Matchday 33 preview

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Front Row Preview

Arsenal vs Aston Villa

Sunday 14 April @ 16:30 BST - Sky Sports

Arsenal are top of the league… but the hot seat burns for a reason.

They have a lot of games in April, and tough ones too… Villa, Bayern Munich, Wolves, Chelsea, and Spurs. 

That’s a (tough) game every 3 days. 

But that doesn’t mean the Gunners aren’t up for it…

• They haven’t trailed for a single minute in any of their 11 Premier League games in 2024.

• They’ve scored the most goals (33) this year - Liverpool are second with 25.

• They’ve also conceded the least number of goals (4) in that period. 

It’s simple maths… score the most plus concede the least equals - well - top of the league. 

They’re catching Aston Villa at a good time. Unai Emery’s side have only secured two points from their last five games.

Adding to this, Villa has the worst expected goals (xG) in the league over the same period. 

But, don’t forget, Villa won 1-0 in their reverse fixture this season… so Arsenal will be looking for redemption.

• 💉 Arsenal Quick Hit: Arsenal currently have a goal difference of 51+ in the league; their highest since the final day of the 04/05 season.

• 💉 Aston Villa Quick Hit: Ollie Watkins is the first player to score 25 goals for Villa in all comps since Dwight Yorke in the 95/96 season.

We know what you’re thinking, who are the others facing this week…

• Liverpool vs Crystal Palace (Sunday, 14 April, Sky Sports)

• Man City vs Luton (Not televised)

Matchday 33 Snapshot

Newcastle vs Spurs (Saturday 13, 12:30 BST - TNT Sports)

→ Newcastle are unbeaten in their last five home league games, though Luton, Bournemouth and Everton have earned a point at St James’ during that run.

→ Eddie Howe’s men have also dropped 13 points from winning positions at home this season. Only Brentford (14) have dropped more.

→ Spurs have only taken one point from their last two games, but they tend to score away from home against Newcastle, finding the net in the last 17 league games.

Bournemouth vs Manchester United (Saturday 13, 17:30 BST - Sky Sports)

→ Bournemouth have been strong at home, winning their last three Premier League games on their turf.

→ Manchester United have conceded in their last eight games away from home, totalling 17 goals in that time. 

→ But, United have won four of their six Premier League away games against Bournemouth - though they suffered a 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture this season.

Liverpool vs Crystal Palace (Sunday 14, 14:00 BST - Sky Sports)

→ Crystal Palace have failed to beat Liverpool in their last thirteen Premier League meetings.

→ But two of their last four league meetings have ended as a draw. That’s enough to dent Liverpool’s chances in the title race. 

→ Of Liverpool’s main five forwards in the Premier League in 2023-24, Diogo Jota has the best shot conversion rate by some distance, scoring nine goals from 36 shots (25.0%), ahead of Salah’s 17 goals from 91 shots (18.7%).

Link to this weekend’s fixture list here.

Link to last night’s Europa League results (sorry Liverpool fans) here and last night’s Europa Conference results here.

Head Start

👕 Tech shirts for deaf fans: Newcastle are introducing a haptic shirt that will allow deaf fans and those with hearing loss to experience the atmosphere at St James’ Park for the first time. The shirt turns the stadium noise into a real-time touch sensation and will be debuted at the Spurs game on Saturday. 

💰 New financial fair play rules incoming: Premier League clubs have unanimously agreed to introduce new financial fair play regulations from next season. The current rules - that cap how much clubs can spend over the last decade - are set to be scrapped from the 2025/26 season and replaced with a similar “squad cost control” rule to the one UEFA adopted in 2022. With this, clubs will only be allowed to spend a set percentage of their annual turnover on their wage bill players and coaching staff.

🚨 Sheffield United points deduction: Bottom-of-the-league Sheffield United have been docked two points, which will come into place next season. They will incur a further two points suspended until the end of that same season. The points deduction is in relation to a default on transfer payments.

VAR

VAR’s glow-up… SAOT?

