Premier League Game Week 30 Sunday Round-Up

Another exciting day of Premier League football went by on Sunday 21 June and while some clubs were happy with their performance, others were probably kicking themselves for performing below par.

On Saturday, we had four games with Watford vs Leicester ending 1-1, Brighton & Hove Albion defeating Arsenal 2-1 at home courtesy of a late goal from the boots of Neal Maupay. Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers also won away from home 0-2 and 0-3 respectively.

Read more here: Premier League Game Week 30 Saturday Round-Up

On Sunday, the 21st of June 2020, three games went down across England. Newcastle provided the surprise of the afternoon as they trashed high flying Sheffield United 3-0, Chelsea overturned a goal deficit to run out 1-2 winner against Aston Villa while the Merseyside derby ended in a stalemate.

Newcastle United 3-0 Sheffield United

The Magpies did their hopes of staying in the Premier League a lot of good moving 11 points clear of the relegation zone with a win against Sheffield United. The win ultimately made it two wins from two against the Blades this season in the League.

Newcastle now has 38 points with eight games left to play, and a win over struggling Aston Villa on Wednesday would all but secure safety as the manager of the side Steve Bruce is still not convinced that his side has secured their Premier League status despite an emphatic victory over Sheffield United.

It was a great day for Bruce and his striker Joelinton, who scored only his second Premier League goal, and his first since 25 August.

One could see the relief on the Brazilian striker’s face after he tapped in Newcastle’s third, and although there were no fans inside St James’ Park to celebrate with, no doubt many were screaming with delight as the £40m striker ended his terrible run in front of goal.

Newcastle looked really fresh despite the game being their first since the restart of the Premier League while their opponents produced one of their worst defensive displays of the season, capped by the red card that John Egan earned five minutes after the break.

Allan Saint-Maximin scored the first goal when he fired home at the far post after Enda Stevens inexplicably allowed Matt Ritchie’s low ball to go between his legs. Ritchie then added a second with a thunderous strike from the edge of the area before Joelinton’s strike from close range made it three after Miguel Almiron delivered a pinpoint low ball to his feet.

Facts and Stats from the game

• Newcastle are now unbeaten in four Premier League games on home soil without conceding a goal (W2 D2) – the Magpies have kept four straight clean sheets in the top flight at St James’ Park for the first time since April 2012.
• Having not lost any of their first nine Premier League away games this season (W3 D6), Sheffield United have since suffered three defeats in their last six on the road (W1 D2), failing to score on four occasions during this run.
• Chris Wilder and Sheffield United have suffered their heaviest league defeat together since a 3-0 loss at Middlesbrough in August 2018, shipping more than two goals on the road for the first time in the Premier League this season.
• There were 264 seconds between John Egan’s sending-off and Allan Saint-Maximin scoring the opener. It was the second red card of Egan’s English league career, with his only previous dismissal coming against Millwall in April 2019.
• After scoring with only one of his first 30 Premier League shots, Saint-Maximin has now netted with each of his last two attempts (also v Southampton back in March). Only Jonjo Shelvey (five) has netted more times for Newcastle in the top flight this season than the French winger (three).
• With his first goal involvements of 2019-20, Matt Ritchie has both scored and assisted in a Premier League game for the first time, with the Scotland winger’s strike his first home league goal since January 2019 (v Manchester City).

Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea FC

Chelsea’s boss, Frank Lampard, will take a lot of credit for the win at the Villa Park this weekend as it looked like he made the right technical tweaks to the game after sending Christian Pulisic on to the pitch with the American scoring just 5 minutes later to equalise for Chelsea.

The visitors controlled the first half but fell behind when Kepa failed to hold Anwar El Ghazi’s shot and Kortney Hause was on hand to bundle in.

Olivier Giroud, however, sealed victory two minutes after Pulisic equalised when he drove in from 15 yards with the help of a slight deflection.

Related: Chelsea agree 5 years Timo Werner deal Liverpool title celebration delayed by Everton

Lampard is confident Pulisic will be an integral player for him in the bid for top 4 qualifications as the player was playing his first game since New Year’s Day after recovering from injury.

