GameDay Squad EPL Gameweek 13 preview

The season is starting to heat up as we approach the busy period throughout December. Lets make sure we all get off to a good start for it by checking out who we should pick below.

Sunderland v Bournemouth:

Two high flying teams, currently equal on points, meet as Sunderland's top tier defence attempts to hold out Bournemouth’s fast paced and lethal attack. With the likely return of Semenyo this one could go either way.

Relevant historical data:

●      Both teams have won two of the past five meetings

●     There have been three combined clean sheets in the past five meetings

●     Sunderland haven’t kept a home clean sheet against Bournemouth in their three total meetings there

●     Sunderland are yet to lose in the league at home this season in six attempts

●     Bournemouth only have one away win in the league this season (against Tottenham)

Last five meetings:

●     NIL

Statistics (Top Five in the League for Conceding):

●     Sunderland: Shots on Target (5th), Accurate Crosses (3rd), Aerial Duel Wins (3rd),

●     Bournemouth: Shots on Target (2nd), Successful Dribbles (3rd), Fouls Drawn (3rd), Tackles (4th), Saves (3rd)

Recommended Players:

●     A Semenyo

●     R Roefs

●     G Xhaka

●     M Senesi

●     T Hume

●     M Tavernier

●     N Mulere

●     D Ballard

Man City v Leeds:

City have been dominant at home this season and it’s likely to continue against Leeds. Leeds have been able to be defensively sound for the majority of their games, however they’ve struggled against the big teams. This one has potential blow out written all over it.

Relevant historical data:

●     City have won four of the past five meetings

●     City average 3.4 goals per game in the past five meetings

●     There have been two combined clean sheets in the past five meetings

●     City have won three of the past five home meetings v Leeds

●     City have a 7-0 and 4-0 win in their last five home meetings v Leeds

●     City have won five of their six home league games this season, with their only loss coming against Tottenham

●     Leeds have lost five of their six away league games this season, with their only win coming against Wolves

Last five meetings:

●     Rodri 2G 1A

●     Haaland 2G

●     Struijk 1G

●     Ake 2G

●     R Dias 1A

●     Foden 1G 3A

●     Stones 1G

●     B Silva 1A

Statistics (Top Five in the League for Conceding):

●     Man City: Tackles (2nd), Blocks (4th)

●     Leeds: Successful Dribbles (5th), Tackles (5th)

Recommended Players:

●     E Haaland

●     P Foden

●     J Doku

●     R Dias

●     J Gvardiol

●     G Donnarumma

Brentford v Burnley:

Brentford players could feast in this one as Burnley continue to struggle after coming back up to the Premier League.

Relevant historical data:

●     Burnley have won three of the past five meetings, while Brentford have won the other two

●     Brentford have kept clean sheets in both their wins against Burnley in the past five meetings

●     There have been a minimum of two goals in each of the past five meetings

●     Of the past five Brentford home meetings v Burnley, Brentford have won two, while Burnley have won three

●     There have been three combined clean sheets in those five Brentford home meetings

●     Brentford’s only home loss in the league this season was a 1-0 defeat to Man City

●     Brentford have only kept one home clean sheet in the league this season

●     Burnley have lost five of their six away league games this season, with their only win against Wolves

Last five meetings:

●     Bruun Larsen 1G

●     Ajer 1G

Statistics (Top Five in the League for Conceding):

●     Brentford: Key Passes (4th), Saves (4th)

●     Burnley: Shots on Target (1st), Key Passes (1st), Accurate Crosses (1st), Aerial Duel Wins (5th)

Recommended Players:

●     I Thiago

●     K Schade

●     M Damsgaard

●     M Kayode

●     S van den Berg

●     N Collins

●     C Kelleher

●     M Dubravka

Everton v Newcastle:

Both teams are coming off admirable wins, but both in very different circumstances. Newcastle were able to outpower Man City, while 10-man Everton held out Man Utd. Another game that could go either way, particularly at Everton’s home ground.

Relevant historical data:

●     The last three meetings have resulted in only three combined goals, with no team managing more than one in a game

●     There have been two draws, two Everton wins and a Newcastle win in the last five meetings

●     There have been four combined clean sheets in the last five meetings

●     There have been five combined clean sheets in the last five Everton home meetings v Newcastle

●     Each team has won twice in the past five Everton home meetings

●     Everton's only home league loss this season was a 3-0 one to Tottenham

●     Newcastle haven’t won away in the league this season

Last five meetings:

●     Mykolenko 1A

●     Alcaraz 1G

●     Barnes 1A

●     Beto 1G

●     Joelinton 1G

●     J Murphy 1G

●     Guimaraes 1A

●     McNeil 2G 1A

Statistics (Top Five in the League for Conceding):

●     Everton: Key Passes (3rd)

●     Newcastle: Successful Dribbles (2nd), Interceptions (2nd)

Recommended Players:

●     J Pickford

●     J Grealish

●     B Guimaraes

●     H Barnes

●     N Pope

●     I Ndiaye

●     K Dewsbury-Hall

Tottenham v Fulham:

Tottenham will finally be looking to get back to winning ways, however they do meet a yo-yoing Fulham team who are very capable of winning this game.