It’s never good to be the bearer of bad news…

… but that’s why we’ve got some good news for you: Premier League clubs have agreed to introduce semi-automated offside tech - or SAOT. 

SAOT, VAR, xG… yet another abbreviation for your old man to get jumbled up.

What does it mean?

SAOT is similar to what’s already being used in the Champions League…

• 12 cameras will provide an exact image of the potential offside in seconds.

• Dedicated VARs will see the image and then speak to on-field referees through an earpiece to tell them the semi-automated offside decision…

• … the linesman can flag immediately.

The hope is that SAOT will save around 31 seconds per decision. So pretty big stuff.

The tech won’t make the decision for the referee but will be used when a goal has been scored or any other match-defining moment.

The best part… we won’t have to wait for VAR to draw lines like an A-level art project. Phew.

But the technology won’t be ready until mid-way through the next season.

The Premier League also discussed the idea of in-stadium announcements to explain refereeing decisions.

We love to be a cynic… but this could be game-changing, in a good way.  

Off The Pitch

Archaeologists find new artwork in a new excavation at Pompeii, the ancient Roman City (More)

OJ Simpson, ex-NFL star who was acquitted of murder, dies aged 76 (More)

The Reform UK party has apologised after sacking an ‘inactive’ candidate who turned out to be dead (More)

American burger chain Wendy’s will be expanding in the UK (More)

Vietnamese property tycoon has been found guilty over $12bn fraud (More)

Parrots can play tablet games with some being found to have the problem-solving skills of a child (More)

Two-story house floats through San Francisco Bay (More)

Fantasy Premier League

Before we dive into another tough captaincy decision…

… let’s take a moment to check which teams have been the best performers over the past six Gameweeks (GW).

→ Best attacking stats leaderboard 

The usual suspects make up the top attacking teams but we were surprised by the best defensive performers…

→ Best defensive stats leaderboard 

… Spurs, Crystal Palace and B’mouth all made it into the top 6.

Captaincy for Gameweek 33 🫡

🥇 Erling Haaland (£14.3m) (H) vs Luton 

• Has the best fixture of the GW as he faces the worst defence in the league.

• He scored five goals last time he played at Kenilworth Road and tops the league for expected goals (xG).

🥈 Mo Salah (£13.4m) (H) vs Crystal Palace

• Has the second-highest xG this season, and Salah is less likely to be rotated than any of the City assets.

• Liverpool will be keen to keep the pressure at the top of the table and will have some key attacking players returning but…

• … Crystal Palace have strong underlying defensive stats since Oliver Glasner took charge.

🥉 Cole Palmer (£6.1m) (H) vs Everton

• Everton have conceded most of their chances down their left side which suits Palmer.

• Palmer has 16 goals and 10 assists… and the prospect of playing at the Euros will be a key motivator for Chelsea’s man main.

→ Differential captain

Son Heung-min (£10.1m) (A) vs Newcastle -  

• Son came away with 17 points in the reverse fixture this season after Spurs won 4-1.

• Newcastle have had poor underlying defensive stats for a while, compounded by Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier and Sven Botman out injured. 

FPL Bonus Points 📊

• The current world number 1 is making the most of his time in the limelight and has broken down the key decisions and strategies that helped him climb the ranks (More)

• Gameweek 33 cheatsheet from Fantasy Footballhub:

Game Face On

Question: Which footballer played two matches on the same day back in 1987?

Hint: He played the first game for Wales, and the second for Bayern Munich.

Scroll below for the answer.

Extra Time

Jurgen Klopp wasn’t happy with a Dutch reporter’s questions to Jordan Henderson… 

… and neither was Henderson when answering them. 

When Figo needed riot shields to stop Barca fans. 

Was Roy Keane trying to “get clicks” with his Haaland comment?

Brentford release short films focusing on fans.

Gary Lineker was offered a seat on the train…

The hilarious evolution of John McGinn’s Instagram.

Answer: Mark Hughes

“I’d like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona.”

-Mark Draper