The second set of Champions League last-16 fixtures to take place this week is full of intrigue, with the continent's biggest-spending club of the January transfer window in need of a result.

Graham Potter's Chelsea forked out an estimated £291million to reshape their squad last month, but the misfiring Blues have won just one of their eight games this calendar year. 

For all his struggles on the domestic front, Potter has yet to suffer a Champions League defeat with Chelsea, and maintaining that record at Borussia Dortmund would give them an excellent chance of reaching the last eight.

Potter is not the only under-fire English boss to take centre stage on Wednesday, with former Fulham and Bournemouth head coach Scott Parker overseeing Club Brugge's clash with Benfica.

With just one win in nine games since the World Cup, Brugge will be considered outsiders against the Lisbon giants, who were outstanding as they finished above Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus in Group H.

Stats Perform has taken a look at the key Opta numbers ahead of Wednesday's first-leg match-ups. 

Borussia Dortmund v Chelsea

Somewhat surprisingly given their statuses as European regulars, Dortmund and Chelsea will do battle for the first time in continental competition on Wednesday.

The omens are not particularly good for either side, as a BVB team without a win in their last 10 European meetings with English opponents (D2 L8) face a Chelsea side with just three victories in 11 previous away games in Germany (D3 L5).

Dortmund's last win over Premier League opponents came against Tottenham in the Europa League in 2016, with current Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netting twice in a 2-1 triumph.

Aubameyang will not be welcomed back by the yellow wall on Wednesday, however, having been left out of Chelsea's Champions League squad following their huge spending spree.

Instead, Germany international Kai Havertz may lead the line as he bids for a first career goal against BVB – his seven appearances without netting against Dortmund are more than he has managed against any other club.

Dortmund, meanwhile, could hand Sebastien Haller his first Champions League appearance for the club following his recovery from testicular cancer. The former Ajax man has more goals in his first eight games in the competition (11) than any other player.

Additionally, Haller has averaged a goal every 61 minutes of Champions League football, the best ratio in the competition's history (minimum 250 minutes played).

Should Chelsea keep Haller quiet en route to victory, Potter would become the first English manager to win five consecutive Champions League matches, with a 1-1 draw against Salzburg in his first game at the helm the only blot on his European record with the Blues.

Club Brugge v Benfica

Two of the group stage's surprise packages meet in Belgium, with Brugge having escaped Group B at the expense of Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid, while Benfica bested PSG and Juventus.

Brugge boss Parker has struggled since replacing Carl Hoefkens, but he will join an exclusive club on Wednesday as just the third English coach to lead a non-English team in the Champions League, after Bobby Robson (Porto and PSV) and Gary Neville (Valencia).

In Parker and Potter, meanwhile, two different English managers will coach in the same Champions League campaign for the first time in the competition's history.

Benfica are sure to make things difficult for Parker's team. The Portuguese giants are unbeaten in their last seven Champions League games (W4 D3) and are chasing three consecutive wins in the competition for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign.

In the group stage, Benfica generated more shots (14) and scored more goals (five) following high turnovers (open-play sequences starting within 40 metres of the opponent's goal) than any other team, showing their devastating counter-attacking abilities.

Benfica also have the highest conversion rate of any team, netting with 20 per cent of their shots in the Champions League this term (16/80).

Home goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, then, could be in for a busy outing. Fortunately for Brugge, he has prevented more goals than any other goalkeeper in the Champions League this season (6.3) – being beaten four times from 10.3 expected goals on target faced.

Borussia Dortmund host Chelsea for the first leg of a Champions League tie that sees two of the world's best prospects go head-to-head.

Jude Bellingham and Enzo Fernandez have a combined age of just 41. Between them, the pair have already stacked up 278 senior club appearances.

Bellingham has played 161 times for Dortmund and Birmingham City, while Fernandez has racked up 117 appearances across spells at Defensa y Justicia, River Plate, Benfica and now Chelsea.

As good as the duo have been for their clubs, they elevated themselves into the "must buy" category for Europe's elite sides with their performances at last year's World Cup.

Fernandez was named the tournament's best young player as he played a key role in Argentina claiming their third world crown, and Chelsea were determined to get their man.

While their efforts early in the January window were frustrated, Chelsea eventually agreed to pay Benfica the full amount of Fernandez's £106.8million (€121m) buy-out clause as he became the crown jewel of their spending spree.

Bellingham, meanwhile, asserted himself as a crucial player in Gareth Southgate's England side, with the 19-year-old's displays in Qatar reminiscent of when Wayne Rooney starred at Euro 2004.

Liverpool, Manchester City and Real Madrid are said to be battling it out for Bellingham, should Dortmund decide to cash in on their talisman at the end of the season.

Should Bellingham be destined for a move back to England, then Wednesday's clash between Dortmund and Chelsea at Signal Iduna Park could just hint at what is to come from two potential Premier League staples.

Lighting up the world stage

While Bellingham was always likely to be on the radar of Europe's biggest sides regardless of whether he had a great World Cup or not, his performances for England will likely do Dortmund's bank balance no harm.

If Bellingham's fine showings in the groups had hinted at his immense talent, then his performance in England's 3-0 victory over Senegal in the last 16 was a coming of age performance on the international stage.

Bellingham did not score but was heavily involved in all three of England's goals to mark him becoming the only teenager, after Michael Owen in 1998, to start a World Cup knockout game for England.

He went off in the 76th minute of that tie having provided an assist – the youngest player to do so for England in a World Cup game since 1966 – and completed 30 of his 33 passes (91 per cent), with eight of those attempted in the final third.

Across the tournament, only Luke Shaw (16) contributed to more open-play shot-ending sequences than Bellingham (15) did for the Three Lions.

Fernandez, on the other hand, has certainly had the limelight thrust on him due to his excellent World Cup.

Not that he had not been excellent at Benfica. However, his stunning goal in Argentina's group stage win over Mexico led to him being a constant starter for the rest of the tournament.

In the final, Fernandez led all players for touches (118), successful passes (77) and tackles (10). His tally of tackles was the most of any player in a World Cup showpiece match since Gennaro Gattuso in 2006 (15).

Combative off the ball, Fernandez won 40 of his 68 duels in the tournament (58.8 per cent), and also proved dependable in possession, completing 410 passes, with his accuracy of 87.6 bettered by only six of his team-mates to play at least 90 minutes in Qatar.

Fernandez played more successful long passes (16) than any other Argentina player, while only Nicolas Otamendi, Cristian Romero and Rodrigo de Paul played more forward passes than his 116.

Thriving at club level

As previously noted, Fernandez had impressed with Benfica before carrying that form into the World Cup.

Only Ricardo Horta (126) had been involved in more open-play shot-ending sequences than Fernandez (122) in Portugal's Primeira Liga prior to the latter's move to Stamford Bridge.

Fernandez ranked third in the competition for goal-ending sequence involvements (14), second for expected goals (xG) sequence involvement (18.8) and second for goal build-up involvements (eight).

From a role at the left-side of Benfica's central midfield, Fernandez was also key to starting moves during his half-season in Portugal. In the Primeira Liga alone he started 23 shot-ending sequences (league rank third), four goal-ending sequences (second) and accumulated 4.8 xG from moves he started (first).

Fernandez has taken little time to settle into the Premier League. He assisted Joao Felix's first Chelsea goal with a wonderfully weighted ball in Saturday's 1-1 draw with West Ham and his tally of 171 passes across the last two games – only four top-flight midfielders attempted more.

No Chelsea midfielder won more duels (12), tackles (nine, six of which he won), touches (209), carries (43), or forward passes (29). Just Fred, of Manchester United, has won more tackles in the last two league games.

The 22-year-old might have a huge price tag to live up to, but he has certainly proved to be one of the most efficient all-round midfielders in Europe this term.

Right up there with him in that regard is Bellingham, who has been let off the leash somewhat from an attacking standpoint at Dortmund this season.

With BVB no longer able to rely on Erling Haaland goals, Bellingham has been tasked with arriving into the box late to supplement their attack.

Bellingham has featured 27 times for Dortmund this season, second only to Nico Schlotterbeck. He is their top scorer with 10 goals, second for assists (six) and third for chances created (28). He boasts an impressive 19.2 per cent shot conversion rate and has outperformed his xG (7.6).

More of an attacking threat than Fernandez, Bellingham has the other side of the game too: 388 duels is 172 more than any of his club-mates, and he has won 225 of them (Schlotterbeck ranks second with 144); the same goes for tackles, with the teenager attempting 70 and winning 39 – both team highs.

