Feature

Talking points ahead of Saturday's Premier League matches

7 Feb 2023

Get ready for more drama as Chelsea look to add goals and Son aims for more joy v Leicester

Three derbies await on Saturday as Matchweek 23 of the Premier League gets under way on Saturday. Here are the key talking points.

Can Chelsea add goals to shutouts?

Graham Potter has shored up the Chelsea defence, with his side keeping three successive clean sheets, but the challenge now is to add goals at the other end of the pitch.

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Never before have Chelsea had a hat-trick of goalless draws in the Premier League, and Potter will hope that a full week's training with his new-look squad and the return of Joao Felix from a three-match ban will unlock their attacking potential.

Despite the three matches he missed after his red card at Fulham, Joao Felix is still second for shots on target at Chelsea over the last five fixtures. But he is set to face a West Ham side with the best defence in the bottom half of the table.

The match could be defined by the midfield battle between Chelsea's record signing, Enzo Fernandez, and Declan Rice, who was once on Chelsea's books.

See: Can Rice outwit Fernandez?

Will Brentford emulate Everton?

The big question for Arsenal is whether the defeat to Everton was a blip, or a sign of a longer malaise, since it followed their FA Cup exit at Manchester City.

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Emirates Stadium is a fortress this season, but Gunners fans should not expect Brentford to roll over as easily as they did in the reverse fixture when Arsenal won 3-0 as part of a 100 per cent record in London derbies this term.

Brentford are on a nine-match unbeaten run in the Premier League and have not conceded in three.

Thomas Frank will have watched with interest how the energetic and physical approach of Everton a week ago disrupted Arsenal, and will have spotted the similarities between the strengths of Sean Dyche’s charges and those of his own side.

Arsenal have picked a particularly bad time to start struggling with set-pieces. The last two goals they have conceded have come from corners. Meanwhile, no side have scored more from set-plays this season than Brentford’s 14.

Goals galore as Leicester host Spurs?

There have been 71 goals scored in the last 17 meetings between Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur, the most of any Premier League fixture since the start of 2014/15, and there is every chance this weekend’s duel will be another thriller.

The leakiest defence in the top 10, conceding 31 goals and without first-choice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris for possibly two months, will face the backline with the third-most goals shipped overall.

However, going forward, it could be another profitable day for Harry Kane after his 200th Premier League goal against Manchester City last Sunday.

History: made ✅

Harry Kane's record-breaking goal... pic.twitter.com/mYkONzKzFY
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 5, 2023

While the Spurs striker has a way to go to reach Alan Shearer’s leading total of 260 strikes, this weekend he can equal another of Shearer’s records in the competition.

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Kane has 18 goals from 15 matches against Leicester City, and a brace on Saturday would match the highest tally for goals against one club, after Shearer hit 20 against Leeds United.

Furthermore, Son Heung-min has fond memories of facing the Foxes, having come off the bench to score a hat-trick in this season’s reverse fixture, after getting another two goals and one assist the last time he met them.

The South Korean is just three goals away from his own milestone of 100 Premier League goals.

Meanwhile, Leicester have a renewed threat of their own. Playmaker James Maddison is back from injury and scored last weekend, while new winger Tete was also on target with a debut goal as the Foxes put four goals past Aston Villa.

Their search for more goals this weekend is also boosted by the fact that Cristian Romero is unavailable, after he was sent-off for two bookable offences against Man City.

Key duel in relegation fight

A Southampton team with only one win and three draws at home this season face a Wolverhampton Wanderers side with only one win and three draws on the road. So, which record will improve?

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Form leans in favour of Wolves, who have claimed 10 points from a possible 18 under Julen Lopetegui, with their only defeats having been delivered by the two Manchester clubs.

Nathan Jones’ Southampton have lost six of their past seven matches and cannot climb out of the relegation zone this weekend, but a win would cut the gap to Wolves to only two points.

Position Pos	Club	Played Pl	GD	Points Pts
15	Bournemouth BOU	38	-34	39
16	Nottingham Forest NFO	38	-30	38
17	Everton EVE	38	-23	36
18	Leicester City LEI	38	-17	34
19	Leeds United LEE	38	-30	31
20	Southampton SOU	38	-37	25

Mitoma to continue fine form?

Perhaps the strangest "derby" of the Premier League, split by 50 miles and the M23, is another opportunity for Kaoru Mitoma to continue his superb goalscoring form against Crystal Palace.

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He has netted in four of Brighton & Hove Albion's last five outings, helping them to amass the third-most points in the Premier League since the FIFA World Cup 2022.

However, last-time out they struggled to breach AFC Bournemouth's struggling defence until Mitoma's intervention in the 87th minute.