Premier League Matchweek 9: Whats the stats say

The Premier League returns this weekend with Matchweek 9 kicking off on Friday night and running through to Sunday evening.

Fans can catch every match live on SuperSport and Showmax Premier League, with adjusted kickoff times, the earliest weekend fixtures now begin at 4pm (CAT).

Leeds United v West Ham United

Having won eight of their nine home league games against West Ham between 1996 and 2005, Leeds are now winless in their last four against the Hammers at Elland Road (D2 L2).

West Ham have won four of their last six league games against Leeds (D1 L1), as many as they had in their previous 37 (D12 L21).

West Ham lost 3-0 at promoted side Sunderland on the opening weekend this season. They’ve not lost consecutive league games against promoted sides within the same season since December 2017 (vs Brighton and Newcastle).

In their last spell in the Premier League between 2020-21 and 2022-23, Leeds United’s only home Friday night game was also against West Ham in December 2020, losing 2-1. In front of supporters, the last time Leeds hosted a top-flight Friday night game was in April 1994 against Newcastle, drawing 1-1 thanks to a Chris Fairclough goal.

Leeds’ 2-1 defeat against Spurs in their last home game ended their 23-game unbeaten league run at Elland Road (W18 D5). They last lost consecutive home league matches in May 2024.

Leeds are averaging 13 shots per game in the Premier League this season, the highest rate by a promoted side since Leeds themselves in 2020-21 (13.7). However, their conversion rate is just 6.7 per cent, their lowest on record in a league season (since 2013-14).

Only Wolves (58 per cent) have been losing for a higher per centage of their Premier League games than West Ham (48 per cent) this season, while the Hammers have been winning for just three per cent of their games, the lowest of any side. 65 per cent of the time they’ve been winning in 2025-26 was against current manager Nuno Espirito Santo when he was manager of Nottingham Forest in a 3-0 win in August.

-- NIGERIA ONLY --

With just four points in eight Premier League matches, this is West Ham’s worst ever start to a Premier League season, while in the top-flight they last had as few as four after eight games in 1988-89 (also 4), eventually finishing 19th and being relegated.

Having created 10 chances across his first three Premier League games this season, Leeds’ Anton Stach has created just four more in his last five appearances.

Nuno Espirito Santo is winless in all three of his Premier League matches as West Ham manager so far (D1 L2). The last manager to fail to win any of his first four in charge was Manuel Pellegrini in September 2018.

Chelsea v Sunderland

Chelsea have won their last three home league games against Sunderland by an aggregate score of 11-3, most recently a 5-1 victory on the final day of the 2016-17 campaign.

Having won four of their first six Premier League games against Chelsea between 1996 and 2001 (L2), Sunderland have since won just three of their 26 against the Blues (D2 L21).

None of the 16 Premier League meetings between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge have been drawn (13 Chelsea wins, 3 Sunderland). It’s the second most played specific fixture without seeing a single draw in the competition, after Fulham at home to Newcastle (17).

Only Manchester City (34) have earned more home points in the Premier League in 2025 than Chelsea (33 – W10 D3 L1), with the Blues sole defeat at Stamford Bridge this calendar year coming against Brighton last month.

Sunderland have 14 points from their eight Premier League games this season, their best return at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1999-00 when they also had 14 points and won their ninth game.

Sunderland are unbeaten in their last 13 away league games against London sides (W4 D9), since a 2-1 loss at Fulham in April 2018. It’s the Black Cats’ longest ever unbeaten league run in the capital.

Chelsea failed to score in their first Premier League game of the season (0-0 v Crystal Palace), but have netted 16 goals in their seven games since. Only Manchester City (17) have scored more in the competition than the Blues this term.

Chelsea have the youngest average starting XI age in the Premier League this season (24 years, 116 days), while Sunderland have the third youngest (25 years, 92 days). The Blues are still yet to feature a single player over the age of 28 under Enzo Maresca, with the Italian the only manager (inc. caretakers) in Premier League history not to use a player aged 30+ in any game.

Excluding penalties, no team has scored more goals from set pieces in the Premier League this season than Chelsea (8, level with Arsenal). Six of these have come from corners, just one fewer corner goal than they netted in the whole of last season.

Sunderland keeper Robin Roefs has conceded six goals (excluding own goals) in the Premier League this season, from an xGoT of nine. His record of preventing three goals is the highest of any Premier League goalkeeper this term.

