Premier League preview: A statistical look at this weekend's games including Everton v West Ham United; Fulham v Chelsea; Stoke City v Arsenal; Aston Villa v Norwich City; Tottenham Hotspur v Cardiff City

Providers of the largest online database for detailed football statistics WhoScored.com preview all of the matches in matchweek 28 of the Premier League

Martin Laurence
Friday 28 February 2014 16:04 GMT
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Arsenal's French striker Olivier Giroud is expected to play for the Gunners against Stoke
Arsenal's French striker Olivier Giroud is expected to play for the Gunners against Stoke

West Ham have all but escaped a relegation battle courtesy of 4 consecutive victories but face an Everton side that they haven't beaten since 2007 this weekend. The 12 games since have generally been close though, with the Hammers on the scoresheet in all but two.

Chelsea now have the best defence in the league (21 conceded) by some distance, with a late Anichebe equaliser at WBA the first goal the Blues had conceded on the road in 5. They make the short trip to Fulham, who have scored just twice in the last 8 encounters between the two.

Only the top 3 sides in the league have conceded fewer goals at home this season than Hull (10) with the Tigers hosting a Newcastle outfit that have failed to score in 3 of their last 4 on the road. The Magpies ended a 4-game goalless streak in injury time last weekend and will be looking for revenge after a shock defeat in the reverse fixture.

Arsenal face Stoke this weekend having won just one of their last 6 matches at the Britannia Stadium in all competitions, with the Potters coming out on top 3 times. Peter Crouch has netted 7 times against the Gunners, which is 3 more than he's managed against any other current Premier League side.

Daniel Sturridge's hot streak continues having stretched his scoring run to 8 consecutive Premier League matches. Liverpool travel to St. Mary's on Saturday having lost four of their last 5 meetings with Southampton on the south coast. The last Reds player to score a winner away to the Saints was Emile Heskey in 2003.

Swansea have won their last 4 matches against Crystal Palace without conceding a goal and the Eagles have scored just 5 away from home all season. The Welsh outfit have kept 7 clean sheets this season, the last 5 of which have all come at the Liberty Stadium.

Cardiff travel to Tottenham looking to put an end to a run of 6 consecutive defeats away from home, with their last and only victory on the road coming in the capital against Fulham back in September. Nevertheless, Spurs have picked up just one point from a possible 12 in their last 4 matches following a midweek Europa League match.

After a brief return to form in front of goal Villa have now gone three matches without netting and another would match their own joint-league high (with Newcastle and Hull) of 4 from earlier in the season. Norwich, meanwhile, have not scored more than once in a game in their last 12 league matches.

@martinlaurence7

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