A sign of what's to come

Fernandez is the most expensive signing in Premier League history, and should Bellingham join him in England's top tier next season, it seems likely as though the Birmingham boy would take that record.

They don't play the same role and shouldn't be expected to. Bellingham's game has gone up another level since he was given the freedom and responsibility to provide more attacking threat, and Fernandez can pull the strings from deep.

Bellingham's all-action style mixed with his sharp turn of pace makes for a player that would seem perfectly suited to Liverpool or City, while Graham Potter will be expected to build around Fernandez for years to come – the Argentine did, after all, sign an eight-and-a-half-year deal with Chelsea.

One thing is clear. Bellingham and Fernandez are already outstanding players and both are destined to reach the very top.

The last 16 of the Champions League gets underway on Tuesday with two potentially fascinating encounters.

Milan host Tottenham in the Rossoneri's first Champions League knockout game since the 2013-14 season, while two of the favourites in this year's competition, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, face off in the French capital.

Neither Milan nor Spurs come into their first leg in the best form, with Stefano Pioli's side getting their first win in eight games on Friday against Torino, while their English opponents were thrashed 4-1 by Leicester City.

PSG are also faltering, having lost 3-1 at Monaco at the weekend, leading to fan protests and Presnel Kimpembe having to calm them down through a megaphone.

Bayern will hope to add to the problems of Christophe Galtier's men, who seem likely to be without Kylian Mbappe, but Julian Nagelsmann admitted his own players are "not in the flow" in spite of their 3-0 win against Bochum on Saturday.

Stats Perform has taken a look at some Opta numbers ahead of the first pair of Champions League knockout games.

Milan v Tottenham

This will be the fifth competitive meeting between Milan and Tottenham, with the Premier League side unbeaten across each of the previous four (W2 D2).

They last played each other in the 2010-11 campaign at the same stage of the Champions League. Spurs won 1-0 on aggregate, with Peter Crouch scoring the only goal of the tie.

Spurs boss Antonio Conte has won eight of his last nine games as a head coach against Milan (L1), between 2013 and 2021. Indeed, he has seen his side win and keep a clean sheet in each of his last three trips to face the Rossoneri away from home (2-0 in 2014, 2-0 in 2019 and 3-0 in 2021 – all in Serie A).

Conte will be looking to win consecutive away games in the Champions League for just the second time in his managerial career, having last done so in the 2012-13 campaign when he was at Juventus (1-0 v Shakhtar Donetsk and 3-0 v Celtic).

Olivier Giroud has been directly involved in six goals for Milan in the Champions League (four goals and two assists) – the last player with more in a single campaign in the competition for the club was Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 2011-12 season (nine – five goals and four assists).

Ivan Perisic has three assists in five appearances for Spurs in the Champions League, already his joint-most for a club among the four he has played for in the competition: three in 10 games for Bayern, one in 20 for Inter and none in 11 for Borussia Dortmund.

The three players to have recovered possession most often in the middle third of the pitch in the Champions League this season all play for either Milan or Spurs: Rodrigo Bentancur (34), Ismael Bennacer (32) and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (31), though Bentancur will be missing after suffering a season-ending knee injury at the weekend.

Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich

PSG have faced Bayern on 11 previous occasions, with all of them coming in the Champions League. The teams are separated by just one victory (six for PSG and five for Bayern), while they have scored the same number of goals (15 each).

Among teams who have faced Bayern on 10+ occasions in the Champions League, PSG are the team with the highest win percentage against them (55).

Bayern won all six of their group games this season, scoring 18 goals and only conceding twice. The only previous occasion in which they won their first seven matches of a Champions League campaign was in the 2019-20 campaign, when they had a 100 per cent record (11/11) in the competition.

PSG have only failed to score in one of their last 32 home games in the Champions League (averaging 2.6 goals per game), though the exception was in a 1-0 defeat against Bayern in the 2020-21 quarter-final second leg.

Joshua Kimmich has won 76 per cent of his matches for Bayern in the Champions League (50/66). Among all players to make 50+ appearances in the competition, he is the only player to have featured on the winning side in more than three quarters of his games.

Since the start of the 2017-18 season – his first at PSG – Mbappe has been directly involved in 57 goals in 50 appearances in the Champions League (34 goals and 23 assists). Indeed, he is the only player with both 20+ goals and 20+ assists during this period. He will be a big miss should he not recover from injury in time, though he did train on Monday.

In the last two Champions League campaigns, only Robert Lewandowski (21), Mbappe (20) and Mohamed Salah (18) have been directly involved in more goals than Leroy Sane (17 – 10 goals, seven assists).

Lionel Messi has generated more shots following a carry (moving five or more metres with the ball) than any other player in the Champions League this season (14 – six shots and eight chances created).

You can find many things on the field after a Super Bowl. Confetti is dotted around everywhere, along with fans, media and friends and family of the victorious all taking their time to dance around on it.

The other thing that was also extremely noticeable when strolling along the State Farm Stadium turf after a captivating Super Bowl LVII was divots. 

Every blade of grass at the home of Arizona Cardinals in Glendale came in for severe scrutiny as players often struggled to keep their feet on the biggest stage. Yet no area of the field was more significant than the 26 yards Patrick Mahomes covered with his incredible fourth-quarter scramble, which set the Chiefs up for a field goal that sealed a thrilling 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Mahomes had already taken an awestruck crowd on a remarkable journey prior to that rush. His Super Bowl looked like it might be done when he injured his ankle on a second-quarter run, coming up limping heavily and striking fear into the hearts of Chiefs fans that they may have to overturn a 24-14 deficit with Chad Henne at quarterback.

That was not to be. Mahomes returned for the second half and returned to execute a tremendous Andy Reid gameplan that confounded the defense of his head coach's former team, Reid masterfully manipulating the Eagles with a combination of outside and inside runs, using the latter to set up passes to wide open receivers in the flat, Reid's use of motion proving devastating as he continually schemed his receivers into open space.

Indeed, both Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore were able to stroll in untouched for the scores that gave Kansas City a 35-27 fourth-quarter lead.

But, having seen Jalen Hurts answer in lightning quick fashion in this bewitching battle of the first black quarterbacks to face off in the Super Bowl, Mahomes did not rely on Reid's easy buttons to deliver the defining play of one of the finest Super Bowls of the modern era, he put the team on his back, and an injured ankle.

Mahomes gained speed belying his physical status as he scampered to the Philadelphia 17-yard line on a play that will stand alongside his third-and-15 connection with Tyreek Hill in Super Bowl LIV as the most magical in a career of a player who possesses endless reserves of wizardry.

Three plays later, James Bradberry was called for holding on third down, giving Kansas City a new set of downs and allowing the Chiefs to milk the clock before Harrison Butker sent his decisive kick sailing through the uprights with eight seconds left. Hurts' subsequent Hail Mary fell short, leaving an ecstatic Chiefs sideline to pour onto the field following another miraculous finish from Mahomes.

"Toughest son of gun you ever met man," tight end Travis Kelce said. "That Texas gunslinger ain’t going to let nothing get in the way."

Obstacles have been plenty for Mahomes throughout a postseason that looked as if it might come to an end in the Divisional round when he suffered a high-ankle sprain against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

But Mahomes has what Muhammad Ali once defined as the pivotal combination that fosters champions, the skill and the will, and it is that blend that has elevated the Chiefs back to the top of the NFL mountain, with Reid crediting his formative years spent around baseball locker rooms with father Pat Mahomes for his apparently limitless drive.

“He grew up in a locker room. He’s seen the greats and he strives to be the greatest," said Reid. "Without saying anything, that's the way he works. He wants to be the greatest player ever. That's what he wants to do, and that's the way he goes about his business. He does it humbly. There's no bragging.

"He could stand up here and give you these stats that are incredible that he's had, but he is never go doing to that. That's just not him, and we appreciate that.

"Then when it's time for the guys around him to raise their game, he helps them with that. The great quarterbacks make everybody around him better, including the head coach, so he's done a heck of a job."

The first quarterback to win the Super Bowl and MVP in the same season since Kurt Warner in 1999, Mahomes is rapidly ascending up the ranks of the greatest to play the game.

Still only 27, he has a long time in which to continue his climb.

There are those who will argue he is already at the summit after appearing in three Super Bowls and winning two in his first five seasons as the starter.

Some will remain unconvinced whether that is the case, but this is a week in which Mahomes has removed all doubt as to his status as the NFL's current gold standard.

