We have statistics ahead of every Premier League game this weekend, including news of the Wayne Rooney record Diego Costa is hoping to break.
The Premier League's only remaining 100% record faces its biggest threat yet when Chelsea go to Manchester City on Sunday, but it is just one of a number of intriguing games set to take place this weekend.
High-flying Aston Villa will hope to take over at the summit when they host Arsenal, while Burnley and Sunderland will both fancy their chances of recording their first win in a big game at the other end.
Alan Pardew, meanwhile, will be praying for a positive result when Newcastle host Hull City.
We take a look at the key Opta statistics ahead of the fifth round of games.
Queens Park Rangers v Stoke City, 12.45pm
QPR have won eight and lost just two of their last 13 home league games against the Potters (D3).
Stoke have won their last two league games against the R's, though; they have not won three in a row against them since 1974.
QPR have scored only three goals in their last 11 Premier League games.
Only Everton (10) have conceded more goals than QPR (9) this season in the Premier League.
Only Burnley have scored as few goals as QPR (1) this season.
Stoke are unbeaten in their last four Premier League away games; they have not gone five in a row without defeat since a run of six in April 2010.
Peter Crouch has now gone 10 Premier League appearances without scoring.
Charlie Austin has scored 11 goals in his last 13 appearances at Loftus Road (including play-offs)
Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has made only three saves in four appearances this season.
Stoke have lost their last five Premier League games in London, failing to score in the last four of those games.
Aston Villa v Arsenal
Darren Bent has scored eight goals in his last 11 appearances against the Gunners in all competitions, including five in his last five.
Danny Welbeck has scored three goals in his last two Premier League starts against Aston Villa.
Both Arsenal (W1 D3) and Aston Villa (W3 D1) remain unbeaten after four Premier League matchdays in 2014-15.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 15 Premier League visits to Villa Park, winning eight and drawing seven.
Villa have had only six shots on target this season - a league low - but have gained 10 points (W3 D1).
Arsenal have conceded 15 shots on target in their four PL games so far this season, five more than Villa (10).
Arsenal have played a higher proportion of their passes in the final third (37%) than any other side.
Aston Villa have kept more clean sheets than any other Premier League side this season (3), while Arsenal are one of only three teams yet to record one.
Arsenal have conceded a headed goal in each of their four Premier League games this season.
Danny Welbeck has scored three times in the Premier League against Aston Villa; only against Everton and Swansea has he scored as often.
Burnley v Sunderland
Burnley have won just one of the last 12 matches in all competitions against Sunderland (W1 D5 L6).
Steven Fletcher represented Burnley on the last occasion these sides met (2009/10); he remains Burnley's leading Premier League scorer (8 goals).
No team has scored fewer goals than Burnley so far (1) in the Premier League this season.
The Clarets have drawn their last two games 0-0. The last team to draw three games 0-0 in a row were their rivals Blackburn in December 2009.
Three of Sunderland's four league games this season have been 1-1 at half-time.
After his flurry of five goals in three games to help Sunderland stay up last season, Connor Wickham has now gone seven Premier League games without one.
Sunderland are yet to win (three points from four games) in 2014-15 - last season they took only one point from their opening eight PL games.
Sunderland are one of three teams yet to keep a clean sheet this season (along with Arsenal and West Ham).
Jack Rodwell is the only Premier League player to have been subbed off in all four games this season.
Sunderland have lost only one of their last five Premier League away games (W2 D2 L1).
Newcastle United v Hull City
None of the last six competitive meetings between Hull and Newcastle have ended as a home win (four away wins and two draws).
Indeed, the Tigers have won on four of their last five trips to St James' Park in all competitions (L1).
Newcastle have scored only 17 goals in the Premier League in 2014, fewer than any other ever-present side this year.
Hull are just one of five teams to score in all four of their games this season (along with Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton & Swansea).
Newcastle have lost eight of their last 12 Premier League games at St James Park (W3 D1).
Hull have scored at least once in eight of their last nine Premier League away games.
Hull have made more clearances than any other side in the PL this season (186).
Alan Pardew now has the same Premier League win percentage at Newcastle (36%) as he did at West Ham.
Steven Taylor is the only player to feature in the Premier League this season and not make a single pass.
No Newcastle player has been caught offside yet this season in the Premier League, despite playing four games.
Swansea City v Southampton
Swansea City have gone 287 minutes of football without a goal against Southampton.
Saints did the double over Swansea last season and are unbeaten in five overall against them (W2 D3).
