• Although the Hammers are unbeaten in five PL away games, they’ve lost their last four league visits here, although never by more than a two-goal margin.
• Notably, PSG are yet to trail a league game at the break on the road this term.
Image: /REUTERS
Manchester City vs West Ham Saturday 3:30 pm
Manchester City picked up their 24th competitive clean sheet of the season in midweek and look in great shape to increase their ten-point lead at the top of the Premier League table by extending a 17-game unbeaten top-flight run.
Their defence has now conceded an average of just 0.6 goals per game this term, being breached just three times before the 30th minute.
Meanwhile, no team can better City’s average of 7.75 corners per PL home match, and no side has won both halves more times at home. On Saturday, they welcome the season’s surprise package in West Ham United, who start the round at fourth following a four-match unbeaten league run with one draw.
Although the Hammers are unbeaten in five PL away games, they’ve lost their last four league visits here, although never by more than a two-goal margin. More encouragingly, only Manchester United have rescued more away league points after conceding first this term than their seven.
Head to head
24/10/20 PL West Ham Manchester City 1 : 1
19/02/20 PL Manchester City West Ham 2 : 0
10/08/19 PL West Ham Manchester City 0 : 5
17/07/19 AT Manchester City West Ham 4 : 1
27/02/19 PL Manchester City West Ham 1 : 0
Dijon vs PSG Saturday 7 pm
Dijon currently dangle dangerously as they sit rock bottom of Ligue 1 and cannot buy a goal on home turf. If nothing else, their relatively small average losing margin across the six straight Ligue 1 defeats that precede this clash is the only source of belief that better finishing could yet save them.
Also unable to cut the mustard at home this season where they remain winless, Dijon’s goal return from home league games played since the October international break is particularly bleak as they have drawn five and lost five.
Dijon have also scored no L1 goal here between the 16th-30th minutes of play since February 2020. PSG’s loss to Monaco last weekend closed the gap between them and their fourth-placed conquerors to just two points. PSG must recover with a vengeance here.
This won’t come as a surprise as they have won across the last five occasions they’ve followed up after a Ligue 1 defeat by 2+ goals with a victory in the next round.
Notably, PSG are yet to trail a league game at the break on the road this term. That doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of twists in this game as seen in PSG’s last three Ligue 1 away games. We may see both teams score in the first half.
Head to head
24.10.20 L1 Paris SG Dijon 4 : 0
29.02.20 L1 Paris SG Dijon 4 : 0
12.02.20 CDF Dijon Paris SG 1 : 6
01.11.19 L1 Dijon Paris SG 2 : 1
18.05.19 L1 Paris SG Dijon 4 : 0
Monaco vs Brest Sunday 3pm
Monaco beat reigning champions PSG in the last round, a result that kept their title ambitions alive. Sitting in fourth, and with a massive 12 points between themselves and fifth place ahead of this round, Monaco will look to kick on and extend their 11-game top-flight unbeaten run.
Scoring 2+ goals in five straight games has helped Monaco register a second league-high average of 2.31 goals scored per Ligue 1 home fixture this term. Brest have only one win from their last eight Ligue 1 matches.
However, Brest have actually been an exciting watch with their average of 3.31 match goals per Ligue 1 fixture can be beaten by just two other sides, one of which is Monaco.
Only one team has picked up fewer points on the road than Brest who have lost all but one game when conceding first on their travels.
Head to head
04.10.20 L1 Brest Monaco 1 : 0
28.09.19 L1 Monaco Brest 4 : 1
19.02.11 L1 Brest Monaco 2 : 0
02.10.10 L1 Monaco Brest 0 : 1
06.01.08 CDF Brest Monaco 1 : 3