Newcastle United v Fulham

Newcastle lost this exact fixture 2-1 last season – only once have they lost back-to-back home league games against Fulham, doing so in 1950/1951.

After an eight-game winless run against Newcastle in the Premier League between 2018 and 2024, Fulham completed the league double over the Magpies last season.

Newcastle have won just two of their last 10 Premier League games (D3 L5), with both victories coming against sides currently sitting in the relegation zone (1-0 v Wolves, 2-0 v Nottingham Forest).

No side have kept more clean sheets in the Premier League this season than Newcastle (5, level with Arsenal). Indeed, the Magpies’ league games have seen fewer goals scored than any other side’s this term (14 – F7 A7).

Fulham have lost each of their last three Premier League games, last losing more consecutively in March/April 2023 (4). The Cottagers have also kept just one clean sheet in their last 17 Premier League games (1-0 v Leeds last month).

Only Burnley and Sunderland (21 each) have had fewer shots on target than Fulham in the Premier League this season (23), with the Cottagers failing to register one against Arsenal last time out. Indeed, the Cottagers’ average of 2.9 shots on target per game is their lowest ever in a Premier League campaign.

Fulham are – along with Wolves – one of just two teams yet to have a player score more than once for them in the Premier League this season. No side has benefitted from more own goals than the Cottagers this term (2), with six different players scoring their other six goals.

Nick Woltemade has scored four goals in his five Premier League games for Newcastle. The only players to reach five goals in six or fewer appearances for the Magpies are Loïc Rémy (5), Les Ferdinand (6) and Papiss Cissé (6).

As a team, Newcastle have made more line breaking passes behind the defensive line than any other side in the Premier League this season (61), with captain Bruno Guimarães leading the way among players (15).

Fulham’s Alex Iwobi has made 299 Premier League appearances. He would be the first Nigerian to reach 300, and fifth African player overall after Kolo Touré (353), Mohamed Salah (309), Wilfried Zaha (305) and Jordan Ayew (305).

Manchester United v Brighton and Hove Albion

Manchester United have lost six of their last seven league games against Brighton (W1), double the amount they’d lost against them in their first 17 league meetings (W12 D2 L3).

Brighton have won each of their last three Premier League away games against Manchester United – the last side to win more consecutive league visits to Old Trafford were Manchester City between 1968 and 1972 (5).

Thanks to a 2-0 win against Sunderland, and a 2-1 win against Liverpool, Manchester United have won consecutive Premier League games under Ruben Amorim for the first time. They last won three in a row in May/August 2024, while they last did so in the same season in February earlier that year (4).

Manchester United have won their last three Premier League home games, as many as in their previous 13 at Old Trafford (D2 L8). They last won more consecutively between April and August 2023 (8), though that run was stopped by a 3-1 defeat to Brighton.

Brighton have kept just one clean sheet in their last 20 Premier League games, a 2-0 win at Wolves in May. The Seagulls have lost just two of their last 13 league games, however (W7 D4).

Despite winning three of their eight Premier League games this season, and leading in two of their three draws (L2), Brighton have spent a lower share of their game time winning (24.1 per cent) than any other game state this term (38.1 per cent losing, 37.8 per cent drawing).

Bruno Fernandes has just three goal involvements in the Premier League this season (2 goals, 1 assist), though these have been worth six points to Manchester United. Only Antoine Semenyo’s (9) and Jack Grealish’s (7) goals and assists have been worth more points for their side this term.

Man Utd’s Bryan Mbeumo has only been involved in more Premier League goals against Southampton (8) than he has against Brighton (6 – 3 goals, 3 assists), with all six of these coming in his last four starts against the Seagulls.

Matheus Cunha has had more shots following a ball carry than any other player in the Premier League this season (12). However, he’s still waiting for his first goal in Manchester United colours.

Brighton’s Danny Welbeck has scored four goals in his last three Premier League games, more than he had in his previous 15 (3). With braces against Chelsea and Newcastle in this run, this is only the third season in which he’s scored multiple goals in more than one game after 2013-14 (2) and 2017-18 (2).

Brentford v Liverpool

Having lost just one of their first three Premier League meetings with Liverpool (W1 D1), Brentford have now lost each of their last five against the Reds.