There have been just five goals scored in the four Premier League meetings between Southampton and Swansea City.
Swansea's average possession figure of 49% is lower than Stoke's (51%) this season.
Swansea are one of only two teams to have won both of their home games in the Premier League this season (alongside Chelsea).
Southampton are looking to win three games in a row for only the third time since returning to the Premier League in August 2012.
Graziano Pelle has scored three goals from just six shots on target in the Premier League for Southampton.
Nathan Dyer has scored with all three of his shots on target for Swansea this season.
Gylfi Sigurdsson has assisted four goals in four appearances this season.
Swansea have used 16 players this season, fewer than any other side.
West Ham United v Liverpool, 5.30pm
There have been four own goals scored in the last seven Premier League meetings between Liverpool and West Ham.
Steven Gerrard has scored seven Premier League goals against West Ham and six of them have been netted at the Boleyn Ground.
Liverpool have won eight and lost just one of the last 11 Premier League meetings with the Hammers (D2).
There have been five goals in the five minutes leading up to half time of the last five Premier League matches between Liverpool and West Ham.
West Ham's starting XI versus Hull City in their last match had an average age of 26y 355d - their youngest in the Premier League since May 2011.
Since the start of last season, the only English player to create more goalscoring chances in the Premier League than Stewart Downing (75) is Steven Gerrard (78).
If Liverpool score in this game they will set a new club top-flight record of scoring in 17 consecutive away games.
Liverpool have scored 33 goals in their last 11 Premier League away games.
Mario Balotelli has scored just one goal in his last 18 Premier League appearances.
West Ham have scored four goals from outside the box this season, matching their total from 2013-14.
Leicester City v Manchester United, Sunday, 1.30pm
The Foxes have netted just one goal in their last eight Premier League matches against Manchester United.
Wayne Rooney has scored in both of his Premier League appearances against Leicester City.
The Red Devils have won the last nine successive Premier League games against Leicester City.
Angel Di Maria has scored the only direct free-kick goal in the Premier League this season.
Wayne Rooney's 175 Premier League goals came in 378 games, compared to 258 for Thierry Henry, who also scored 175.
Juan Mata has eight goals and four assists in 19 Premier League games for Manchester United.
United have gone four Premier League away games without a win (D3 L1); they last went five without a victory in September 2001.
Manchester United have used a league-high 26 players already this season, at least three more than any other club.
Manchester United have won only four of their last 17 Premier League games on a Sunday (D7 L6).
Before this run, United were unbeaten in 22 Premier League games on a Sunday (W18 D4).
Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion, Sunday, 1.30pm
Christian Eriksen scored in both Premier League games against West Brom last season.
West Brom are without a win in nine Premier League meetings with Spurs (D5 L4).
Tottenham have conceded almost as many handballs (6) as they have scored goals (7) in the Premier League this season.
Tottenham have given away two of the five penalties awarded in the Premier League this season.
Craig Gardner has been booked in four of his last five Premier League appearances, including in each of his last three.
Saido Berahino remains the only West Brom player to score in the Premier League this season (2).
Last season, Tottenham played a Premier League-record 22 games on a Sunday.
WBA have made four errors leading to goal this season, equalling their total from last season.
The Baggies have won none of their last 13 Premier League games on a Sunday (D6 L7), last tasting victory when Roy Hodgson guided them to a win against Liverpool in April 2012.
Etienne Capoue has made the most successful passes in the Premier League this season (342).
Everton v Crystal Palace, Sunday, 4pm
Everton have lost three of their five previous Premier League home meetings with Crystal Palace, winning the other two.
Jason Puncheon has played twice at Goodison Park in the Premier League and scored on both occasions.
Everton are the second top scorers with nine goals, but they have conceded the most (10).
Leighton Baines has assisted two goals this season; he only assisted four in the whole of 2013-14.
Everton have delivered fewer crosses than any other team in the Premier League this season (47).
After winning seven home games in a row between December and April, Everton have won only one of five (L3 D1), a run that started with a 3-2 reversal to Crystal Palace.
Palace have scored a total of 13 goals in their last six Premier League away games, after bagging only six in their previous 15 on the road.
Everton have only played London teams at home so far this season (2-2 vs Arsenal, 3-6 vs Chelsea).
Everton have won their last four Premier League games on a Sunday, keeping a clean sheet in the last three.
Palace took just two points (L4 D2) from six games played on a Sunday last season.
Manchester City v Chelsea, Sunday, 4pm
Manchester City have only failed to score in two of their last 71 home league games, against Stoke last time out and against Chelsea last season.