Relevant historical data:

●     Tottenham have only won one of the past five meetings, while Fulham have won two

●     There have been three combined clean sheets in the last five meetings

●     Fulham have kept clean sheets in both their wins in the last five meetings

●     Tottenham are unbeaten in the past five home meetings v Fulham with three wins

●     Tottenham have only kept one clean sheet in those five home meetings

●     Tottenham haven’t had a home league win in its last five attempts

●     Fulham haven’t won away in the league this season

Last five meetings:

●     R Muniz 3G

●     Sessegnon 1G

●     B Johnson 1G

●     Iwobi 1A

●     A Robinson 1A

●     Lukic 1G

●     Castagne 1A

●     Richarlison 1G 1A

●     van de Ven 1 Own Goal

Statistics (Top Five in the League for Conceding):

●     Tottenham: Fouls Drawn (5th), Tackles (3rd)

●     Fulham: Fouls Drawn (2nd), Blocks (5th)

Recommended Players:

●     G Vicario

●     B Leno

●     K Tete

●     M Kudus

Crystal Palace v Man Utd:

Crystal Palace continued in their merry way in the league, while United slipped up. This is a game where Palace have had the recent wood over United and are likely to continue doing so in this game.

Relevant historical data:

●     Palace have won three of the last five meetings, while United have won one

●     There have been six collective clean sheets in the last five meetings, with four of those being for Palace

●     Palace have kept clean sheets in each of the last four games against United

●     Crystal Palace are unbeaten at home to United in the last five meetings there

●     Palace have also kept four clean sheets in the last five home meetings against United

●     Palace haven’t lost at home in the league this season

●     Palace have kept three clean sheets at home in the league this season, out of six home games

●     United’s only away league win this season was to Liverpool

Last five fixtures:

●     Mateta 3G

●     Munoz 3A

●     Mitchell 1G

●     Richards 1A

●     Casemiro 1G 1A

●     Mount 1A

Statistics (Top Five in the League for Conceding):

●     Crystal Palace: Interceptions (5th), Aerial Duels Won (2nd)

●     Man Utd: Interceptions (5th), Aerial Duels Won (1st), Saves (1st)

Recommended Players:

●     D Henderson

●     D Munoz

●     M Lacroix

●     M Guehi

●     T Mitchell

●     C Richards

●     B Fernandes

●     J Mateta

●     M de Ligt

West Ham v Liverpool:

West Ham will be looking for an upset in this game, but do we still consider beating Liverpool an upset given their season so far?

Relevant historical data:

●     Liverpool are unbeaten in the last five meetings, winning four of them

●     Liverpool average 3.8 goals per game in the last five meetings

●     There’s only been one combined clean sheet in the last five meetings

●     Liverpool have won three of the last five West Ham home meetings, while West Ham have won one

●     West Ham have won their last two home league fixtures

●     Liverpool have lost their last four away league fixtures

Last five fixtures:

●     Salah 3G 3A

●     van Dijk 1G

●     Mac Allister 1A

●     A Robertson 1 Own Goal 1G

●     Gakpo 4G

●     Gravenberch 1A

●     C Jones 2G 2A

●     Chiesa 1A

●     Bowen 2G 1A

●     Areola 1 Own Goal

●     Szoboszlai 1G

●     Konate 1A

Statistics (Top Five in the League for Conceding):

●     West Ham: Accurate Crosses (2nd), Aerial Duels Won (4th)

●     Liverpool: Interceptions (1st), Tackles (5th), Blocks (1st)

Recommended Players:

●     M Salah

●     C Gakpo

●     A Isak

●     D Szoboszlai

●     V van Dijk

●     J Bowen

●     M Fernandes

●     R Gravenberch

Nottingham Forest v Brighton:

Forest may have finally found their groove after demolishing an out of form Liverpool, but they’ll be tested against Brighton whose impressive form has them flying towards the top of the league.

Relevant historical data:

●     Brighton have only lost once in the last five meetings (2W 2D). That loss was a 7-0 one.

