Championship Opta Facts – February 8-9

Watford v Crystal Palace
Watford ended a run of six games without a victory against Palace with a 3-2 triumph at Selhurst Park on the opening day of this season.
Matej Vydra scored his first ever goal for the Hornets in the 90th minute of that game to clinch victory, he has scored 19 goals from just 37 shots in the Championship this season.
Palace are winless in seven away league games, drawing three and losing four.
The Eagles have only managed one clean sheet in their last 10 league games combined.
Matej Vydra has scored 11 goals in his last eight league games.

Blackburn Rovers v Ipswich Town
Five of the last seven clashes between Blackburn and Ipswich (all competitions) have ended level, with the other two both being won by the odd goal.
Ipswich have won none and lost three (5D) of their last eight league meetings with Rovers, last beating them back in November 1993 thanks to a goal from Eddie Youds.
Jordan Rhodes has scored seven goals in his last six league games and is responsible for each of Rovers' last five league goals.
Ipswich have not conceded a first-half goal in any of their last four league games.
Mick McCarthy's side ended a run of four without a win (D2 L2) with victory against Middlesbrough (4-0) last time out.
Rovers have won three and lost just one of their last six league games (D2).

Blackpool v Millwall
Since their relegation from the Premier League, Blackpool have remained unbeaten against Millwall (W2 D1), including a 2-0 victory at the New Den back in August.
None of the last six meetings between the Tangerines and the Lions at Bloomfield Road have ended level, though the last four have all been won by the odd goal.
Millwall have gone 351 minutes of league football without a goal.
Tom Ince has scored three goals in his last two appearances for Blackpool.
Each of Blackpool's last four league games have ended 2-1, with the Seasiders winning one and losing three of those.
The Lancashire side have scored only one first-half goal in their last eight league games combined.

Bolton Wanderers v Burnley
Burnley have not won any of their last five games at the home of their fierce rivals (D2 L3), and last won there back in March 1985.
Only one of the last nine clashes between Bolton and Burnley has gone over 2.5 goals (all competitions), while both sides have scored only once in the last five.
Bolton's last three goals in the league have come from the penalty spot. They have not scored from open play since December 29 v Birmingham.
After four games out, Clarets striker Charlie Austin scored in the first minute of his return at Peterborough last week.
Bolton have won only one of their last seven league games (D2 L4).
After a run of four wins in five (1L), Burnley are without a win in two (1D 1L).

Bristol City v Nottingham Forest
The last three meetings between Forest and City have seen just two goals netted in total - one apiece.
Forest are unbeaten in 14 trips to Ashton Gate in all competitions (W6 D8), though six of the last seven meetings there have ended drawn.
City managed their first and so far only clean sheet of the season in their last home game; a 2-0 victory over high-flying Watford.
Forest have lost their last two league games; they have not lost three in a row all season.
New Forest manager Billy Davies lead the Tricky Trees to the play-offs in his last season with the club (2010/11).
The Robins have won three of their last four home league games, losing the other.

Charlton Athletic v Birmingham City
The Blues are winless in four trips to the Valley, drawing two, losing two and failing even to net in each of their last two trips.
Overall, however, Birmingham are unbeaten in three against the Addicks. The Blues have won one and drawn two of these games.
The Blues have now gone 15 league games in a row without keeping a clean sheet.
Lee Clark's side have, however, scored in 14 of their last 16 league outings.
Charlton's last four league games have all ended 2-1, with the Addicks on the right side of the scoreline twice in that run.
The Addicks have only managed two clean sheets on home soil all season, and are without a shutout in five at the Valley.

Huddersfield Town v Cardiff City
The last four meetings between the Terriers and the Red Dragons in all competitions have all ended in home wins, with the Welsh side victorious in three of those games.
Cardiff have won their last five away league games, already the longest run of its kind in the Championship this term.
The Welsh side have found the net in all 14 away games since a 0-0 draw at Brighton in their opening away game of the season.
Cardiff's last eight league goals have all been netted by different players.
The Terriers have only scored five goals in their last nine league games combined, and never more than once in a match in that run.
All five of those goals have come after the half-time break; Huddersfield have not scored in the first-half since December 8, and that was an own goal.

