Barclays Premier League Opta Facts – Aug 17-19

Arsenal v Aston Villa
Arsenal have lost only one of their last nine Barclays Premier League meetings with Aston Villa (W5 D3).
Aston Villa won one more point (21) away from home than they did at home (20) in the 2012-13 Barclays Premier League.
Villa have won just two of their last 19 trips to London to face Arsenal, but both of these have come since the Gunners moved to the Emirates Stadium.
Indeed only Chelsea (three) have won more away Premier League games at the Emirates than Aston Villa (two).
Villa have won just one point from their last seven Premier League away trips to London.
Arsenal have not lost any of their last 12 opening Premier League games (W8 D4), though they have drawn their last three.
Villa have played their opening fixture away from Villa Park 12 times in the Premier League era and have only won once (1-0 at Newcastle in 1999), drawing seven and losing four.
Arsenal finished last season with a 10-game unbeaten run (W8 D2) and lost just one of their last 16 fixtures to secure a top-four berth yet again.
Darren Bent has scored six goals in his last eight Premier League games against Arsenal and has scored three in three at the Emirates.
The Emirates Stadium saw more goals than any other stadium in the Premier League last season (70).

Chelsea v Hull City
Chelsea are unbeaten in their four previous Barclays Premier League games against Hull City (W2 D2).
The Tigers have won just one point from their last five Barclays Premier League away games in London.
Hull last won a competitive fixture against Chelsea in October 1988 (3-0 at home)
Hull have not won any of their previous 19 competitive games away at Chelsea, losing 14 (D5).
Chelsea have won 44 points on the opening day fixtures in the Premier League era; more than any other side.
The Blues have won 12 and lost none of their last 14 opening day league games (D2), scoring 36 goals and conceding just 14 in this run.
Fernando Torres has scored three goals in two Premier League games against Hull City, though all three came courtesy of a hat-trick for Liverpool back in September 2009.
The last time Hull City won away from home on the opening day was back in 2002, when they won 3-1 at Exeter in the fourth tier.
Should Frank Lampard play in this game, he will overtake Paul Scholes as the player to have played in his team's opening game of the season most often in the Premier League era (players currently tied on 17).
Chelsea scored the most headed goals (16) in the Premier League last season.

Crystal Palace v Tottenham Hotspur
Palace have found the net in all but one of their previous eight Premier League fixtures against Spurs.
Tottenham have only won two of their last 12 opening Barclays Premier League games (D4 L6).
Spurs lost their last Premier League game against Crystal Palace; 0-3 in January 2005 at Selhurst Park.
The Eagles have lost only one of their last six Premier League games against Spurs.
Both Palace and their opponents have scored in all four of the Eagle's previous opening day fixtures in the Premier League.
Against no other side have Palace scored more Premier League goals than they have managed against Spurs (10).
This will be the 16th time Tottenham have played away from home in their opening Premier League game, a competition-record.
The Eagles won 16 penalties in the Championship last season, including the one in the playoff final that took them to the Premier League. This was more than any other side.
The last time Crystal Palace opened up a Premier League campaign on home soil, they were beaten 1-6 by Liverpool.
Palace striker Glenn Murray scored more goals than any other player in the Championship in 2012-13 (30) but sustained a serious knee injury in the playoffs.

Liverpool v Stoke City
Liverpool have secured only two points and scored just one goal in their last four Barclays Premier League meetings with Stoke City (D2 L2).
The Potters have lost only two of their 10 Barclays Premier League meetings with Liverpool (W3 D5).
However, Stoke have never scored a Premier League goal at Anfield, despite playing there five times.
Three of the previous five Premier League games between these two sides at Anfield have ended 0-0.
Liverpool are without a win in the last four on the opening day of the season, drawing two home games 1-1 and losing twice away.
Stoke, meanwhile, have only won one of their five previous opening Premier League fixtures (D2 L2).
Liverpool managed more shots than any other side last season (528) but also managed more shots off target than any other team (296).
Stoke scored just 34 goals in 2012/13, a haul superior only to relegated QPR (30).
The Potters also mustered a league-low of just 114 shots on target last season.
Liverpool won four and lost none of their five league games without Luis Suarez playing in 2012/13.

Manchester City v Newcastle United
Manchester City had the best defensive record in 2012/13, conceding just 34 goals and keeping 18 clean sheets.
Newcastle have never won a Barclays Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium (D2 L7).
Manchester City have won 11 and lost none (D2) of their last 13 Premier League games against Newcastle, including a current run of seven successive victories.
Newcastle have scored just eight goals in their last 13 Premier League games against Man City, conceding 30.
Yaya Toure has netted three in his last three league games against the Magpies.
Newcastle have only won two of their 10 previous away games on the opening day of a Premier League season (D4 L4).
Jesus Navas created more chances from open play than any other player in La Liga in 2012/13 (71).
City were the only team to score in every home game last season.
The Magpies scored only one goal from a corner in the entire 2012/13 Premier League season, a league-low.
Alan Pardew's side won nine points with goals scored in second-half injury time last term, the most in the PL.

