STATS: Who covered the most distance for Liverpool? Passes forward for Arsenal? Runs the fastest?

Liverpool v Arsenal 13:30

• Liverpool came close to victory over reigning champions Manchester City after a very promising performance made up for their opening weekend defeat to West Brom
• New signing Joe Allen was prominent throughout, and covered the most ground among the Liverpool players with 6.78 miles
• That makes Allen’s performance the fifth highest distance covered by a player in an individual game so far this season
• Raheem Sterling also looked bright and was second only to Allen with 6.29 miles on the clock
• Luis Suarez was on the scoresheet for Liverpool and also registered the fastest top speed among the Liverpool side with 22.78 miles per hour
• Suarez has had 12 attempts at goal this season, more than any other player, but he has only got 5 of those on target
• Steven Gerrard is second in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for crosses delivered with 11 so far this season
• Arsenal were held 0-0 by Stoke in their last game
• Santi Carzola again looked bright, attempting six shots at goal, the joint highest in the last round of game with North London rival Jermain Defoe
• Carzola has now had 9 shots at goal, but is yet the score, the most shots without reward in the league so far this season
• Carzola has also completed the third highest number of passes in his opponent’s half with 92, but is yet to register an assist
• Arsenal can consider themselves unlucky not to have scored so far this season, having four of the top five players for dribbles completed in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index (Gervinho – 7, Carzola – 6, Walcott – 5, Arteta – 4)
• Arsenal also have three players in the top five for forward passes this season (Mertesacker – 64, Arteta – 58, Vermaelen – 49) as fans must rue no longer having van Persie to get on the end of their impressive attacking play

Newcastle v Aston Villa 16:00

• Newcastle were helpless to prevent Chelsea beating them 2-0 in their last game, as goals from Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres condemned them to defeat
• New Newcastle signing Vernun Anita gave away a penalty in the game for Chelsea’s first goal, but worked hard to make amends covering more ground than any other Newcastle player with 6.32 miles
• Demba Ba was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet and also clocked the fastest top speed among the Newcastle squad with 20.15 mph
• Young defender James Perch came of age last season amongst Newcastle’s defensive injury crisis, and he has now completed more successful passes in the attacking third than any other defender with 29
• Karim El-Ahmadi scored a consolation goal for Villa at the weekend in their 3-1 loss to Everton, and also covered more ground than any other Villa player with 6.7 miles
• Despite the result, Villa’s overall distance covered 65.88 miles against Everton, the second furthest distance covered by a team so far this season
• The performances of young full back Matthew Lowton have also been a plus, as he has made more attacking runs off the ball than any other player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance index with 112, one more than spurs striker Jermain Defoe
• El-Ahmadi has been a positive among a difficult start to the season, and Newcastle will need to watch out for the midfielder. Comparing the two teams head to head, El-Ahmadi has completed more passes in his opponent’s area than any other player with 45, just ahead of Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa who has completed 40 passes in his opponent’s half
• The top five players for tackles won, when comparing the two teams head to head, are also all Villa players, led by Nathan Baker with 8. Newcastle’s top tackler is, surprisingly, Jonas Gutierrez who has won 4 tackles so far this season

Southampton v Man Utd 16:00

• Southampton lost 2-0 to an impressive looking Wigan side last weekend
• However, one bright point was the performance of Morgan Schneiderlin who covered an incredible 7.29 miles in the game. That followed his 7.31 miles against Man City, meaning he holds first and second position in the EA SPORTS Performance Index for distance covered in a single game
• Adam Lallana has covered the second highest amount of ground after Schneiderlin in both games so far this season, and against Wigan he also registered the fastest top speed of any Southampton player with 19.05 mph
• Southampton’s overall team distance covered of 65.35 miles is the third furthest registered by a team so far this season
• Manchester United are making a habit of nervy victories this season, after scraping a 3-2 win over Fulham last weekend
• Robin van Persie scored on his full debut for United and covered 5.99 miles for United, second only to Tom Cleverley who covered an impressive 6.4 miles
• Cleverley also completed 46 passes in the Fulham half, the most of any player in the last round of games
• Meanwhile Antonio Valencia was the fastest player for United, registering a top speed of 19.8 miles per hour
• Comparing the two teams head to head, the top five players for passes completed in their opponent’s half are all United players, led by Cleverley who has completed 90 passes in his opponent’s half so far this season, the fourth highest of any player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
• Adam Lallana is Southampton’s top passer, but he has completed just over half the number of Cleverley with 50 passes in his opponent’s half
• However, United, may have problems passing through Southampton’s team with Morgan Schneiderlin and Jos Hooiveld having each made 13 interceptions so far this season