He collected 48 of the 50 ballots for MVP, which he won at Thursday's NFL Honors ceremony. After this incredible show of grit, it is fair to wonder how the vote was not unanimous.

But that will be of no concern to Mahomes. There will be more potentially unanimous MVPs and there will almost certainly be more Super Bowls.

Mahomes has not yet met a piece of adversity he cannot overcome and, still arguably shy of his prime, there is no ceiling to what he can achieve.

"He's special," offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said. "He's very special and the sky's the limit for him.

"Each and every year he takes his game to another level. The kid is special."

No argument here.

In normal circumstances, Pep Guardiola's landmark achievement might have been the focus ahead of Manchester City's clash with Aston Villa.

Yet the build-up to Sunday's fixture at the Etihad Stadium was overshadowed by City having been accused of over 100 breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations.

While City will defend themselves off the pitch, their players stepped up by beating Villa 3-1 to ensure Guardiola's 250th Premier League game in charge was marked in style.

Stats Perform has looked at the numbers from Guardiola's time in England's top tier.

The numbers

1 – Guardiola has the highest win rate of any manager to have coached in 100 or more games in the Premier League (73.6 per cent).

29 – Guardiola is the 29th manager to reach the 250-game milestone in the Premier League's history.

184 – After City's victory over Villa, Guardiola has won 184 of his games in the competition. This is a Premier League career total bettered by only five other managers (Jose Mourinho, Harry Redknapp, David Moyes, Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson). His tally of victories is the most of any manager across their first 250 games in the competition (Jurgen Klopp is second, with 160).

34 – City have lost only 34 league games under Guardiola.

4 – Of those defeats, four have come against Klopp's Liverpool, but it is Tottenham who Guardiola has notoriously struggled against. He has lost six times to Spurs in the top flight, including five of their last seven such meetings.

115 – Renowned for their glorious attacking play, City have nevertheless built their success on a stingy defence under Guardiola, whose team have kept 115 clean sheets.

621 – Guardiola's City have netted 621 goals in the Premier League.

204 – In contrast, they have conceded only 204 times.

The records

Guardiola's largest league win as City boss came against Watford in September 2019 (8-0).

His biggest loss as City manager in the Premier League came in his first season in charge, when his side lost 4-0 to Everton at Goodison Park in January 2017.

City stormed to their first league title under Guardiola in the 2017-18 season, becoming the first team in the competition's history to attain 100 points in a season.

They took 50 of those points on the road in the 2017-18 campaign, a Premier League record, as is their tally of 16 away wins that term. Another record haul is their tally of 106 goals in that season.

Their side of 2017-18 won 32 games, another competition high mark, and incredibly City matched that total in the following season.

City went on a run of 18 successive wins between 26 August and 27 December, 2017. That tally has not been bettered, though it was matched by Liverpool in the 2019-20 season (as was the 32 wins in a season record).

In 2021, Guardiola's City netted 113 times, a Premier League record for goals in a calendar year.

City's streak of 14 victories to end a season (2018-19) is a record, as is their run of 12 consecutive away wins between December 2020 and May 2021.

The Players

Raheem Sterling is the player with the most top-flight goals for City across Guardiola's 250 games in charge, with 85. Sergio Aguero ranks second on 82.

Ederson has made the most appearances (204 – all of them starts) while Kevin De Bruyne (203) is the outfield player to have played the most games.

De Bruyne, as expected, leads the way for assists (87). With a goal haul of 53, the Belgian tops the charts for direct goal involvements (140).

To say this season isn't going according to plan for either Liverpool or Everton would be an understatement.

Liverpool have taken seven points from their six matches back since the World Cup break; Everton are on four from the same number of games.

The Reds could be as low as 11th by the time Monday's meeting between the Merseyside rivals takes place at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp's team have looked a shadow of their former selves. Even in their poor title defence in the 2020-21 campaign, which included a 2-0 home defeat to Everton, they never seemed so unlikely to compete not only for the top honour, but Champions League qualification.

This time last year, Liverpool were in contention for an unprecedented quadruple; they would go on to triumph in the EFL Cup and FA Cup, though fell just short in the Premier League and lost 1-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

After selling Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich but bringing in Darwin Nunez and tying Mohamed Salah down to a new contract, Liverpool seemed set for another title push after beating Manchester City in the Community Shield.

Yet it has all gone downhill from there. They are out of both domestic cups and have no chance in the league, with their tally of seven defeats in the top tier closing in on their worst tally in Klopp's full seasons in charge (nine – 2020-21).

Everton, on the other hand, are mired in another relegation battle, with yet another manager in place. Sean Dyche arrived last month, following Frank Lampard's dismissal after less than a year in charge.

Dyche started in style at Goodison Park, however, guiding Everton to their first win since October by beating league leaders Arsenal 1-0.

That victory has not lifted Everton outside of the relegation zone, though it injected some optimism into the team and fanbase ahead of the short trip across Stanley Park.

The cornerstone of Everton's win over Arsenal was Dyche's midfield trio, while that area of the pitch is a clear issue for Klopp. It might just be where this match is won or lost.

Liverpool found lacking

It was easy to be impressed when Liverpool announced they had struck a deal with PSV to sign Cody Gakpo, before the January transfer window had even started.

Gakpo had starred for the Netherlands at the World Cup and was taking the Eredivisie by storm, having scored 21 goals and set up a further 25 since the start of last season up until his switch to Anfield. But he has yet to score or assist in six matches, creating only two chances across 497 minutes of action.

While Liverpool will be confident Gakpo will come good, the sensibility of signing another forward for big money when their midfield needs are so glaring could be called into question.

The Reds are reportedly keen to sign Jude Bellingham at the end of the season, and the Borussia Dortmund sensation might well be transformative. However, Liverpool needed reinforcements now, not in six months' time.

Fabinho's form has been erratic, and it feels as though the 29-year-old might well have passed his peak. The Brazil international is recording his lowest per-90 totals for duels (8.5), duels won (4.2), duel success rate (48.9), forward passes (14.8), attempted passes (59.7) and tackle success percentage (52.1) since he joined in 2018. On the flip side, he is giving away 1.7 fouls per 90, his highest tally in a Liverpool shirt.

He was fortunate to escape a red card in the FA Cup defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion on January 28 and then missed last week's defeat to Wolves through illness.

Stefan Bajcetic started in Fabinho's place against Wolves and has looked bright when called on, though at 18 cannot be expected to perform consistently week in, week out.

Thiago Alcantara came to Liverpool as one of the world's best midfield maestros, but injuries have limited him to just 93 appearances and 71 starts.

Indeed, Thiago has not lived up to the form he showed at Bayern Munich, and while he creates a scoring chance every game on average, he has only directly contributed to nine goals.

To sum up his frustrations, Thiago is a doubt for Monday's match due to a hip issue.

Jordan Henderson works as hard as ever, but at the age of 32 cannot be relied on to play 90 minutes up to three times a week. Naby Keita, on the other hand, has never really lived up to his price tag.

Harvey Elliott has solidified himself as a regular, playing 1,131 top-flight minutes, and he leads the way for open-play shot-creating actions when it comes to Liverpool's midfielders (68).

Liverpool's midfield has been the bedrock of so much success, but it's in need of a revamp.

Building blocks for Dyche

Having utilised a 4-4-2 for much of his time at Burnley, Dyche sprung something of a surprise in his first match in charge of Everton by playing a three-man midfield.

Yet this was not the awkward, disorganised 4-3-3 that Lampard had attempted to force into place in his latter days as Everton boss, but rather a solid, robust 4-5-1 that, off the ball at least, morphed into the two, solid banks of four that Dyche is renowned for.

Abdoulaye Doucoure had fallen out of favour under Lampard but was back in against the Gunners for his first league start since August, and turned in one of his best Everton displays.

Only Gueye (10) won possession more times than Doucoure (nine) for Everton, while the former Watford midfielder's tally of 27 attempted passes ranked third for the Toffees. He also made two interceptions (a team high alongside James Tarkowski and Amadou Onana) and won his only attempted tackle.

No Everton outfielder created more final third entries (seven), while Doucoure also played a key role in limiting Oleksandr Zinchenko's impact. The Ukrainian had a game-leading 121 touches though created only one chance.

On the opposite side of Gueye, Onana delivered another display that hinted at his immense potential.

