Premier League statistical preview: Arsenal haven't scored in four meetings with Chelsea

WhoScored.com, who offer the largest online database for detailed football statistics, preview the top matches from the Premier League this weekend including Southampton vs Tottenham and Manchester City vs Aston Villa

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Southampton vs Tottenham

Saturday's early kick-off may well serve as a Europa League play-off - at least if Arsenal beat Villa in next month's FA Cup final - but the feeling is that the two sides, and particularly sets of fans, have differing feelings about Thursday night football next season. Many Spurs fans have felt that partaking in Europe's secondary competition has held them back in recent years but for Saints this represents a fantastic opportunity.

Ronald Koeman too will be wary of the effects of playing in the Europa League next season but having already equalled the club's record Premier League points haul of 56, qualifying would represent a natural progression. The aforementioned record was achieved last season by a man who will be returning to St. Mary's for the first time since leaving the club in the summer, and for Mauricio Pochettino, finishing below his former employers this season would represent somewhat of a failure.

Southampton are on a three-match winning streak at home, keeping a clean sheet in each of those games, and will be aiming to make it 4 in a row against Harry Kane and co. The striker bagged his 20th league goal of the season last time out but his WhoScored.com rating of 7.38 will not be the highest on show, with that accolade falling to apparent Spurs target Morgan Schneiderlin (7.52) (pictured above), who was also on the scoresheet last weekend.

Manchester City vs Aston Villa

The evening fixture on Saturday sees FA Cup finalists Aston Villa make the trip to the Etihad in high spirits after back-to-back wins over Spurs and Liverpool. Manuel Pellegrini's side returned to winning ways themselves last time out, having all but surrendered their Premier League title to Chelsea, and they must still aim to leapfrog at least one of the sides now ahead of them to avoid a Champions League qualifier at the start of the 2015/16 campaign.

The hosts will have to keep Christian Benteke at bay if they are to secure back-to-back league wins for the first time since the middle of February, with the Belgian on target again for the Villans at Wembley. The striker scored his 9th goal in 7 appearances last time out and will be confident of continuing his rich vein of form given that compatriot Vincent Kompany will be absent through injury this weekend. Benteke's WhoScored.com rating is now in excess of seven (7.04) for the first time this season having struggled to make an impact following a lengthy lay-off of his own.

Christian Benteke celebrates the equaliser in the FA Cup semi-final win over Liverpool (GETTY IMAGES)

The main task for Sherwood's men will be keeping things tight at the other end, however, shipping at least 3 goals in each of their last 6 visits to the Etihad Stadium in the league. WhoScored.com's match forecast suggests that City, deemed 'very likely' to score as a result of a through ball and wing play situation, will dominate this weekend but there should be plenty of action at either end given the two sides' recent form.

Arsenal vs Chelsea

There's no doubt that Chelsea will again take part in this weekend's show-piece encounter, travelling to Arsenal having all-but assured their top spot come the end of the season with victory over United last time out. Mourinho claimed that the game panned out just as he had expected and wanted last weekend and he'll likely approach their trip to the Emirates in a similar manner, knowing that if they avoid defeat the title is sure to be theirs.

With that in mind the Blues boss may well stick with Kurt Zouma alongside Matic in midfield, sacrificing one of Willian or Oscar, as he hopes to protect a superb record against Arsene Wenger. The Gunners' long-serving manager has never got the better of Mourinho, losing 7 and drawing 5 of his 12 meetings with the Portuguese, and if that doesn't change this weekend their unlikely title hopes will fall by the wayside, just as United's did at the Bridge.

Wenger and Mourinho square-up to each other earlier this season (Getty Images)

The fact that Arsenal have failed to score in their last 4 meetings with Chelsea doesn't bode well for the hosts but Wenger's men have scored at least once in each of their league matches at the Emirates this season. This may well be a battle of style against substance in North London, and though Arsenal boast the best statistical rating in the Premier League according to WhoScored.com (7.42), there's a reason why Chelsea have such a comfortable gap at the top of the league.

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings. You can follow all the scores, statistics, live player and team ratings with their new free-to-download app