Liverpool have scored at least once in all eight of their Premier League games against Brentford, their second best 100 per cent scoring rate against an opponent after QPR (14).

Liverpool have lost each of their last four Premier League away games against London sides – they last lost five consecutive league visits to the capital between March and November 1970.

Brentford have won two of their last three Premier League matches, more than in their previous seven combined (W1 D2 L4). The Bees are looking for consecutive wins for the first time since April/May last season under Thomas Frank.

Liverpool have lost five of their last eight away games in the Premier League (W3), as many as their previous 43 beforehand (W23 D15). The Reds could lose three consecutive league games on the road for the first time since January/February 2023 – a run that included a 3-1 defeat at Brentford, their only Premier League loss to the Bees.

Liverpool have lost their last three Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous 39 (W27 D9). They last lost four in a row in February 2021, while they last had a 4+ game losing streak within their first nine games of a league season in 1993-94.

Liverpool have lost each of their last three Premier League games thanks to goals scored in the final 10 minutes of games, and having equalised in each match. No team has ever lost four in a row thanks to goals scored in the final 10 minutes, while only Crystal Palace in November 2016 have lost four in a row having drawn level each time.

Michael Kayode created seven chances for Brentford against West Ham, the joint most by a player in a Premier League match this season. Those seven chances account for 37 per cent of the chances he has created across 20 appearances overall (7/19).

Though he’s still waiting for his first Premier League goal for Liverpool, Alexander Isak has scored in all four of his appearances against Brentford. No player has a better 100 per cent scoring rate against an opponent in the competition.

Brentford’s Igor Thiago has netted five Premier League goals this season, with only Erling Haaland (11) and Antoine Semenyo (6) scoring more. Thiago had the most shots (6), shots on target (3), shots from inside the box (6) and touches in the opposition box (10) in the Bees’ 2-0 win over West Ham on MD8.

Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest

Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last 10 league games against Nottingham Forest (W6 D4) since losing both Championship meetings in their 2014-15 promotion season.

Nottingham Forest have won just one of their last 11 away league games against Bournemouth (D3 L7), beating them 2-1 in the Championship in August 2014.

Bournemouth are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League games (W4 D3), the longest current ongoing run in the competition. It’s their fourth run of 7+ unbeaten games in the top-flight (with three of those coming under Andoni Iraola), only having a longer run between November and January last season (11).

Nottingham Forest are winless in their last seven Premier League games (D2 L5), with only Wolves currently on a longer run (12).

With Sean Dyche taking charge, Nottingham Forest are already on their third permanent manager this season after Nuno Espírito Santo and Ange Postecoglou. It’s the earliest into a Premier League campaign a side has had three different permanent managers.

Nottingham Forest have conceded the joint most goals in the second half of Premier League games this season (11), while Bournemouth have conceded a higher share of goals after halftime than anyone else (82 per cent - 9/11).

In their first spell in the Premier League from 2015-16 to 2019-20, Bournemouth won just 32.3 per cent of their games against sides starting the day in the relegation zone (10/31). Since their return to the division in 2022, they’ve won 68.4 per cent of their games against sides in the bottom three (13/19).

Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche has lost his last three Premier League games against Bournemouth, having won six in a row against the Cherries before this. Indeed, his last Premier League match in charge of Everton was a 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth in January last season.

Only Erling Haaland (12) has been involved in more Premier League goals than Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo this season (9 – 6 goals, 3 assists). The Ghanian has also scored in his last two games against Nottingham Forest.

82 of Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood’s 91 Premier League goals have been scored under either Sean Dyche (49) or Nuno Espírito Santo (33).

Arsenal v Crystal Palace

Arsenal have won five of their last six Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace, though the exception was a 2-2 draw in this exact fixture last season.

Crystal Palace have won just one of their last 14 away league games against Arsenal (D5 L8), beating them 3-2 in April 2019 under Roy Hodgson.

Arsenal have only lost two of their 70 home Premier League matches when they’ve started the day top of the table (W52 D16), losing to Hull in September 2008 and Man City in February 2023. They have won seven out of eight (D1) at the Emirates when in 1st place since that loss to Man City, scoring 28 goals in those eight games.

Crystal Palace have drawn eight of their last 14 Premier League matches (W5 L1), including a 3-3 draw on MD8 at home against Bournemouth. Since the start of April, the Eagles have drawn nine Premier League matches – three more than anyone else.