While Everton have floundered in recent months, Onana seems to have settled into English football. He led the team in touches (47), tackles (four) and tackles won (two), and only Dominic Calvert-Lewin (nine) won more duels for the Toffees than the Belgium international (eight).

Dyche handed Onana the responsibility to press, and he won possession twice in Arsenal's defensive third. His recoveries tally finished at eight, including a well-timed intervention that resulted in the 21-year-old teeing up a fantastic chance for Calvert-Lewin.

Everton's new manager noted in his post-game press conference that Onana still had plenty to learn, but the signs are promising.

Gueye, meanwhile, thrived in his best role in front of the defence. Too often under Lampard, the 33-year-old was losing the ball in dangerous areas, but against the Gunners he completed all 25 of his passes.

One swallow does not make a summer, of course, and Everton have a lot of work to do to drag themselves out of danger. 

Everton are likely to lack Calvert-Lewin due to injury, whereas Liverpool still have a star-studded forward line to choose from. If Klopp's men can get a foothold in the middle of the pitch, another derby win should be theirs.

Indeed, given Everton have only won one of their last 22 league visits to Anfield, Liverpool still have to be considered huge favourites.

However, if Dyche can get his midfield to perform as they did against Arsenal, then Everton might just fancy their chances of getting something.

Arsenal dropped points in the title race on a busy Saturday in the Premier League, denied by an Ivan Toney equaliser as Brentford drew 1-1 at Emirates Stadium.

Mikel Arteta's had a better day of it than north London rivals Tottenham, though, as Spurs were thrashed 4-1 at Leicester City, despite taking an early lead.

Elsewhere, Chelsea were denied a win at West Ham after Emerson Palmieri equalised Joao Felix's first goal of his loan spell from Atletico Madrid.

Southampton's woes continued as they were beaten 2-1 at home against Wolves, despite taking the lead and having a man advantage for over an hour after Mario Lemina was sent off for the visitors.

Newcastle United's run of draws continued as they were held 1-1 at Bournemouth, while Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion also could not be separated, and Fulham beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at Craven Cottage.

Here, Stats Perform looks at Saturday's biggest games, with the guidance of Opta data.

West Ham 1-1 Chelsea: Blues struggle to handle Hammers

Graham Potter's Chelsea were left frustrated after a late claim for handball was denied at London Stadium, and this draw was the first in nine Premier League encounters between West Ham and Chelsea since a 0-0 in September 2018.

The Blues have drawn three consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since February 2012, and remarkably, there were no shots on target in the second half from either side, being just the second Premier League match where that has occurred this season after Southampton v Nottingham Forest in January.

Emerson became the first former Chelsea player to score his first Premier League goal for a club against the Blues since Frank Lampard for Manchester City in September 2014.

On his return from suspension, Joao Felix became the 12th different player to score for Chelsea in the Premier League this season, with no side having had more in 2022-23 (excluding own goals), which perhaps is not a surprise when you consider the number of players they now have.

Arsenal 1-1 Brentford: Toney time dents Gunners' title push

It seemed like business as usual when Leandro Trossard gave the hosts the lead, but this ended up being the first time Arsenal had failed to win a Premier League home game in which they scored first since January 2022. They had won 10 in a row at Emirates Stadium when opening the scoring before this game.

Brentford showed great resilience and have now scored 15 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season, with no side netting more (including penalties).

That could also be something for Arsenal to work on, as each of the last three Premier League goals the league leaders have conceded have come from headers, despite not conceding any beforehand this season.

Only Harry Kane (nine) has found the net away from home more often in the Premier League this season than Brentford striker Toney (seven), whose equaliser broke Gunners hearts.

Leicester City 4-1 Tottenham: Lloris-less Spurs hammered by Foxes

A high-scoring game was hardly a shock at King Power Stadium. There have been 128 goals scored in 34 Premier League matches between Leicester and Tottenham, with the average of 3.8 per game the highest such ratio among fixtures to be played more than 20 times in the competition.

Spurs, who were without injured goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, have lost two of their last three away games in the Premier League (W1), conceding four goals in each defeat, having only lost two of their previous 14 such games beforehand (W7 D5). The other recent heavy loss was 4-2 at Manchester City.

Despite having a disappointing campaign so far, Leicester here became the first team in Premier League history to score three first-half goals in back-to-back matches when conceding first in each game, having also done so at Aston Villa last time out.

Leicester's James Maddison, who was linked with a move to Antonio Conte's Spurs this week, scored and had an assist. Maddison has been directly involved in 11 goals in his last 10 Premier League starts (seven goals, four assists), scoring in each of his last three league appearances against Spurs.

Southampton 1-2 Wolves: Jones under pressure as Saints lose to 10 men

Head coach Nathan Jones is not the first Jones to struggle at Southampton. Saints have lost five consecutive Premier League home games for the first time since April-August 1998, when they were under the leadership of Dave Jones.

Wolves fought from a goal and a man down to win against their favourite Premier League opposition, having won each of their last five meetings, the first time they have ever been victorious in five consecutive games against a specific opponent in the competition.

It is clear where a big problem lies for Saints, having only kept one clean sheet in their last 28 Premier League matches (1-0 v Bournemouth in October).

Jan Bednarek found his own net, again, and has now scored four own goals as a Southampton player in the Premier League; the joint-most of any player for the club in the competition, along with Jos Hooiveld.

Thomas Muller might not be as crucial to Bayern Munich as he once was.

Indeed, he has featured only 12 times in the Bundesliga this season, making just nine starts.

Yet his next appearance, set to come against Bochum on Saturday, will see him overtake his namesake – the late, great Gerd Muller – for the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club by an outfield player, with 428.

Ahead of breaking the record, he has started 371 of his 427 Bundesliga matches, tasting victory on 307 occasions and losing only 47 times. He has won 11 titles and has a 12th in his sights this year.

Since making his Bundesliga bow in 2008, Muller has played more times in the competition than any other player, while he has directly contributed to 296 goals (140 goals, 156 assists), 23 more than second-ranked Robert Lewandowski (238 goals, 35 assists).

Lewandowski and Muller formed a formidable duo at Bayern, though the latter has not always had an easy ride at the club.

To celebrate his impending achievement, Stats Perform takes a look at Muller's Bayern journey, one which has also included two Champions League triumphs.

Tipped for the top? Not so much

"Thomas Muller can't beat you with his close ball control. He can't beat you with his pace. And he can't beat you with his dribbling skills. He just beats you."

Those were the words of German sports journalist and author Uli Hesse when he described Muller in an article originally published in Eight By Eight magazine and then re-published by The Guardian.

Muller has never had the blinding pace of peak Cristiano Ronaldo; the imperious skill of Lionel Messi or the exquisite finishing prowess of Lewandowski. Perhaps that is why he is never really considered among the pantheon of modern-day greats?

But in fairness, that was never truly expected of him. Indeed, a year before he shot to stardom at the 2010 World Cup, Muller had made just five senior appearances, totalling 40 minutes, scoring once.

Yet in 2009, when it seemed as though Muller – not quite a number 10, not quite a striker – would be loaned out, Louis van Gaal installed him as a first-team regular. He featured in every Bundesliga game that season, scoring 13 times and providing six assists. "In my team, Muller always plays," said Van Gaal.

Muller carried that form into the World Cup, finishing the tournament as one of four top scorers with five goals as a young, exciting Germany side reached the semi-finals. 

The 4-2-3-1 in which Muller had thrived at Bayern, where he was flanked by Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, was in vogue in South Africa, and along with Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski, he excelled behind club-mate Miroslav Klose.

Muller played every league game in the following two seasons, scoring 19 times, laying on a further 18 goals and creating 118 chances. He earned the nickname "Raumdeuter" – "an interpreter of space".

Even still, Muller was not the star of that Bayern side. Those were on the flanks, in the form of Robben and Ribery, and then up front when Lewandowski joined, yet over the next three seasons he put up brilliant numbers, hitting 20+ combined goals and assists in each campaign through to 2015-16.

As part of that span, he helped Bayern to Champions League glory in 2013, beating Lewandowski and Dortmund in the final at Wembley.

Hard times hit

Pep Guardiola had certainly got the best out of Muller, who netted 20 Bundesliga goals in the Spaniard's final season in Munich. Yet under Carlo Ancelotti, he failed to spark, at least in front of goal. 

Muller went 999 minutes without a Bundesliga goal and only scored five times in the top tier in Ancelotti's sole full season at Bayern (2016-17), underperforming his expected goals (xG) of 7.8. He finished the season with 12 league assists, however – a career-best at that stage.

