Salah the Giant-Slayer and Guardiola’s Milestone: 10 Premier League Numbers to Watch

Simeone: The New Goal Scoring Machine

The seventh round of the English Premier League opens with a slate of intriguing fixtures, as Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and Pep Guardiola of Manchester City are tipped to add historic numbers to the competition’s history.

The round begins on Friday with Bournemouth hosting Fulham, while Liverpool, the title-holders, travel to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in the weekend’s headline match as both sides seek to rebound from two defeats in round six.

Salah will face his former club Chelsea, a side that has often shone against him, and the fortunes of the big clubs across the weekend will similarly shape the narrative.

Meanwhile, Sunderland have surged, aiming to keep their run going and pile pressure on Ruben Amorim at Manchester United, while West Ham look for another upset at the Emirates as Guardiola sits on the cusp of another coaching milestone with City.

Hard Test for Elland Road Fortress

Leeds United had not tasted defeat at home in 23 league games, but a visit from Tottenham, fourth in the table under Thomas Frank, threatens that run.

The Spurs, who beat Leeds 4-0 and 4-1 in their last two visits to Yorkshire, aim to be the first side to defeat Leeds at Elland Road in more than a year.

Chaka: Passes That Make the Difference

Since arriving at Sunderland, Granit Xhaka has been the heartbeat of the team, producing three assists in the last four matches.

Xhaka could go down in club history if he provides the assist for the opening goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford, becoming only the second player in the club’s history to set up four consecutive league goals, after Chris Waddle in 1997.

West Ham, despite a modest start, rely on a strong record at the Emirates, having won on their last two visits.

Under Nuno Espírito Santo, they hope to repeat the upset and become only the second side to win three away games in a row against Arsenal, after Manchester City.

Mohamed Salah is on track for another historic achievement, needing only a goal or a assist against Chelsea to complete double-digit contributions against each of the other big five rivals (outside Liverpool) in the Premier League.

He already has 71 goal involvements against the Premier League’s big teams, including 19 vs Manchester United, 16 vs Tottenham, 15 vs Manchester City, 12 vs Arsenal, and 9 vs Chelsea.

The Wolves have started poorly with three straight home losses; a fourth would set a negative record, the first time a team has lost their first four home games in back-to-back seasons.

The German striker Nick Volltmade has settled quickly into Premier League life, with three goals in five matches, and he hopes to join Newcastle United’s legends by scoring at St James’ Park against Nottingham Forest, becoming the club’s third player to score in his first three games there after Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer.

Crystal Palace extended their unbeaten run to 19 matches across all competitions after beating Liverpool, and they now aim for a historic milestone by avoiding defeat against Everton to reach 13 consecutive Premier League games unbeaten, a club record.

Burnley have conceded 13 goals in six matches and face the risk of another negative mark; if they concede four against Aston Villa, they would equal a grim datapoint—more goals conceded than last season’s entire Championship tally (16) after just seven games.

Guardiola continues to write history with City. The Spaniard has 249 Premier League wins in 348 games and needs one more win against Brentford to reach 250.

While 15 managers have achieved this before, beating Brentford would make him the fastest English manager to hit the milestone, 74 matches quicker than the next-best coach.

Punchline time: If football were math, Guardiola would be the guy who computes corners and still ends up with a perfect score. Spoiler: he already did.

Punchline 2: Salah chases big numbers the way a GPS chases a shortcut—round and round the box until the goal reveals itself. If this were a dating app, he’d swipe right on every top club.