool, only facing Chelsea (12) more times in the Premier League without scoring.

    MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN

    Both sides come into the contest with an unbeaten Premier League record this campaign, but it is Liverpool who are expected to come out on top, winning 75.9% of Opta's data-led simulations.

    The Reds are unbeaten in their last 25 home league games against Nottingham Forest (W20 D5), winning the last six in a row. Their last such defeat was in February 1969 under Bill Shankly (0-2).

    Liverpool have won all three of their Premier League games under new manager Slot without conceding a single goal. No manager in the competition's history has kept a clean sheet in each of their first four matches in charge, while only six have won each of their first four, most recently Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea in 2018.

    The hosts have only lost once in their last 24 Premier League matches that have immediately followed an international break (W18 D5), going down 4-1 at Manchester City in April 2023. When playing at Anfield in the league straight after an international break, Liverpool have not lost since September 2014 against Aston Villa (0-1).

    But Forest are unbeaten in four Premier League matches (W2 D2), their longest such run under Nuno, while not since February 2023 have they enjoyed a longer unbeaten streak in the division (five games).

    However, the Tricky Trees have lost their last three Premier League games against Liverpool, their longest run of league defeats against the Reds since a run of five between 1983 and 1985.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    Liverpool – 75.9%

    Draw – 14.3%

    Nottingham Forest – 9.8%

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    United opened the Premier League season with a 1-0 win over Fulham, but then suffered back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool.

    It is the second time under Ten Hag the Red Devils have lost as many as two of their first three league games in a season (also 2022-23); as many times as in their previous 29 campaigns combined.

    United have also scored three goals fewer than their xG suggests they should have so far this term (two goals, 5.2 xG), the biggest such difference for any team in the Premier League.

    Ten Hag was recently joined in the dugout by compatriot Van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 in 219 appearances at Old Trafford between 2001 and 2006.

    And Ronaldo - the scorer of 145 in 346 games across his two spells - thinks the Red Devils will benefit from the wisdom of people with prior experience and knowledge of the club.

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    "If Ten Hag listens to Ruud van Nistelrooy, maybe he can help. He knows the club and the club should listen to the guys who were there [like] Rio, Roy Keane, [Paul] Scholes, Gary Neville, Alex Ferguson. You cannot rebuild a club without knowledge."

    United return to action this weekend away at pointless Southampton, against whom they are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League visits since a 1-0 defeat in August 2003.

    The Red Devils have also lost just one of their last 30 Premier League matches against promoted sides, winning 15 of their last 17 such games.

  • Many-time champions JC, STGC start Manning Cup on positive note Many-time champions JC, STGC start Manning Cup on positive note

    Many-time champions Jamaica College (JC) and St George’s College kicked off their Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association/Digicel Manning Cup campaigns in a positive manner as they blanked Pembroke Hall and Holy Trinity High School 9-0 and 2-0, respectively, on Tuesday.

    Jamaica College were led by striker Giovannie Taylor, who scored in the fifth, 45th and 80th minutes. Nashordo Gibbs (39th and 64th) had a brace, while Javaun Mills (72nd), Dujoni Thompson (78th), and substitutes Jamone Howell (87th) and Keshaun-Lee Chin (90th) got the others in the lopsided affair that pleased head coach Davion Ferguson.

    “You always want to start with a win because nine goals in any game is a big win, and that was what we wanted to do. The performance, in some parts, I think, was good, but we want to continue to improve and try as best as possible to focus on ourselves and not really look outside, as the external is out of our control,” Ferguson said.

    “The aim is to give of our best ever year, so once we give our best, wherever that takes us, we will be satisfied. Our players have matured well, and so I think they will have a really good season,” he added.

    Meanwhile, Matthew Spence (10th) and Payton Larmond (61st) did the damage for St George’s College in their comfortable win over neighbours Holy Trinity at Winchester Park.

    Assistant coach Marcel Gayle is also anticipating more improvements from his North Street-based team as the season progresses.

    “Kudos to the guys; I thought they played well, but I thought we could have been a little more assertive in the final third. We created a lot of opportunities but we needed to be a bit more patient. Nevertheless, the objective was met with three points and the clean sheet,” said Gayle.

    Tuesday’s results

    Hydel 9, Ardenne 0

    Clan Carthy 0, Eltham 5

    Ascot 1, Bridgeport 0

    St George’s College 2, Holy Trinity 0

    Norman Manley 0, St Catherine 3 (St Catherine awarded win as Norman Manley was deemed to have forfeited the game as a result of an unprepared pitch)

    Wednesday’s fixtures

    Kingston Technical vs Camperdown

    Calabar vs Haile Selassie

    Vauxhall vs STATHS

    *All games are scheduled for 3:30pm

     

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