If that hinted at what was to come from Muller Mk.II (more on that to come), there was no doubting "Raumdeuter's" shine had worn off slightly, with Thiago Alcantara often preferred in an advanced midfield role.

Muller defended Ancelotti when the Italian was dismissed in September 2017, though it was reported he was one of five senior players to demand a change in coach.

Jupp Heynckes took charge and Muller finished the campaign with 22 goal involvements, only two less than in the 2012-13 season in which Heynckes guided Bayern to the treble.

But matters did not improve in the 2018-19 season, in which Muller was deemed surplus to requirements by Germany coach Joachim Low and he struggled for his best form at club level under Niko Kovac.

Muller's time comes again

A second coming arrived in the pandemic-hit 2019-20 campaign; Kovac was sacked, Hansi Flick took over, and Muller was back at his best, relishing a second Champions League triumph, as Paris Saint-Germain were beaten in the final.

Yes, the goal tallies weren't as high as in his early 2010s peak, but in the three seasons between 2019-20 and 2021-22, Muller provided 57 assists in the league.

His accumulative expected assists (xA) stood at 38, suggesting he benefitted from the expert finishing of Lewandowski and Co., but he engineered 261 chances across 97 appearances (2.7 per game). Not bad.

The "Raumdeuter" was back. Whether playing behind Lewandowski, or on the right-hand side of Bayern's four-man attacking unit, he caused constant havoc, while in the 2020-21 season he also boasted his best shot conversion rate (21.6).

This season has not gone as smoothly as Muller would have hoped. Lewandowski's departure to Barcelona deprived him of his partner in crime, and Julian Nagelsmann has often gone with Jamal Musiala, Germany's next big hope, as a number 10.

Injuries haven't helped either and Muller endured a difficult campaign as Germany crashed out of the World Cup. 

Will there be a third coming? Maybe not. Perhaps this is the beginning of the end. But ahead of his record-breaking appearance, there's no doubt "Raumdeuter" has to go down as one of Bayern's greatest.

Steve Spagnuolo is the definition of a football lifer.

He's been in coaching since 1981, when he took on a job as a graduate assistant at the University of Massachusetts and, since being appointed as a defensive assistant on Andy Reid's original Philadelphia Eagles staff in 1999, he has developed a reputation as an aggressive coach who is not afraid to send the house in order to get results.

Now 24 years on, he is again on coach Reid's staff, having served as the defensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs since 2019. That description perhaps does not paint a completely accurate picture of a coach who is more versatile in his approach than he is given credit for.

Spagnuolo will indeed go on the attack. In the 2022 regular season, only four teams blitzed with six or more pass rushers more frequently than the Chiefs, who did so 6.6 per cent of the time.

But the fact his defense is set to go against the Eagles' offense in Super Bowl LVII is in part a tribute to Spagnuolo's malleability.

The Chiefs were in the top half of the NFL when it came to overall blitz rate in the regular season, but their rate of 26.9 per cent was only enough for 15th in the NFL.

Kansas City sent four pass rushers 70.8 per cent of the time when defending aerial attacks, but they still led the NFL in pressures with 299.

In other words, Spagnuolo's defense can win with the blitz, but it can also succeed frequently getting pressure with just four down linemen, which is critical for every defense in an era where two-high safety coverages that protect against explosive plays have never been more prevalent.

The Chiefs' defense finished the regular season as the eighth-best by yards per play allowed and ranked ninth by Stats Perform's Efficiency Versus Expected (EVE) metric.

It is in the postseason, though, where Spagnuolo's defenses continually come alive.

That was the case in 2007 when his New York Giants defense held the finest offense in New England Patriots history, one that propelled them to an beaten 16-0 regular-season record, to just 14 points in Super Bowl XLII.

His first season with the Chiefs ended in Super Bowl glory as they swarmed Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers late in the fourth quarter in an underrated aspect of Kansas City's 31-20 comeback win in Super Bowl LIV. In the 2020 postseason, only a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that ruined the Chiefs' hopes of a repeat at the final hurdle had more pressures than Kansas City's 55.

And this postseason the Chiefs have again risen to the challenge on defense.

The Chiefs have racked up seven sacks in the postseason, second only to the Eagles, and tallied 23 pressures of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the AFC Championship Game, the most crucial being a sack by Chris Jones that gave the ball back to Patrick Mahomes for a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.

Spagnuolo, though, does not appear interested in taking credit for the continual joy his defenses find in the playoffs, pointing more to the impact of players like Jones than any schematic wizardry.

"I always say this, what you've done in the past or prior games doesn't mean anything going into these games, it's all about our guys stepping up and doing it again," said Spagnuolo on Thursday. 

"Chris Jones, if he's having the game he had last week [in the AFC Championship Game] that certainly helps us, we need our best players to play their best football and I think it comes back to those guys, I think that's why in the big moments we've been able to do that.

"None of that matters now, it's a whole different game and different gameplan, hopefully we can find 60 more minutes of good football."

Speak to the Chiefs' defenders, however, and they won't hesitate to wax lyrical about their coach's prowess for putting them in positions to thrive.

Rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie has enjoyed an excellent rookie season, allowing a combined open percentage across man and zone coverage of 21.54 that is tied for the fourth-best among all corners, according to Stats Perform data.

McDuffie credits Spagnuolo's paternal influence and the varied way in which he uses his defensive backs as key reasons why he has thrived in year one.

McDuffie told Stats Perform: "He's very detailed, which could be tough at times because when you make one little mistake he catches it and it's like 'man yeah I was in the wrong', but he's such a loving dude, he's become such a father figure for me at least, I don't think I could have been here without just the guidance from him and the wisdom he's given me.

"I just love the mentality that our defense is aggressive, we are going to attack the offense, if you're a defensive player knowing you have an offensive gear like 'we're going to go attack the offense', it makes the game much more fun, because you can do so much more. I'm blitzing, I'm playing zone, I'm playing man. He's allowed me to do so much in the defense."

The numbers reflect McDuffie's words. The Chiefs have predominantly dealt in the kind of two-deep safety coverages that have proliferated across the NFL because of the threat posed by their own quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.

Cover 4, Cover 6 and Cover 2 are the coverages in which they have primarily lived, however, they have also played Cover 2 man, where every coverage defender except for the two deep safeties plays man coverage, on 8.92 per cent of pass defense snaps, well above the league average of 2.7 per cent.

Kansas City's defense does often get extremely aggressive when blitzing, playing Cover 1 man, where every coverage defender plays man except for a deep safety, on 25.24 per cent of blitzes, and Cover 0 – where there are no deep defenders – on 18.57 per cent of blitzes.

But there are still a significant amount of zone blitzes mixed in. The Chiefs run quarters (Cover 4) when blitzing 19.52 per cent of the time and Cover 2 on 9.52 per cent of blitzes.

Spagnuolo does look to 'attack the offense', but he takes a multi-faceted approach to doing so, one which consistently pays off in high-leverage situations.

The Chiefs have 27 sacks in the postseason since 2019, 16 of which have come in the second half or overtime, with five in the final two minutes.

Perhaps it is therefore Spagnuolo's timing that is the foundation for the success of his playoff defenses.

Against the Eagles, picking his spots will be crucial.

Aggression will almost certainly need to be tempered given Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts' aptitude for capitalising on attack-mode defenses through his prowess running the zone-read, the read-option and the run-pass option.

It sets up a fascinating battle between arguably the NFL's most diverse and devastating offense, which consistently makes life easy on its quarterback, and a defense that is significantly more dynamic than many believe and excels at putting quarterbacks in difficult positions in the most important moments.

For Spagnuolo, the challenge is to craft a gameplan that maintains the attacking tendencies of his defense while protecting against the array of dangers Hurts presents.

"There's a lot of responsibility football when you play that kind of offense," Spagnuolo said.

"If we can be good on first and second down to get them in the long third downs, then maybe we can do that [attack], short of that you're always facing the possibility of a run or an RPO on any down and distance, and if you're doing something, you know it could be a big play for you, but it might be a really big play for them."

It's quite the dilemma for Spagnuolo to solve. Fortunately for the Chiefs, history is on the side of him succeeding.

For most teams in most NFL seasons, the offensive linemen are not superstars.

Their work of attempting to prevent men of around 300 pounds from breaking into the backfield and trying to create lanes for the ground attack is a remarkably difficult one, but it is not normally one that is conducive to receiving large amounts of attention.

