Wigan vs Arsenal No Foregone Conclusion - Gameweek 14 Trends
WhoScored looks ahead to this weekend in the Premier League at some of the most eye-catching trends from fixtures gone by between the sides set to go head-to-head come Saturday. We look at why the game between Wigan and Arsenal may not be a foregone conclusion, why Villa's decent home record could come under fire, and why the game at Loftus Road between QPR and West Brom could be resolved by half time.
Our player focus this week highlights an individual in fairly meagre form who usually saves his best performances for this weekend's fixture against Tottenham, with Bolton's Kevin Davies looking to add to a tally of just 2 goals this season.
Drama at the Death at DW
While at first glance this weekend's game between Wigan and Arsenal may look to be a fairly one-sided affair - with the visitors boasting a joint-high league form of 5 wins and no defeats in their last 6 - encounters between the two haven't always proven to be the pushover some might predict.
Arsenal haven't won at Wigan in the last two seasons, and have conceded 5 goals in the process, with goal-mouth action assured in this one. The Gunners have been in front in both of the last two games at the DW, only to lose 3-2 in 2009/10 and draw 2-2 against a 10-man home outfit last season. Comebacks are quite familiar between the two sides, with the team taking the lead in the match failing to win in the last 4 meetings between them, and a look at the recent match-ups suggests there will be goals late on in this one.
In the last 10 meetings between the sides in the Premier League, there have been a staggering 13 goals scored in the final 10 minutes of matches, with van Persie likely to be amongst them once again having netted a hat-trick in his last game against the Latics.
Villa's Home Record Set to Suffer a Blow
Though Aston Villa have had a somewhat modest start to the season, winning just 3 of their opening 13 games but only losing 3 in the process, all of their victories have come at Villa Park, with just 1 defeat in their last 10 home league games. However, with reigning champions United making the trip to the Midlands this Saturday, the decent run in front of their home support could come to an end.
Villa have only won 1 of their last 15 league games against United at Villa Park, with that victory the only one in 31 games in total against Ferguson's side, though the recent encounters haven't been predictable. Manchester United have come from behind against Aston Villa in 3 of their last 4 encounters, with last season's game at Villa Park a stand out game in their title-winning season last year.
Going 2-0 down to a young Villa side, the hosts looked to have sealed victory before strikes from Federico Macheda and Nemanja Vidic salvaged a point for the away side. The United skipper also scored in the game at Old Trafford between the sides and is somewhat of a villain to the Villans having escaped dismissal in the 2010 Carling Cup final between the sides. The clash between Alan Hutton and former Villa-man Ashley Young - who scored for the home side in the fixture last term and travels back to his former employers for the first time – could be key.
Scores Settled Sooner Rather than Later at Loftus Road
The match-up between QPR and West Brom may well be over before half time if the sides' record in the league this season are to continue. While the hosts have scored 8 of their 14 goals in the opening 45 minutes, West Brom have scored the same figure having netted just 12 in total.
The visitors have, in fact, scored 50% of their goals in the opening 15 minutes of matches this season, but are the only team yet to score in the final 15 minutes of matches in the league. They may struggle to change that this weekend, up against a QPR side that have conceded fewer goals after the 75-minute mark (1) than any other side in the division. If one player is likely to settle the score come Saturday it could well be Chris Brunt, who has scored on each of his last 3 trips to Loftus Road, for both West Brom and former club Sheffield Wednesday.
Player to Watch - Kevin Davies
A look at Bolton captain Kevin Davies' stats from this season may indicate that Spurs have very little to worry about when the Trotters come to White Hart Lane, but Harry Redknapp will be well aware that the seasoned pro tends to save his best performances for games against Spurs, as if his veins ran red with the blood of Arsenal!
In 11 starts this season Davies has scored just twice and assisted a further 2 goals, but in his last 6 matches against Tottenham he has netted 6 goals, proving a constant thorn in the London club's side. Winning 65% of his aerial duels this season, Spurs will be wary of his threat in the air, and have reason to be, having conceded a higher proportion of their goals from headers than any other team in the league (31%).
They have also shipped a higher proportion of goals from crosses than any other side (56%), but will take solace in the fact that Owen Coyle's men haven't looked to deliver balls into the box often, with 16 attempts per game a league-low. In fact, other than regular wingers Petrov and Eagles, no other Bolton player has completed more than 2 crosses this season, so the hosts shouldn't have trouble coping with their wide play, and Davies’ impact could be nullified.