Middlesbrough v Barnsley
Barnsley are without a win in five trips to Teeside in the league (D2 L3), last winning there in April 1992.
Promotion chasing Middlesbrough have lost their last four league games, scoring two and conceding 10.
‘Boro are the only Championship side to have scored in every home game this season, however.
Chris Dagnall has scored four goals in his last five appearances (all comps) for Barnsley.
Jason Scotland, meanwhile, has netted two goals in just 48 minutes of league action for the Tykes so far this season.
Middlesbrough have failed to score in their last two league games, after scoring in 24 of their first 27 outings.

Peterborough United v Leicester City
The Foxes have only won one of their five previous league trips to London Road, claiming a 2-1 victory there in April 2010.
Indeed, that Leicester victory is the only one of the last 10 meetings between the Posh and the Foxes that has ended in an away win.
Leicester have won their last five league games; with victory here they will become the first team in the Championship this term to record six successive victories.
Posh have found the net in each of their last 10 league games, the longest current run in the second tier.
The Foxes have kept three successive clean sheets on the road in the Championship.
Between them, strikers Dave Nugent (three) and Chris Wood (five) have scored eight goals in Leicester's last five games.

Sheffield Wednesday v Derby County
The Owls are without a victory in seven league meetings with Derby, losing five and drawing two.
At Hillsborough, Derby have won two and lost none of their last four trips in all competitions, not tasting defeat there since November 2005.
Wednesday have only lost one of 10 games with Reda Johnson (injured for this game) in the team, but have lost 14 of 20 without him in the team.
Jamie Ward has scored on three of his last four league appearances for the Rams.
Derby have only kept two clean sheets in their last 14 league games.
Dave Jones' side have only lost one of their last nine league games, winning six and drawing two.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Leeds United
The last four league meetings between Wolves and Leeds have all ended 1-0, with Wolves winning three of those and Leeds claiming one victory.
None of the last seven clashes between Wolves and the Whites have seen over 2.5 goals, with just eight goals netted in total over those games.
Wolves are without a win in seven league games, two short of their longest run without a victory this season.
Leeds are one of two teams (with Bristol City) without an away clean sheet this season.
Wolves have only scored one first-half goal in their last seven league games combined.
The last five games involving Leeds United have been 0-0 at half-time (league only).

Brighton and Hove Albion v Hull City
There has only been one goal netted in the last three meetings between Brighton and Hull combined; both games last season ended 0-0 and Hull won the reverse fixture 1-0.
The Tigers have not won at the home of Brighton since August 1965, losing 13 and drawing five of 18 league games since that victory.
Hull have failed even to score on 10 of their last 13 league trips to the home of the Seagulls.
The Tigers are unbeaten in seven away league games, the joint-longest run in the division all term.
David Lopez has scored four goals in his last seven league appearances, with three of those goals coming from the penalty spot.
The Seagulls have only won two of their last 10 league games, drawing five and losing three.

SPL Opta Facts - February 8-11

Dundee v Ross County
This is only the third SPL meeting between these sides and Dundee are still waiting for their first win, losing 1-0 at home in August and then drawing 1-1 at Ross County in December.
Dundee have picked up just seven points (W2 D1 L8) at home this season, scoring just eight goals in these 11 games.
Ross County are unbeaten in five SPL games (W3 D2), only Celtic (12) have accrued more points in this period.
The Staggies have kept just one clean sheet in their last 10 away games, that coming in a 1-0 win over Hibernian.
Dundee are winless in 10 SPL games, they have never gone 11 without a win.

Inverness CT v Celtic
Caley Thistle have won just three of 23 SPL encounters with Celtic, however one of those did come in their last meeting, last November.
Only one of the last eight meetings between this sides at Calendonian Stadium has ended level, there have been two home wins and five away wins in this run.
Celtic have won nine of their last 10 SPL matches, losing only to Hibernian (1-0) in this run.
Inverness are unbeaten in four home games (W3 D1), netting 12 goals in this period and conceding just three.
Billy McKay has scored three goals in Inverness' last two league games, he also netted the only goal of the game when his side won at Celtic Park earlier in the season.

Aberdeen v St Mirren
Aberdeen are unbeaten in five against St Mirren, however they have only managed to win one of these games (last time out).
Two of the last three games between these sides have ended in stalemate.
The Dons have won just one of their last six games at home.
In their last eight home games Aberdeen have either scored twice (five times) or failed to score (three times).
St Mirren's win over Dundee United in their last away game ended a run of nine away games without a victory, a spell dating back to August.