It may, therefore, seem a little bemusing on first blush to see center Jason Kelce with a plethora of cameras pointed in his face ahead of Super Bowl LVII.

Kelce is, of course, playing in special circumstances as he and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce prepare to become the first brothers to go against each other in a Super Bowl.

But the attention is not limited to Kelce. Tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata each gathered a crowd this week at the Eagles' media availability and, as the former heavily emphasised ahead of their clash with the Chiefs on Sunday, being out of the ordinary is a defining trait of this group.

The makeup of the Eagles' offensive line is marked by its level of contrasts. Kelce and Johnson stand as the veteran lynchpins, two perennial All-Pros who have long since set the standard at their respective positions and are destined for the Hall of Fame.

On the other side of the spectrum, there is left tackle Mailata, the Australian former South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league player who was selected in the seventh round of the 2018 draft having never played a single down of American football but blossomed so quickly that he is now the Eagles' undisputed starter at one of the most critical positions on the roster and represents the biggest success story of the NFL's International Player Pathway program.

The stark difference in the journeys of the players anchoring the middle and the right side of the O-Line from that of the unexpected star on the left side is a situation unique to the Eagles. 

But the Eagles have thrived on being unique in 2022. Their multi-faceted offense is unique in how it slows even the strongest and fastest defenses through the way in which Philadelphia utilise their dual-threat quarterback, Jalen Hurts, who has experienced a leap few envisaged in 2022.

And the joy they have experienced on offense has come in large part because the mix of All-Pro veterans, two extremely dependable guards in Landon Dickerson and Isaac Seumalo, and a left tackle who has gone from greenhorn to a foundational piece of the attack has produced a calibre of play up front that no team in the NFL can match.

Indeed, the Eagles rank first in Stats Perform's pass block win rate and second in run block win rate, dominance that can be attributed to the approach of offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, whose distinctive coaching style helps make sure his group are never ill-prepared for any eventuality they might face on gameday.

"He's unique, he makes every meeting like a gameday with his voice," Johnson said of Stoutland.

"He's very loud, he asks a lot of questions, we call those 'cold calling' questions, which is like a pop quiz, a lot of that puts you on the spot, answer questions under duress. 

"He likes to simulate a game-like meeting room, which can be uncomfortable at times but you kind of respect it and you love it."

The numbers illustrate the merits of Stoutland's unconventional brand of coaching.

Johnson ranks second in pass block win rate (89.6 per cent) among offensive linemen with at least 100 total plays, Dickerson is ninth on that same list with a win rate of 83.5 per cent.

Dickerson's pressure rate allowed of 3.9 per cent is the best among all guards, while Kelce (2.0) and Johnson (2.9) rank second in that regard among centers and tackles respectively. 

Seumalo's 7.0 per cent may be less impressive, but it is still average (7.1) for guards this season.

Both Seumalo and Dickerson have unquestionably benefited hugely from playing next to Kelce, whose aggregate win rate across pass protection and run blocking of 83.48 per cent is the second-best in the NFL behind only Laremy Tunsil of the Houston Texans.

In the mind of Seumalo, who is finally solidified as a starter and was named a Pro Bowl alternate following years of persistent injury troubles, both Kelce and Stoutland deserve tremendous credit for how the Eagles' offensive line has coalesced into the elite unit in the NFL.

"To be a good offensive line you need really good players, and then Jeff Stoutland continually puts us in positions to be successful, we stick to our bread and butter and don't try to do too much," Seumalo told Stats Perform. 

"And then on the field Jason Kelce puts us in really good spots. When you have a combination of really good players, really smart players and an offensive line coach that continually puts us in good positions, it’s going to be successful. 

"Jeff Stoutland's work ethic is unmatched in terms of scheming and then knowing how to get guys lined up a certain way and also being ready for a lot of the grey.

"Being like 'let's show them what we expect' and then again, you're always going to get what you didn't see and then being ready to see that kind of stuff too. 

"Sometimes it's going to be tougher than what it should be, the easier and simpler you can make it the better."

Mailata's progress encapsulates Stoutland's ability to make things easy on his players. While he is still far from the finished article in pass protection, giving up a pressure rate of 11 per cent, he has excelled at preventing teams from disrupting the Eagles' ultra-versatile run game.

He has allowed a run disruption rate of 6.6 per cent that is ninth among all offensive tackles to have played at least 200 snaps in 2022, conceding a disruption to a defensive player on only 27 of his 411 run-blocking snaps.

Johnson believes there is much more to come from Mailata and Dickerson, who entered the NFL with the equivalent of a football masters degree having played at Alabama under Nick Saban but has still demonstrated surprisingly quick progress in making the switch from center to guard after suffering a knee ligament injury in his final season with the Crimson Tide.

"You look at it just the size they have with Mailata, Landon, the strength they have is unique," added Johnson.

"There's a lot of boxes they’re checking, which is physically gifted, speed, the more they're playing the better they're getting, they're on their way to be consistent top of the game every year."

Mailata and Dickerson checking those boxes has allowed Hurts and the Eagles' skill position-players to torment opponents who reside in the defensive box, with linebackers consistently crippled by hesitation due to the variety of threats they must account for when reading the Eagles' quarterback at the mesh point with his running back.

Hurts would of course not be able to generate such indecision in the minds of defenders without faith in the ability of his offensive line to hold up.

However, with aggressive defensive lines who get too far upfield in their efforts to pressure Philadelphia's quarterback extremely susceptible to the run, the line's odds of keeping the pass rush at bay are improved by facing defenders who are fighting their natural instincts, with that internal conflict also enabling the Eagles to get their blockers on the front foot in the run game and create chasms for Hurts, Miles Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell to surge through.

"The threat of Jalen, he's become a really good passer this year, his ability to run and get a lot of offense there helps our offense tremendously and then his ability to scramble and make plays for sure is helpful, helps everybody, it’s definitely an advantage," added Seumalo.

In his praise of Hurts, Johnson once again leaned on what appears to be his favourite descriptor of this Eagles' attack.

"Just a unique guy with his strengths," said Johnson. "His ability to run, he's dynamic, so [with the] gameplan, you have to be very crafty with what you do because when the play breaks down he can scramble for 30 yards. Unique player."

Johnson clearly believes Philadelphia's offense, particularly the line, is one of one. Should the Eagles keep a Chiefs defense led by All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones at bay and prevail in Glendale, then there won't be many doubting Stoutland's group deserves recognition as one of the standout offensive lines of the Super Bowl era.

Ireland walloped Wales and France edged a tight game with Italy in round one, whetting the appetite for a Six Nations clash in Dublin on Saturday between the title favourites.

With Ireland top of the World Rugby rankings, and France in second place, this is a game that could go a long way to determining who wins the championship.

Others will feel they can have a say too, particularly Scotland after last week's impressive win over England at Twickenham, another Calcutta Cup success for Gregor Townsend.

The onus will be on the Scots, at Murrayfield against Wales this weekend, to show they can build on that victory in London. Wales boss Warren Gatland, meanwhile, will be looking for a response from his team after last week's 34-10 loss to Ireland.

England host Italy, with Steve Borthwick eyeing a first win as head coach, but the Red Rose will be wary of the Azzurri's threat, given they pushed France close last time out and beat Australia in November.

Ahead of the second round of games, Stats Perform looks at the action to come, with the help of Opta data.

IRELAND v FRANCE

FORM

France have won their last 14 matches. They have also won each of their last three meetings with Ireland after tasting victory in just one of their previous nine Test encounters (D2 L6). The recent wins against Ireland have tended to be tight affairs though, each one decided by a single-figure margin.

A 15-13 win for France in Dublin two years ago means Les Bleus have the opportunity to bag back-to-back wins in the Irish capital for only the second time in the Six Nations, after previously doing so in 2005 and 2007.

While France's current streak of wins is the longest in their history, Ireland's form is also similarly foreboding, having won 18 of their last 20 matches (L2), including each of their last six.

The men in green have won 21 of their last 22 home games, including their last 12 – marking their joint-longest winning run on home soil. The last home defeat for Ireland was that France game in the 2021 Six Nations.

ONES TO WATCH

France wing Ethan Dumortier is a man Ireland will want to keep a close eye on. The Lyon player scored a try on his Test debut last week and has totted up 12 tries in his last 13 matches for club and country. He beat five defenders from just four carries against Italy, with Gael Fickou (6) the only France player to beat more, and Dumortier starts again this weekend.

