News & Stats

Gameweek 8 Round-Up:

WhoScored.com are back with their tipster ahead of gameweek 9 in the Premier League but first give us a rundown of last week's stat leaders in England’s top-flight.

Chelsea's 4-1 win over Cardiff was not without incident, with Eden Hazard stealing the headlines with 2 goals and an assist. The Belgian earned a seasonal high WhoScored.com rating of 9.86 in turn, pipping the in form Aaron Ramsey into second last week. The Welshman started the game against Norwich on the bench but following his introduction before half time he picked up another goal and assist to garner a rating of 9.63.

Sergio Aguero, Luis Suarez and Andi Weimann mustered the most shots at goal (6) with varying degrees of success, as the former bagged a brace at West Ham. Meanwhile, another trio shared the accolade of top creator last week, with Gerrard, Silva and Mirallas also tied on 6.

Another three-way tie occurred atop the tackles leaderboard, with Sidwell, Curtis Davies and Schneiderlin all producing 7, while Sunderland’s Lee Cattermole stood alone at the top of the interceptions chart with the same number against Swansea.

Gameweek 9 Suggested XI:

Michel Vorm

Swansea picked up their first home league win of the season last weekend, keeping a clean sheet in the process for the first time at the Liberty. It was, however, Michel Vorm's fourth clean sheet in 9 matches in all competitions and with West Ham having failed to score on 3 of their 4 away days, as well as their last visit to Swansea, another could be just around the corner.

Kyle Walker

Tottenham host Hull, looking to get back on track at White Hart Lane after the shock defeat to West Ham. Spurs have conceded the second fewest shots this season (77) while the Tigers have attempted the third fewest away from home (36). With the home side tipped to score from a wing play situation in the WhoScored.com match forecast Walker could pick up points at either end.

Gareth McAuley

It may seem odd to choose a West Brom defender when the Baggies make the trip to Anfield but such is their recent record against Liverpool that it's a gamble that may pay off. Steve Clarke's side have conceded just twice in their last 4 matches and have won 4 of their last 5 in the league against the Reds, keeping clean sheets in the last 3. McAuley opened the scoring when the Midlands outfit won in Merseyside in February and offers a real threat from dead balls.

Jose Fonte

Another player that will hope to cause problems for the opposing defence this weekend is Jose Fonte, with Southampton backed by WhoScored.com's match forecast to score from a set piece. The Portuguese netted both goals in a 2-2 draw at home to Fulham last season and the Saints have the best defensive record as hosts in the league, conceding just once.

Santi Cazorla

Having been introduced for Jack Wilshere in midweek Santi Cazorla very nearly had the desired effect against Dortmund, clipping the woodwork with a delicious curling effort. Now fully fit, the Spaniard should be among the goals soon enough and may have no better opportunity to get off the mark than against a managerless Palace side with the second worst defensive record in the league (17 conceded).

Oscar

The game of the weekend sees Chelsea host City with the Blues hoping to maintain their record of having never lost a home league game under Jose Mourinho (64 matches). If they are to get a result against a City outfit that have struggled on the road of late they may look to Oscar to continue his fine run of form, scoring 4 and picking up 2 assists in his last 7 appearances.

Jonathan Howson

Norwich will want to leapfrog Cardiff and claw themselves out of the relegation zone with a win against Malky McKay's side this weekend. Only Fulham have conceded more shots than the Welsh outfit this season (143) and the WhoScored.com match forecast suggests that the hosts will be able to work shooting opportunities from range. Howson will hope to find himself in the right place at the right time again having netted in 2 of his last 3 matches.

Steven Pienaar

Everton make the familiar trip to Villa Park in a game that usually assures goals. Both teams have scored in 11 of their last 12 meetings and fit again Steven Pienaar will hope to be back in the starting XI having scored on his return from injury last time out. The South African has netted in 2 of his last 4 visits to Villa Park, including the opener in a 3-1 win last season.

Loic Remy

The Tyne-Wear derby will kick things off on Sunday and Newcastle would love to heap more misery on bottom club Sunderland. Frenchman Loic Remy has scored 5 goals already this season and netted against the Black Cats for QPR earlier this year. With the visitors tipped to score from a fast break, wing play situation and long shot this game is geared up for the forward, who has hit 2 from distance already this season.

Christian Benteke

Having returned from injury off the bench against Tottenham last time out, Christian Benteke is expected to start against Everton this weekend. The Belgian caused the Toffees defence all kinds of problems earlier this year, netting twice in a 3-3 draw, and Everton have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 19 consecutive meetings with Aston Villa.

Robin van Persie

He may have missed the midweek match against Sociedad but if van Persie recovers from injury as expected we might have saved the best till last this week. The Dutchman has only played against Stoke on 8 occasions but he's netted 9 goals in those games, scoring in each of his last 7 appearances against the Potters. Having returned to the scoresheet last weekend he'll hope to go on a run after a relatively slow start to the league season.

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find yet more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team ratings.