●     There have been four clean sheets combined in the last five meetings

●     Forest have won three of their last five home meetings against Brighton, while Brighton have won the other two

●     There have only been two combined (both to Forest) clean sheets in those five Forest home games

●     Forest have lost three, won two and drawn one of their league home games this season

●     Brighton haven’t won away in the league in their last four attempts

Last five fixtures:

●     Wood 4G

●     N Williams 1G

●     Sangare 1A

●     Dunk 1 Own Goal

●     Gibbs-White 2G 1A

●     Hinshelwood 1G

●     van Hecke 1A

●     Welbeck 1G

Statistics (Top Five in the League for Conceding):

●     Nottingham Forest: Shots on Target (3rd), Key Passes (2nd), Successful Dribbles (5th), Accurate Crosses (4th), Saves (5th)

●     Brighton: Successful Dribbles (1st), Interceptions (4th), Fouls Drawn (4th)

Recommended Players:

●     Y Minteh

●     M Gibbs-White

●     E Anderson

●     N Williams

●     G Rutter

●     D Gomez

●     Y Ayari

●     B Verbruggen

●     M Sels

Aston Villa v Wolves:

With an impressive recent home record, whereby Crystal Palace have been the only team capable of winning at Aston Villa, it’ll be very hard to see this struggling Wolves side get anything from this game.

Relevant historical data:

●     Both teams have won two of the last five meetings

●     There have been a combined three clean sheets in the last five meetings (two to Wolves)

●     Villa have only lost once in their last five home meetings with Wolves (2W 2D)

●     There have been three combined clean sheets in those five home meetings (two to Villa)

●     Villa’s only loss at home in the league this season was to Palace

●     Villa have two straight clean sheets in the league at home

●     Wolves haven’t won away in the league this season

Last five fixtures:

●     Bellegarde 1G

●     Watkins 1G 1A

●     Rogers 2A

●     Konsa 2G

●     Tielemans 1A

●     Hee-Chan 1G

●     P Torres 1G

●     Toti 1G

Statistics (Top Five in the League for Conceding):

●     Aston Villa: Interceptions (3rd), Tackles (1st)

●     Wolves: Shots on Target (4th), Key Passes (5th), Successful Dribbles (4th), Accurate Crosses (5th), Fouls Drawn (1st)

Recommended Players:

●     M Rogers

●     M Cash

●     J McGinn

●     J Gomes

●     O Watkins

●     L Digne

●     B Kamara

●     Y Tielemans

●     E Martinez

Chelsea v Arsenal:

The game of the round is left to the very end, and a Gabriel injury opens the door for a Chelsea win. Arsenal were impressive in the win midweek against Bayern Munich and did manage to rest a few players, however Chelsea matched that with an arguably more impressive win over Barcelona.

Relevant historical data:

●     Arsenal are unbeaten in the last five meetings, winning three of them

●     There have only been two combined clean sheets in the last five meetings, both being to Arsenal

●     Arsenal are also unbeaten in the last five Chelsea home meetings, winning three

●     Again, Arsenal have managed two clean sheets in those five Chelsea home games

●     Chelsea have lost twice at home in the league this season (to Sunderland and Brighton)

●     Only one of Chelsea’s league home wins this season haven’t resulted in a clean sheet

●     Arsenal have only lost in the league away to Liverpool this season

●     Arsenal have managed three clean sheets away in the league this season

Last five fixtures:

●     Merino 1G

●     Odegaard 2G 4A

●     Martinelli 1G

●     Neto 1G

●     E Fernandez 1A

●     Trossard 2G

●     Rice 1G 1A

●     White 2G

●     Havertz 2G

●     Saka 2A

●     Palmer 1G

Statistics (Top Five in the League for Conceding):

●     Chelsea: Interceptions (5th), Tackles (5th), Blocks (2nd), Saves (2nd)

●     Arsenal: Blocks (3rd)

Recommended Players:

●     D Rice

●     D Raya

●     M Zubimendi

●     J Timber

●     T Chalobah

●     M Cucurella

●     B Saka

●     E Fernandez

●     E Eze

Goalkeepers:

●     Henderson ⭐️

●     Pope

●     E Martinez

●     Roefs

●     Raya

Uniques: Pickford and Kelleher

Defenders:

●     Cash ⭐️

●     Munoz

●     Lacroix

●     Guehi

●     Mitchell

●     Kayode

●     van den Berg

●     N Williams

●     Senesi

●     Gvardiol

Uniques: Digne and Tete

Midfielders:

●     Rice ⭐️

●     E Anderson

●     Schade

●     Foden

●     Damsgaard

●     Szoboszlai

●     B Fernandes

●     Grealish

●     Xhaka

●     McGinn

Uniques: Gravenberch and Barnes

Forwards:

●     Haaland ⭐️

●     Minteh

●     Rogers

●     Doku

●     I Thiago

●     Salah

●     Mateta

●     Ndiaye

●     Gakpo

●     Saka

Uniques: Rutter and Bowen

…And that’s a wrap! Best of luck with round thirteen.