Dundee Utd v Hearts
Dundee United have won seven of their last 10 home games against Hearts but neither of their last two encounters (D1 L1).
Against all teams Dundee United have failed to win in 10 games at home, their worst such run since 2003.
Dundee United have both scored and conceded in each of their last eight home league games.
Hearts conversely are winless in eight away games, only Dundee (10) are on a worse such run.
This will be the fourth meeting between these sides this season, two league games supplemented by a League Cup game which Hearts won on penalties after it finished 1-1.

Kilmarnock v Motherwell
Four of the last six games between these teams have finished level, two of which ended goalless.
Only twice in the last nine games between these sides at Rugby Park have both sides found the back of the net.
Kilmarnock are winless in five games although three of these have been draws.
After four successive wins on the road Motherwell have lost their last two trips away from home, scoring just one goal in the process.
Motherwell have not kept a clean sheet since November, a run of eight games.

Hibernian v St Johnstone
Hibs have won both of their league games against St Johnstone in this campaign, scoring three unanswered goals in the process.
Only twice in 12 games have Hibernian failed to score at home to Saints.
There have been just five goals scored in total in Hibernian's last six games.
Hibernian have won just once in their last nine games, however that win was against league leaders Celtic.
St Johnstone's last two games have seen a total of nine goals scored, five in favour of Saints and four against.

Opta Facts Ligue 1 February 8th-10th

Ajaccio v Bordeaux
Bordeaux are unbeaten in their last eight competitive games against Ajaccio (W4, D4).
Ajaccio are unbeaten in their four Ligue 1 games played in 2013 (W1, D3).
Ajaccio have only lost three of their last 22 home games in L1 (W9, D10).
Bordeaux have managed to keep a clean sheet in nine of their last 13 league games.
Adrian Mutu has scored five goals in his last four home games in Ligue 1.
Six of Henri Saivet's seven goals in L1 have been scored in away games.

Evian TG v Marseille
Marseille have lost their last two away competitive games in Evian TG.
Evian TG are winless in their last six league games (D3, L3), their worst streak this term.
Evian TG have only won twice in their last 13 home games in Ligue 1 (D5, L6).
Only Valenciennes have conceded more goals (10) than Marseille (8) in Ligue 1 in 2013.
Marseille have scored in 10 of their 12 away games in Ligue 1 this term.
Marseille have won seven away league games this season, joint-best tally with PSG.
The Ayew brothers have scored 14 of Marseille's 30 goals in L1 this season (46%).

Lyon v Lille
Lille have failed to win any of their last seven away competitive games in Lyon (D3, L4).
None of the last 11 encounters between Lyon and Lille has ended in an away win.
Lyon have only conceded one goal in their last five home games in Ligue 1.
Lille have only won once in their last 11 away games in Ligue 1 (D6, L4).
Lille have only managed to keep a clean sheet once in away games this season.
Dimitri Payet is involved in 11 of Lille's last 15 goals in L1 (5 goals, 6 assists).
Lisandro has scored eight goals in six competitive games against Lille, more than against any other team.

Nancy v Reims
Reims have failed to win any of their eight away games in Nancy in Ligue 1 (D3, L5).
Nancy have scored in their last 13 league games, longest current run.
Reims are winless in their last 15 Ligue 1 games (D6, L9), longest current run.
Reims have failed to win any of their last 31 away games in L1 (D7, L24), longest current run.
With Troyes, Reims are the only team not to have won a single away league game this term.
20 of Reims' 27 goals conceded in L1 this season have been in the 2nd half, highest ratio in the league.
Gaëtan Courtet has scored 37% of Reims' goals in Ligue 1 this term (7 on 19).

Nice v Lorient
Lorient have lost five of their six away games in Nice in Ligue 1, winning just once.
Nice have only lost once in their last 11 home league games (W7, D3).
Lorient have lost five of their last seven away games in Ligue 1 (W2).
Nice have failed to win in their three games without Dario Cvitanich in L1 this term (D2, L1).
Camel Meriem's last four L1 goals have been scored against Brittany teams (Lorient & Brest).
Jérémie Aliadière is involved in 16 goals in Ligue 1 this term (9 goals, 7 assists) ; only Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a better tally (20 goals & 5 assists).

Paris SG v Bastia
Bastia have never won in Paris in Ligue 1 (D7, L17).
PSG have won their three encounters with promoted teams in L1 this season (9 goals scored, 0 conceded).
PSG have only lost four of their last 44 home games in L1 (W28, D12).
PSG have managed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight Ligue 1 games, which equals their longest ever run.
Bastia have failed to score in 11 of their 23 league games this season (48%), worst percentage this season.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has reached 20 league goals for the third time in his career (28 for AC Milan in 32 games in 2011/12 and 25 in 35 games for Inter in 2008/09).
Bastia goalkeeper Mickaël Landreau has only kept five clean sheets in 19 league games played this term.