Arsenal have not faced a single shot on target in either of their last two Premier League matches. On record since 2003-04, the only side to go three games in a row without facing a shot on target are Manchester City between May and August 2014.

Arsenal have faced the fewest shots (65), fewest shots on target (18), the lowest xG (4.8) and conceded the fewest goals (3) in the Premier League this season. It’s the joint fewest goals they’ve conceded after eight Premier League matches, along with three in 1998-99, which was also the last time they kept five clean sheets in their first eight matches.

Crystal Palace lead the Premier League for shots on target (43), xG (17.4) and big chances (33) this season. However, they are underperforming their xG by the biggest margin (-5.4) and have missed the most big chances (22) in the competition.

Arsenal lead the way for corner goals (7) and goals from set pieces (10) in the Premier League this season, finding the net with a set piece in six of their eight games so far. It is the earliest into a season any team has scored 10 set piece goals in Premier League history.

Leandro Trossard scored Arsenal’s winner against Fulham on MD8, while the Belgian has netted in each of his last two Premier League starts against Crystal Palace. He’s never ended on the losing side when scoring for the Gunners in the competition (21 games, W17 D4), with only Gabriel Martinelli (38), Cesc Fàbregas (32) and Paul Merson (27) scoring in more without defeat for Arsenal.

Eight of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s last nine Premier League goals for Crystal Palace have been scored in London, and he’s netted five goals in his last eight London derbies. He’s also only the third Palace player to net five goals in their eight matches of a Premier League season, along with Andrew Johnson in 2004-05 and Wilfried Zaha in 2020-21.

Aston Villa v Manchester City

Aston Villa have won their last two home league games against Manchester City, last winning more consecutively between 1960 and 1975 (5).

Man City have won 31 games and scored 101 goals against Aston Villa in the Premier League – only against Newcastle (32 wins, 106 goals) have they done so more.

After a five game winless start in the Premier League this season (D3 L2), Aston Villa have since won each of their last three games. The only team in top-flight history to have a five game winless start then win their next four games are Preston in 1936-37.

Manchester City have won more points in the Premier League than any other side since the start of April (39 – W12 D3 L2). They’ve only conceded the first goal in two games in that time, while they’ve opened the scoring in their last six games, their best run since a run of eight between April and August 2024.

Aston Villa have won their last two Premier League games when they’ve conceded the first goal, beating Fulham 3-1 and Spurs 2-1. Since Unai Emery’s first game with the Villans in November 2022, only Pep Guardiola (14) has more wins after conceding first than Emery (11).

Since their 5-1 defeat at Arsenal in February, Manchester City have kept more clean sheets in the Premier League than any other side (12), while only the Gunners can match City for goals conceded per game (both 15 in 22 games, 0.68).

Five of the last seven Premier League goals Aston Villa have conceded have come via set pieces (1x penalty, 1x throw, 3x corners), conceding from a corner in each of their last three games. The last side to concede from a corner in four games in a row were Newcastle in April/May 2024, while Villa last did so in November/December 2010.

No player in the Premier League this season has more goals and assists combined as a substitute than Aston Villa’s Emiliano Buendía (2 goals, 1 assist). The Argentinian is looking to score in consecutive Premier League appearances for the very first time.

Erling Haaland has scored in each of his last five away Premier League appearances for Manchester City. The only player to score in more consecutive away games for City is Sergio Agüero between March and August 2017 (7 in a row).

Man City have scored seven away Premier League goals in 2025-26, with Erling Haaland scoring five of those, netting in all four away games. The only players to score in their team’s first five away matches of a season are Thierry Henry in 2001-02 for Arsenal, Mohamed Salah in 2021-22 for Liverpool and Jarrod Bowen in 2023-24 for West Ham.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Burnley

Wolves have won just one of their last nine Premier League games against Burnley (D4 L4), a 1-0 win in their last home meeting in December 2023.

Burnley’s first two Premier League games against Wolves ended in 2-0 and 2-1 defeats. Since then, they’ve not conceded more than once in any of their 10 meetings with them (6 goals conceded).