Norwich City v Everton
Norwich have lost only one of their six Barclays Premier League home games versus Everton.
The Toffees have lost seven of their last 10 opening Barclays Premier League games, winning the other three.
City scored two goals in the last six minutes to win this fixture last season.
Everton have gone eight Premier League away games without a win.
Norwich have not won their opening league game in any of the last 10 seasons (D5 L5) and have not won their opening game in the top-flight since the first ever Premier League season (1992/93), when they won 4-2 at Arsenal.
Three of the last four meetings between these two sides have ended in a draw.
Marouane Fellaini netted five headed goals in the Premier League last season, a figure only Swansea's Michu could better (6).
32% of Norwich City's goals in 2012/13 were headers; a league-high proportion.
Leighton Baines created 116 goal scoring chances last season; 12 more than any other player in the Premier League.
Baines is currently the only player in Premier League history to have taken 10 (or more) penalties and maintained a 100% success rate.

Sunderland v Fulham
Fulham are unbeaten in their last four Barclays Premier League away trips to Sunderland (W1 D3).
Sunderland have won only one of their last eight Barclays Premier League home games.
Both teams scored a penalty in this fixture last season (Gardner and Berbatov).
Fulham have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four Premier League games on the opening day of the season.
The Whites have only won one of their seven previous top-flight away games on the opening day (D2 L4), winning 1-0 at Portsmouth back in 2009/10.
Sunderland are unbeaten in their last four games on the opening day of the season, though they have drawn their last three.
Indeed the Black Cats have only scored eight goals in 12 previous Premier League opening fixtures combined.
Sunderland scored just two headed goals in 2012/13 - a league-low.
Dimitar Berbatov scored the first goal of the game more often than any other player in 2012/13 (nine times).
Fulham gained just five points from losing positions in the whole of last season, a league-low.

Swansea City v Manchester United
Swansea ended a run of six successive opening day defeats with a 5-0 win at Queens Park Rangers last season.
Man Utd have taken 10 points from their four Barclays Premier League encounters against Swansea.
Man Utd's last three Barclays Premier League away games have ended as draws, despite them scoring eight goals in that spell.
Michu has scored in both of his two previous appearances against Manchester United. The Spaniard is one of only four players to have played against the Red Devils more than once in the Premier League and still average a goal a game or better (Paul Mason, Mario Balotelli, Romelu Lukaku).
Michu also netted a league-high six headed goals last season.
Manchester United have lost just two of their last 17 opening league fixtures, though one of those was last year at Everton.
Only Chelsea (44) have won more points from their opening games than Man Utd (43) in the Premier League era.
Man Utd hit the woodwork 24 times last season, more than any other side.
Manchester United came from behind to claim 29 points in the Premier League last season. Only Newcastle in 2001-02 (34) have claimed more.
The Red Devils had 20 different goal scorers in 2012-13, a record spread in a single Premier League season.

West Bromwich Albion v Southampton
West Brom have only won two of their last 15 opening league games (D5 L8).
The Saints lost a league-high 29 points from winning positions last term.
Wantaway striker Peter Odemwingie scored a brace in this fixture last season as the Baggies won 2-0.
The Throstles have lost only one of their last eight league with the Saints.
Southampton have conceded only two goals in total in their last five Barclays Premier League away games.
The Saints have won just one of their previous 14 games on the opening day of the Premier League season.
Of all teams to have played 10 or more Barclays Premier League seasons, Southampton have the worst opening day record (an average of just 0.64 points per game).
Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin made more tackles (146) and interceptions (139) than any other Premier League player in 2012-13.
Mauricio Pochettino's side failed to win any of their last six league games last season (D4 L2), avoiding relegation by just five points.
The Baggies also won just one of their last nine league games last term, drawing three and losing five.

West Ham United v Cardiff City
West Ham lost 1-0 at home to Cardiff on the opening day of the Championship season two years ago.
Only Watford (39) claimed more Championship away points than Cardiff (36) in 2012-13.
West Ham have won four of their last five games against Cardiff to nil.
Cardiff have won four and lost none of their last five opening fixtures.
The Hammers shipped a joint-league-high 12 goals in the opening 15 minutes of their games last season.
The Hammers have only drawn one of their last 18 opening games (W9 L8).
West Ham were the only team not to win consecutive Barclays Premier League games last season.
No player picked up more red cards in La Liga (5) than Cardiff's new signing Gary Medel in the period he was at Sevilla (Jan 2011 - June 2013).
West Ham's Matt Jarvis created the most goal scoring chances without actually assisting a single Premier League goal last season (46).
The Hammers goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen made a league-high 166 saves last term.