Aston Villa, meanwhile, remains in the relegation zone, one point from safety after taking one point from their first two games back following the resumption of the Premier League.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-tyvZyF4WI

Facts and Stats from the game

• Villa has now lost five Premier League games after scoring first this season, two more than any other side in the competition.
• Chelsea has won 10 of their last 11 Premier League matches against Aston Villa losing only once in all this time, with Frank Lampard either appearing as a player or managing the Blues in six of those 10 wins.
• Aston Villa has failed to win any of their last 21 Premier League matches against teams starting the day in the top four since a 1-0 win at home to Chelsea in March 2014. They have drawn 4 and lost 17.
• Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic has been directly involved in seven goals in his last eight away Premier League games (five goals, two assists).
• Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has scored in each of his last seven games against Aston Villa in all competitions, netting nine goals in the process (eight for Arsenal, one for Chelsea).
• Aston Villa’s Kortney Hause’s opener against Chelsea was his first Premier League goal, meaning he has now scored in each of the top four divisions in English football, with today just his seventh league goal.
• Chelsea defender César Azpilicueta provided two assists in a single Premier League game for only the second time in his 263-game English top-flight career – also doing so versus Stoke in September 2017.
• Frank Lampard took charge of his 100th match in his managerial career, winning 46 of those 100 games in all competitions with the current side Chelsea (22), and Derby County (24).

Everton FC 0-0 Liverpool FC

Alisson Becker made an impactful save to help Liverpool secure a 0-0 draw at the Goodison Park and Jurgen Kopp insists Alisson should be protected at all times.

Liverpool now needs five points to be sure of the Premier League title and can still clinch their first top-flight trophy in 30 years against Crystal Palace at Anfield on Wednesday – but only if Manchester City fail to beat Burnley at Etihad Stadium on Monday.

Alisson also saved well from Brazilian compatriot Richarlison as a largely tame game, with the surreal atmosphere of a derby played behind closed doors, sprang to life.

Facts and Stats from the game

• Seven of the last eight Premier League Merseyside derbies at Goodison Park have ended level. Indeed, Everton-Liverpool has finished goalless on more occasions than any other Premier League fixture (11, includes Anfield meetings).
• Liverpool has gone 22 games without defeat against Everton in all competitions, since a 0-2 loss at Goodison in October 2010 (W11 D11) – the Reds’ joint-longest unbeaten run against a single opponent in their history (also a run of 22 games without defeat against Aston Villa from 1981-92).
• Everton remains winless in their last 22 matches against Liverpool in all competitions (D11 L11) – only against Chelsea (24 games from 2001-09) have the Toffees gone longer without a victory against a single opponent.
• Everton is the only Premier League side to remain unbeaten at home in 2020 in all competitions (P5 W2 D3).
• Liverpool has failed to win two of their last three Premier League games (W1 D1 L1) – as many as in their previous 38 (W36 D2).
• Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has managed more games against Everton in all competitions without defeat than against any other opponent in his managerial career (P11 W7 D4).
• The average age of Everton’s starting XI here was 24 years 356 days – the Toffees’ youngest starting line-up for a league match against Liverpool since February 1986 (24 years 250 days), when they won 2-0 at Anfield.
• Liverpool’s James Milner made his 535th Premier League appearance in this game, the joint-fifth highest total in the competition’s history, alongside Gary Speed.

Monday Night Football

Manchester City welcomes Burnley FC to the Etihad Stadium tonight in a bid to cement their second position on the league table.

City’s defender Eric Garcia will not play a part in tonight’s fixture after suffering a concussion against Arsenal during the rescheduled midweek game. John Stones would also be assessed after sustaining an ankle injury during training.

Burnley will be without Ashley Barnes, who is still recovering from hernia surgery, while fellow forward Chris Wood misses out with an Achilles injury.

Winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson is also absent with a calf problem.

Match Facts and Stats heading into the game

• Burnley’s only win in the past 23 meetings in all competitions was 1-0 at home in the league in March 2015 (D6, L16).
• Manchester City has won all five home games against Burnley under Pep Guardiola in league and cup, scoring 19 goals and conceding just two.
• The Clarets are winless in 15 away league visits to Manchester City since a 5-2 victory in March 1963.
• Manchester City has lost seven league games this season, one more than in their previous two campaigns combined.
• City has scored in 33 of their last 34 league matches at the Etihad Stadium.
• Sergio Aguero has scored nine goals in nine appearances against Burnley in all competitions – including in all five home games.
• Pep Guardiola has won 16 of his 18 Premier League home games against English managers (D1, L1).
• With nine goals and 16 assists, Kevin De Bruyne has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than any other player this season.
• Burnley is yet to lose in their last seven league games (W4, D3), their longest run since an eight-game streak 13 months ago.
• If games ended at half time, Burnley would be second from the bottom of the league table.
• They could become just the fourth team to win away at both Manchester clubs in a Premier League season.
• Going into this round of fixtures, Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope has kept a joint league-high 11 clean sheets this season.
• Pope has conceded 17 goals against Manchester City in all competitions – eight more than he has let in against any other side.