Ireland's James Ryan, Andrew Porter and Dave Kilcoyne are all set to win their 50th caps for Ireland, while scrum-half Conor Murray makes his 50th Six Nations appearance. But expect all eyes to fall on captain Johnny Sexton, with the fly-half 15 points away from beating Ronan O'Gara's record of 557 points in the championship. Veteran fly-half Sexton has managed hauls of 15-plus points on 13 occasions in the Six Nations, including three times against France (2014, 2015, 2018).

SCOTLAND v WALES

FORM

Wales have won 13 of their last 15 matches against Scotland in the Six Nations (L2), while Gatland, back at the helm for a second stint, has won each of his 10 matches against the Scots while in charge of Wales.

The omens are not great for Scotland, who also beat England in their championship openers in 2021 and 2022, only to come unstuck against Wales in round two both times. The Welsh have won just two of their last 11 matches since getting the better of Scotland 20-17 at the Principality Stadium 12 months ago, however.

Scotland made the most tackles of any side last weekend (214) and recorded the best tackle success rate (91 per cent) as they showed spirit as well as skill in London. Wales made the second-highest number of tackles (184), but it did not spare them a torching at Ireland's hands in Cardiff.

ONES TO WATCH

Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe tormented England at Twickenham with his two-try masterclass. He beat 11 defenders, the most by any player in a Six Nations match since Van der Merwe himself beat 13 against Italy in 2021, so Wales must surely prioritise stopping him if they are to stop Scotland.

Wales' Liam Williams (8) was the only other player to beat more than six defenders during the opening round. Rio Dyer also caught the eye for Wales in last week's losing cause, carrying for 108 metres from his seven carries. Among the 55 players to make more than six carries in round one, Dyer had the best average carry distance of 15.4 metres, followed by Van der Merwe (13m).

ENGLAND v ITALY

FORM

England have never lost three in a row at Twickenham in the Six Nations, but that will be the outcome if they go down to Italy on Sunday. Indeed, the last time they suffered three home defeats in a row in the old Five Nations was in 1971-72.

Erstwhile whipping boys Italy look to have more about them than in past seasons, helped by winning away at Wales in the final round of last year's championship. They have never won consecutive away matches in the Six Nations, but that is their objective this weekend.

Both these teams lost last week, but there were areas where they were high performers. England were the only side to carry for over 1,000 metres in the opening round (1,039), with Italy next on that list (828). These teams also made the most passes of all, with England (207) just ahead of Italy (202) in that metric.

ONES TO WATCH

England's Ellis Genge scored a try and made 18 carries against Scotland, the most carries by a prop in Six Nations history, beating his own record of 17, set in 2019 against Scotland. His carries total was the joint-highest of all players in week one, matching team-mate Lewis Ludlam and Scotland's Finn Russell, and Borthwick will be wanting a similarly all-action effort from the prop.

Italy's Ange Capuozzo would have enjoyed the sight of Van der Merwe rampaging through England's defence last week, knowing he is similarly capable of finding holes and exploiting them. The 23-year-old Toulouse full-back found his way to the try line against France and carried for 114 metres, the most by any player in the opening round. He has scored three tries and assisted one in his three Six Nations appearances, and England will do well to keep him under close observation.

Off the pitch, 2023 has offered plenty of excitement for Chelsea supporters. However, the same cannot really be said for the on-pitch fare being served up by Graham Potter's men this year.

The Blues' return of six points and three goals from six Premier League games since the turn of the year is hardly commensurate with their estimated £291million outlay in the January transfer window, and they need to turn a corner soon.

West Ham are in similar need of an upturn, with David Moyes' side just one point clear of danger and embroiled in a tense battle to beat the drop.

That means there is plenty at stake for both as Chelsea travel for Saturday's derby meeting with the Hammers, and there is certainly no love lost between the London rivals.

Stats Perform picks out the standout Opta numbers ahead of a game that both West Ham and Chelsea will hope marks a turning point in their disappointing seasons.

Chelsea bid to end goalscoring blues

Having followed up a 1-0 home victory over Crystal Palace with 0-0 draws against Liverpool and Fulham, Chelsea are looking to avoid making unwanted history on Saturday.

Chelsea could record three successive goalless draws for the first time in their league history next time out, with their plethora of big-money arrivals so far failing to click in the final third.

Last week's stalemate against Fulham represented the 17th goalless draw Potter has overseen since the start of his first Premier League campaign in 2019-20 – more than any other boss during that run.

Those hoping Chelsea's opponents step up to provide the entertainment may be disappointed. West Ham have underperformed their expected goals figures by almost 10 goals this season (18 goals from 27.9 xG) – the biggest negative difference in the Premier League this term.

Can Joao Felix lead the way?

Chelsea will hope the solution to their goalscoring issues is provided by Joao Felix's return to action, with the Portugal international eligible once again after last month's debut red card against Fulham led to a three-match ban.

Joao Felix has never scored more than 10 goals or contributed more than five assists during a single season for parent club Atletico Madrid, but there are signs he could evolve into a more prolific player at Chelsea.

The 23-year-old was averaging a goal involvement every 120 minutes for Atleti this season prior to being loaned out, his best figure since joining the Spanish giants in 2019.

Joao Felix also averaged a goal every 191 minutes for Rojiblancos this campaign, a ratio not bettered by any Chelsea player in the Premier League this term. 

Hammers chase rare derby delight

West Ham have not garnered much enjoyment from their recent meetings with cross-city rivals.

The Hammers have lost eight of their last 10 London derbies in the Premier League, the exceptions being a draw against Tottenham and a win over Fulham, though both of those results came this season.

However, West Ham have alternated between winning (four times) and not winning (D1 L2) in their last seven home Premier League games against Chelsea, and the teams' last meeting at the London Stadium saw Arthur Masuaku hit a late winner for the hosts in December 2021.

If that represents a negative omen for the hosts, Chelsea could be set to make history – victory would make the Blues the first team to win 150 London derbies in the Premier League. 

Late drama incoming?

No Premier League fixture can lay claim to containing the levels of late drama witnessed in meetings between these two teams.

There have been seven winning goals scored in the final five minutes of Premier League games between West Ham and Chelsea, more than in any other fixture in the competition's history.

The last three meetings between the teams have been settled by a goal scored in the final five minutes, with Kai Havertz doing the honours 88 minutes into September's return fixture at Stamford Bridge.

Christian Pulisic was the last-minute hero as the Blues also edged the previous clash last April, and given their recent shortcomings, the visitors will not mind if they are made to wait again on Saturday. 

Manchester United's improvement this season has been significant, there's no doubt about that.

Erik ten Hag has not only made them more disciplined, but something resembling a team identity is beginning to take shape.

The Dutchman's signings have largely been effective as well. The jury is out on Antony, though he has shown a bit more promise lately. Otherwise, however, Ten Hag gets high marks in this area.

Casemiro and Christian Eriksen have, of course, been the standout individuals in this respect. The experienced pair have brought know-how, control and general quality to the engine room, with the Brazilian also providing the destructive tendencies they long lacked.

But their excellence also highlights the significant gulf in quality to their back-ups.

United look likely to have another busy pre-season in the transfer market, but if there's one area they still need to bolster, strangely enough it's where they're arguably strongest.

A step in the right direction

That midfield trio of Casemiro, Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes is among the best of its kind in the Premier League.

While the two new arrivals have made a real impact already, quickly becoming hugely influential, that's taken some of the burden off Fernandes, who in turn has flourished.

But when you take Casemiro or Eriksen – or both, as was the case against Leeds on Wednesday and when the two tussle again on Sunday – United simply don't have the same standard or type of player.

Obviously, you can't expect a team to have two world-class options for every single position, but at Old Trafford there has to be an acceptance that they need to get as close to such depth as possible if they are to be a long-term challenger to Manchester City under Ten Hag.

Marcel Sabitzer looked fairly assured and generally promising on his first start as he filled in for Eriksen, who is out until May, during Wednesday's 2-2 draw at home to Leeds United, but Casemiro's suspension saw Fred deputise.

Fred routinely proved before this season that he isn't equipped to play as a six, so him lining up in his compatriot's position may have caused fans some stress.

In fairness to him, he didn't really fill that role at all – but then neither did anyone else. He and Sabitzer both occupied very similar positions, so United were essentially playing with two eights rather than an eight and a six.

It's no wonder they often looked outnumbered when Leeds attacked. Not only was Casemiro absent, they didn't really have anyone occupying his void.