Wolves are the only team without a Premier League win this season (D2 L6) and for a second consecutive season have won none of their first eight games. They also failed to win their ninth match of 2024-25, with Bury in 1904-05/1905-06 and Sunderland in 2015-16/2016-17 the only sides to do this in back-to-back top[1]flight seasons.

Both of Burnley’s Premier League wins this season have come against their fellow promoted clubs, beating both Sunderland and Leeds 2-0 at Turf Moor. The Clarets have won just two of their last 44 top-flight games against non-newly promoted sides (D10 L32) and won none of their last 14 (D5 L9).

Wolves have now gone 25 Premier League matches without a victory in the months of May, August, September and October combined (D6 L19) since a 2-1 away win at Bournemouth back in October 2023.Across their last two seasons, they are winless in all 21 games played in these months (D5 L16).

In the Premier League this season, Burnley rank bottom for average possession (34.7 per cent), successful passes (1 908), passing accuracy (75.7 per cent), shots attempted (60), touches in the opposition box (111) and expected goals (5.4), and have played the highest per centage of their passes long (17 per cent).

In March and April 2025, Wolves won the most points of any Premier League side (19 – W6 D1), but, since May, they’ve won seven fewer points than any other ever-present team (3 – D3 L9). Wolves are the only side in English top-flight history to follow up a six-game winning run with 12 winless matches.

Burnley manager Scott Parker has lost all three of his Premier League matches against Wolves, losing all three games by a 1-0 scoreline (one in May 2019, both games in 2020-21). They’re one of four sides he’s faced in the competition and not picked up a point against, along with Man City (L5), Chelsea (L3) and Watford (L1).

Wolverhampton Wanderers have used just one English player in the Premier League this season, with goalkeeper Sam Johnstone playing four times, the fewest Englishmen to play for a club in the division in 2025-26. Only 23.7 per cent of the players Wolves have ever used in the Premier League have been English (37/156), the second-lowest ratio of any side to feature 100+ players, ahead only of Fulham (22.3 per cent).

Burnley’s Lesley Ugochukwu has netted in each of his last two Premier League appearances, having only scored once in his first 43 games in the competition. With his goal on MD8, he was the first player with the initials LU to score against Leeds United in the Premier League.

Everton v Tottenham Hotspur

Everton won 3-2 against Tottenham in their last Premier League meeting – they’ve not won consecutively against Spurs since December 2012, in David Moyes’ first spell at the club.

Although they’ve only lost one of their last 12 Premier League away games against Everton (W3 D8), Spurs are winless in their last six visits to the Toffees (D5 L1), losing this exact fixture 3-2 in January.

Everton have lost just one of their last 13 Premier League home matches (W5 D7), losing 2-0 to Manchester City in April. They’re unbeaten in all four this season, last having a longer unbeaten start on home soil in 2016-17 (first eight).

Since the start of last season, no side has lost more Premier League matches when scoring first than Tottenham (8), while manager Thomas Frank ranks third for this (6 defeats) behind Marco Silva (8) and his predecessor at Spurs, Ange Postecoglou (7).

Although they’ve gone five games without a clean sheet in all competitions, Everton haven’t conceded more than twice in a match since losing 4-0 to Man Utd last December, a run of 37 games. It’s their longest run without conceding three in a game since between May 1987 and February 1988 (46 games).

Tottenham Hotspur have the most away points in the Premier League this season (10 – W3 D1), with 71 per cent of their points this season being won on the road (10/14). Only once in the Premier League era have they won 13+ points in their first five away games of a season, doing so in 2020-21 (13).

Everton have won their last five Premier League matches played on Sundays, all under David Moyes since he returned to the club in January. They’re the only side to play more than twice on a day of the week in 2025 and win every single game on that day.

Tottenham’s goal in their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa was scored by Rodrigo Bentancur via a corner – in the last two seasons, only Arsenal (21) have netted more corner goals in the Premier League than Spurs (13).

Only Tottenham’s Mohammed Kudus (64) and Man City’s Jérémy Doku (45) have made more dribbles in the Premier League this season than Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye (39). His 5.2 dribbles per 90 are the most by an Everton player in a season (500+ minutes played) since Moise Kean in 2019-20 (5.6).

João Palhinha has made more tackles (35) than any other Premier League player this season, while his 10 tackles in Spurs’ 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa was the most by a player in a game in 2025-26 and most by a Spurs midfielder since Sandro made 11 against Blackburn in April 2012