Soccer English Premier League 12 March 2023

Crystal Palace vs Manchester City - Match Preview

A frustrating 1-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa last weekend consigned Crystal Palace to a ninth straight Premier League (PL) game without a victory (D5, L4), which is damningly the longest ongoing streak in the league. Heading into this round just five points above the drop zone, boss Patrick Vieira will be looking for a win sooner or later so his Eagles side doesn’t sleepwalk into the thick of a relegation battle.

Despite that poor run, the Palace boss was defiant in the build-up to this clash, stating “we know we can compete against teams like Manchester City”, which is probably a fair assessment considering Palace have kept clean sheets in two of their three H2Hs in the Frenchman’s tenure (W1, D1, L1). That strong defence could again be crucial to any Palace success too, as they’ve not managed a shot on target in over three hours of league play!

The Citizens haven’t had any such scoring issues with their return of nine goals across the last three competitive games helping them remain on course for a possible treble-winning campaign. City finds themselves five points adrift of league leaders Arsenal, but with the Gunners playing on Sunday, City can really crank up the pressure by provisionally cutting the gap to two points.

Pep Guardiola’s men may have to wait to get their rewards though, with each of their last nine goals against the Eagles arriving after half-time. Yet with a striker in their side, Erling Haaland, that has scored six more PL goals than Palace’s entire squad, such an outcome would surprise very few, especially when considering his first PL hat-trick came in the reverse when City battled back from 2-0 down to win 4-2.

📋 Players to watch: Wilfried Zaha could be the man to end Palace’s current goal drought as four of his five scoring appearances this season saw him net the team opener. Phil Foden netted City’s opener last time out against Newcastle and could move on to ten league goals in a season for the first time in his career here, in what may also secure his first run of four straight competitive scoring appearances.

⚡ Hot stat: Palace have won the lion’s share of their points (14/23) after conceding the opening goal (W4, D2, L8).

Fulham vs Arsenal - Match Preview

A 3-2 West London derby defeat against Brentford in the previous round served as a blow to Fulham’s European dreams. The Cottagers’ position of seventh heading into the weekend will likely be enough for a first European appearance since 2011/12, but having played more Premier League (PL) games than both of their closest chasers, Fulham could soon find themselves playing catch-up.

Returning home could provide a much-needed boost for Marco Silva’s men, who have lost just three of their 13 PL games here this term (W6, D4). That record could perhaps give Fulham false hope for this clash though, as they’re actually winless at Craven Cottage against sides starting the round above them (D1, L3), a trend which could continue unless they can end a torrid nine-match winless run in H2Hs at any venue against league leaders, Arsenal.

The brilliant work that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has done this season hasn’t gone unnoticed, with rumours Real Madrid is taking a keen interest in making the Spaniard their next boss. Arteta has said he’s grateful to be at Arsenal and “cannot control what is written”, but he now faces another big task after their gruelling Thursday night trip to face Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League (2-2).

The evidence suggests that tired legs from Thursday night action won’t faze the Gunners though, as they’ve amassed a six-game unbeaten PL run in games directly following each of their prior six Europa League matches (W5, D1). It should be noted that two of those PL wins came in London derbies and without reply, a statistic which bodes well for Arsenal as they look to improve on their impressive 71% win rate against Fulham in PL action (W22, D6, L3).

📋 Players to watch: Manor Solomon has scored in each of his last five competitive appearances for Fulham, with only Marcus Rashford and Erling Haaland managing longer streaks amongst PL players this season! Reiss Nelson was Arsenal’s saviour with a last-gasp goal against Bournemouth in the previous round (3-2), securing Arsenal’s first PL win after going 2-0 down since 2011/12!

⚡ Hot stat: Arsenal have won all four of their away London derbies in the PL this season by a combined scoreline of 8-0.

Manchester Utd vs Southampton - Match Preview

Manchester United displayed their resilience in midweek, responding to their 7-0 drubbing at Anfield last weekend with a rampant 4-1 win over Real Betis in the UEFA Europa League. Manager Erik ten Hag said he was “very grateful” for the support of the home crowd and their loyalty is certainly being rewarded with results this term, with the Red Devils unbeaten in 20 consecutive matches at Old Trafford (W18, D2).

Attention now quickly switches to consolidating a place inside the Premier League (PL) top-four, with any aspirations of chasing a first title in a decade all but over with a 14-point deficit to league leaders Arsenal ahead of this round. United certainly seem well placed to at least fend off any advances for their top-four spot though, as they boast the piston's joint-best home defence (GA: 8), while they’ve also scored at least twice in all but two of their games in 2023 (W14, D3, L2).

Southampton make the long journey north in good spirits, fresh from winning two of their last three PL outings ‘to nil’ (L1). Their latest success was a 1-0 victory over Leicester, but it still wasn’t enough to impress manager Rubén Sellés who insisted the “performance can be better” and his players may need to heed that warning considering the Saints have lost more PL games against United than any other side (29).

This is a fixture Southampton have won just twice since 2003, but the Saints can perhaps take heart from the fact both of those were 1-0 victories at Old Trafford in the PL, part of a run of just four defeats from their last nine visits to Old Trafford (W2, D3). They’ve been more comfortable on their travels this term too, earning 12 of their 21 points on the road, but it’s been an all-or-nothing tale given none of their 16 competitive away games this season ended level (W6, L10).

📋 Key battle: The next goal United scores against Southampton will be their 100th against them in the PL, and Bruno Fernandes may well be the man to get it having netted in this season’s reverse fixture. Midfield rival James Ward-Prowse played in both the Saints’ latest wins at United, while he’s also scored twice against the Red Devils - both ending in 3-2 defeats for Southampton.

⚡ Hot stat: Man Utd have netted at least twice in 15 successive home matches for just the fourth time in their history.