United cannot stand still

Fred's effort certainly can't be faulted. If there's one thing he stands out for, it's his work ethic.

He ran further than any of his team-mates on Wednesday, while only Luke Ayling (24) and Alejandro Garnacho (20) engaged in more duels than his 17.

Additionally, there were nine players to register 10 or more duel involvements, and only Ayling (66.7 per cent) had a better success rate than Fred (58.8 per cent).

But it's all well and good running around lots. He didn't actually offer a great deal of defensive protection, attempting just two tackles and making one interception.

Of course, you'd not necessarily expect those figures to be through the roof in a game United largely dominated, and any lack of protection would've been forgiven had he been an effective user of the ball.

He wasn't.

The only United player (minimum 10 pass attempts) with a poorer completion rate than Fred (62.5 per cent) was Garnacho (61.9 per cent).

It was a frantic game, so it's not like being a world-class playmaker is something a player can just switch on and off.

But when United were chasing a winner, their passing seemed to get even sloppier. Fred in particular was guilty of coughing up possession in his own half on several occasions when Ten Hag's men threatened to spring a counter or a direct build-up.

Fred certainly has his uses, and Ten Hag has shown that by frequently introducing him from the bench in the second half of matches to inject a bit of energy.

But Wednesday was another reminder of how he really needs a number six behind him rather than to be the player – or one of – expected to provide control as he's like a deer in headlights against teams who press high. In a number eight role with freedom to attack, he could be a reliable option as he's technically better than many give him credit for – he cannot be the one to provide the balance, however, because he just doesn't have the composure.

United took a big step last year by finally addressing the midfield needs that had dogged them ever since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Yet, if they are to push on from what will likely be reflected on as a positive debut campaign for Ten Hag, United cannot stand still. The signings of Casemiro and Eriksen need to be the start.

The fixtures are coming thick and fast on multiple fronts for many Premier League teams as European football returns, meaning plenty of tinkering from managers between games.

Add into the mix an array of January signings being eased into the sides, selecting a team of guaranteed starters is becoming increasingly difficult. 

But fear not as Stats Perform, using Opta data, has picked out four players who not only look certain to start this weekend but – crucially – also earn plenty of points.

Keylor Navas (Fulham v Nottingham Forest)

Paris Saint-Germain loanee Navas needed no time at all to settle in at Nottingham Forest as he kept a clean sheet on his debut in last week's 1-0 win over Leeds United.

The Costa Rica international made four saves against Leeds – only Hugo Lloris and David Raya (both five) made more while keeping a clean sheet in the last round of games.

Forest have now kept four clean sheets in their past six league matches, while opponents Fulham have failed to score in any of their past three top-flight outings.

Craig Dawson (Southampton v Wolves)

Dawson is another who made a fast start to life at a new club, with the centre-back scoring and keeping a clean sheet on his debut against Liverpool in a 3-0 win for Wolves.

That was Dawson's 20th Premier League goal – always a handy asset for a defender – including at least one in each of his eight top-flight seasons.

Wolves will be hopeful of building on a return of two shutouts in their past three league games when they face bottom side Southampton, who are averaging 0.8 goals per game.

Harvey Barnes (Leicester City v Tottenham)

Leicester midfielder Barnes has scored one and assisted another in his past two Premier League outings, taking his tally to seven goals for the campaign.

The one-cap England international is only two goals short of matching his best tally in a single season in the competition, set in 2020-21 with nine.

Having found their scoring touch with six goals in their past two league games, Leicester appear good value to net against Tottenham, who will have back-up Fraser Forster between the posts.

Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City v Aston Villa, and Arsenal v Manchester City)

Whether he starts both games remains to be seen, but the fact City have two league matches in the next week means you have double the chance to score points with Mahrez.

He was unable to make a difference in the loss to Spurs, though he has still been involved in six goals in his past six league games for City (three goals, three assists).

Only Marcus Rashford (eight) and Erling Haaland (seven) have been involved in more Premier League goals since the World Cup than the City winger.

In one sense, Jurgen Klopp can rest easy: his Liverpool legacy won't be defined by this aberration of a season.

He will always be the manager that returned the Reds to the summit of English football as Premier League champions, with a Champions League title cementing his place in club legend.

Last season almost saw Klopp lead Liverpool to a sensational quadruple, but 2022-23 is proving a sorry sop of a campaign.

Seven and a half years into his reign, Klopp might be surviving on goodwill at present. Fortunately for the former Borussia Dortmund boss, that is in abundant supply, but this drifting ship needs to be turned around and he knows it.

Here's the crux: Liverpool have played seven games in 2023 and made a wretched mess of most of them. They have won only once, and now an eight-game run lies ahead of them that looks critical to their hopes of salvaging anything from the season.

Unless Klopp's team perk up their ideas during this run, the manager might consider walking away. Perhaps he might even be pushed. That sounds like wild talk, given all he has achieved, but Liverpool are going backwards at an alarming rate.

Ahead of Monday's derby against Everton, Stats Perform looks at this unfolding crisis.

What's the state of play?

It's grizzly. Liverpool sit 10th in the Premier League after 20 games and have been eliminated from the FA Cup and EFL Cup, knockout competitions they won last season.

They came through the Champions League group stage, but Real Madrid stand in their way of going any further. Madrid, remember, beat Liverpool in last season's final, and while Carlo Ancelotti's team are certainly not firing on all cylinders this season, they sit second in LaLiga.

Klopp's mood has unsurprisingly not been as buoyant as in previous campaigns, and the crotchety way he has dealt with some reasonable questions from reporters of late has pointed to the strain this might all be taking.

He might turn this all around of course, as six months of underachievement does not undo all his previous work, but football is a results business and the FSG owners expect the club to be performing on and off the field.

There is a sense of gloom about Liverpool, defeats to the likes of Brighton and Hove Albion and Wolves no longer comes as surprises, and something has to change sharpish.

Stats Perform AI gives them just a 15.6 per cent chance of finishing in the top four. They are likelier to finish in eighth or ninth place (a combined 16.6 per cent), according to that data modelling.

Can Klopp rise again?

Liverpool are winless in their four Premier League games so far in 2023 (D1 L3), and have scored just once. They have only endured a longer winless run at the start of a calendar year once in the Premier League era – a five-game stretch in 2017 (D3 L2).

They turned it around that time and won nine of their next 14 league games (D3 L2) to secure a fourth-placed finish, but such lofty heights look beyond them this season. Those competing for the Champions League places are all in a healthy state, and Liverpool are spluttering like a sick hound.

Winning the Champions League looks like the only route for Liverpool to get back into UEFA's most lucrative club competition next season. Winning the Champions League also looks a million miles beyond them.

A reset of some sort is needed, and implementing that in the middle of the season is desperately difficult.

Fellow mid-table toilers Chelsea have brought in a mental skills expert from the New Zealand rugby team, in the hope he will coax the best out of a talented group, and Liverpool might also consider a jolt from an outside influence.

Liverpool's next eight games are treacherous. After Everton, they travel to fourth-placed Newcastle United, and then comes the Anfield first leg against Madrid.

Four Premier League games follow, with trips to Crystal Palace and Bournemouth sandwiching home games against Wolves and Manchester United. Then comes the Madrid second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

If Klopp picks up a good handful of Premier League wins and gets past Madrid, it's happy days again. But if not...

If Klopp goes, then who comes in?

Every sturdy operation needs a succession plan in mind, in boom times and bad, so Liverpool will have firm ideas about the type of manager they would be targeting next.

When they hired Klopp in October 2015, he was unmistakably a rising star of the coaching world, a two-time Bundesliga winner and a Champions League runner-up. Many clubs had looked at him, and Liverpool's decision to take the plunge paid off handsomely.

There are certain names that spring to mind when it comes to out-of-work bosses who could fancy Liverpool: Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Enrique. Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone might be seeking a fresh start at the end of this season.

Then there are the Liverpool favourites who have dipped a toe into coaching but would only be contenders on a wing and a prayer: Xabi Alonso and former Reds captain Steven Gerrard.

Klopp's assistant Pep Lijnders might enter the conversation, too, if a change happens.

Yet maybe Liverpool will be seeking a figure more in the 2015 Klopp mould, a coach on the rise who can point to experience and success, and precious few scars.

Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton has beaten Liverpool twice this year, while Brentford's Thomas Frank dished out a 3-1 defeat to the Reds, and their respective sides sit sixth and seventh.

Eddie Howe at Newcastle is probably out of reach, and that factor alone puts Liverpool's decline into black and white.