Rennes v Toulouse
Toulouse are unbeaten in their last three encounters against Rennes in L1 (W2, D1).
Toulouse have scored in their last seven league games against Rennes.
Rennes have only won once in their last five home games (D2, L2).
Toulouse have won none of their last six away games in Ligue 1 (D2, L4).
Rennes midfielder Axel Ngando scored 19 seconds after coming on in the last matchday against Lorient, in his first ever top-flight game.
Mevlut Erding has scored six goals against Toulouse in L1, more than against any other team (apart from Sochaux).

St Etienne v Montpellier
Montpellier have only won once in 14 away games against St Etienne (D2, L11).
None of Montpellier's last 10 top-flight games has ended in a draw (W7, L3), longest current run.
None of Montpellier's last 66 league games has ended in a 0-0.
Montpellier have scored in 91% of their league games this term (21 out of 23), best ratio in L1.
St Etienne are unbeaten when Brandao starts in Ligue 1 this season (W8, D2).
Anthony Mounier has scored four goals in five starts against St Etienne in L1, more than against any other top-flight team.

Troyes v Sochaux
Sochaux are unbeaten in their last four encounters with Troyes in Ligue 1 (W3, D1).
Troyes have scored in 10 of their 12 home games in Ligue 1 this season.
Sochaux have lost their last three away games in Ligue 1, all with a 2-0 scoreline.
Troyes have only kept two clean sheets in L1 this term, lowest tally in the top 5 European leagues alongside Greuther Fürth, Mallorca and Nancy.
Fabien Camus is involved in six of Troyes' last nine goals in Ligue 1 (4 goals, 2 assists).
Edouard Butin has notched four goals and delivered three assists in his last six L1 games with Sochaux.

Valenciennes v Brest
Brest are unbeaten in their last three games against Valenciennes in L1 (W2, D1).
Brest have failed to win a single game in Valenciennes in Ligue 1 (D1, L3).
Valenciennes have only kept one clean sheet in their last 18 L1 games (against Reims).
Valenciennes have only won once in their last eight league games (D2, L5).
Valenciennes have failed to score in five of their last seven Ligue 1 games.
Brest have lost their last three league games, worst current streak.
Valenciennes pick up 1.53 pt/game on average with Gael Danic this season as opposed to only 0.67 when he's absent.

08.02. (Fri) 20:30 Paris Saint Germain - Bastia

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN
Sirigu
Jallet, Armand, Sakho, Maxwell
Lucas Moura, Matuidi, Verratti, Pastore
Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic
BASTIA
Landreau
Cioni, Choplin, Marchal, Harek
Yatabare, Sable
Thauvin, Rothen, Beauvue
Modeste

Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti is still without midfielder Thiago Motta due to suspension, with fellow Italy international Marco Verratti set to continue in midfield as was the case in last week's 4-0 win over Toulouse.

Thiago Silva remains sidelined, so Sylvain Armand will continue to deputise alongside Mamadou Sakho in the heart of defence. New deadline day signing David Beckham remains in London but has been included in the Champions League squad, as has Siaka Tiene, who returns from international duty from Cote d'Ivoire.

Bastia coach Frederic Hantz is without midfielder Yannick Cahuzac for the trip to the capital. However, he has no other injury struggles to contend with.

DID YOU KNOW?

Paris Saint-Germain sit top of Ligue 1, three points ahead of Olympique Lyonnais and six over Olympique de Marseille.

The hosts have not lost a competitive fixture in more than two months.

This season's corresponding fixture ended in a resounding 4-0 win for the capital club.

Bastia sit in 13th place in the table, following their 0-0 draw with Evian.

The Corsican outfit have never emerged victorious at the Parc des Princes.

The club have the worst defensive record in the league with 47 goals conceded in 23 encounters.

At the end of February, PSG face title rivals Marseille twice, once in the league, and once in the Coupe de France.

Prediction

While their rivals drop points, it seems that Ancelotti's men are picking up the pace as they seek a first title since 1994. Bastia have the worst defensive record in the league, so expect goals in this one.

Editor's Prediction
PSG 3-0 SC Bastia