Chelsea have won away from home at Manchester City more often than any other team in Premier League history (11 times).
The Londoners took 16 from a maximum 18 possible points in head-to-head matches with the other teams in the top four last season (W5 D1), including two wins over Man City.
Yaya Toure has not scored or assisted a single Premier League goal in his three appearances so far this season. The last time that he failed to score or assist a goal in four successive PL apps was back in between Nov-Dec 2012.
Joe Hart should make his 200th Premier League appearance for City in this game.
Diego Costa has scored seven goals in the first four games of the season; the PL record five games into the campaign is nine by Wayne Rooney in 2011-12.
City's Sergio Aguero scored eight goals in his first five games for the club in 2011-12.
Sergio Aguero has scored 10 goals in his last 12 Premier League appearances at the Etihad Stadium. He has also assisted four more goals in this period.
Cesc Fabregas will be looking to assist a goal for a seventh Premier League game in a row.
Chelsea have won all of their games by a two-goal margin this season; only three sides have won by 2+ goals in their opening five games (Newcastle 94-95, Arsenal 04-05 & Chelsea 10-11 - none of them went onto win the title).
Eden Hazard has created the most chances (14) without recording a single assist in the Premier League this season.
We have statistics ahead of every Premier League game this weekend, including news of the Wayne Rooney record Diego Costa is hoping to break.
The Premier League's only remaining 100% record faces its biggest threat yet when Chelsea go to Manchester City on Sunday, but it is just one of a number of intriguing games set to take place this weekend.
High-flying Aston Villa will hope to take over at the summit when they host Arsenal, while Burnley and Sunderland will both fancy their chances of recording their first win in a big game at the other end.
Alan Pardew, meanwhile, will be praying for a positive result when Newcastle host Hull City.
We take a look at the key Opta statistics ahead of the fifth round of games.
Queens Park Rangers v Stoke City, 12.45pm
QPR have won eight and lost just two of their last 13 home league games against the Potters (D3).
Stoke have won their last two league games against the R's, though; they have not won three in a row against them since 1974.
QPR have scored only three goals in their last 11 Premier League games.
Only Everton (10) have conceded more goals than QPR (9) this season in the Premier League.
Only Burnley have scored as few goals as QPR (1) this season.
Stoke are unbeaten in their last four Premier League away games; they have not gone five in a row without defeat since a run of six in April 2010.
Peter Crouch has now gone 10 Premier League appearances without scoring.
Charlie Austin has scored 11 goals in his last 13 appearances at Loftus Road (including play-offs)
Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has made only three saves in four appearances this season.
Stoke have lost their last five Premier League games in London, failing to score in the last four of those games.
Aston Villa v Arsenal
Darren Bent has scored eight goals in his last 11 appearances against the Gunners in all competitions, including five in his last five.
Danny Welbeck has scored three goals in his last two Premier League starts against Aston Villa.
Both Arsenal (W1 D3) and Aston Villa (W3 D1) remain unbeaten after four Premier League matchdays in 2014-15.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 15 Premier League visits to Villa Park, winning eight and drawing seven.
Villa have had only six shots on target this season - a league low - but have gained 10 points (W3 D1).
Arsenal have conceded 15 shots on target in their four PL games so far this season, five more than Villa (10).
Arsenal have played a higher proportion of their passes in the final third (37%) than any other side.
Aston Villa have kept more clean sheets than any other Premier League side this season (3), while Arsenal are one of only three teams yet to record one.
Arsenal have conceded a headed goal in each of their four Premier League games this season.
Danny Welbeck has scored three times in the Premier League against Aston Villa; only against Everton and Swansea has he scored as often.
Burnley v Sunderland
Burnley have won just one of the last 12 matches in all competitions against Sunderland (W1 D5 L6).
Steven Fletcher represented Burnley on the last occasion these sides met (2009/10); he remains Burnley's leading Premier League scorer (8 goals).
No team has scored fewer goals than Burnley so far (1) in the Premier League this season.
The Clarets have drawn their last two games 0-0. The last team to draw three games 0-0 in a row were their rivals Blackburn in December 2009.
Three of Sunderland's four league games this season have been 1-1 at half-time.
After his flurry of five goals in three games to help Sunderland stay up last season, Connor Wickham has now gone seven Premier League games without one.
Sunderland are yet to win (three points from four games) in 2014-15 - last season they took only one point from their opening eight PL games.
Sunderland are one of three teams yet to keep a clean sheet this season (along with Arsenal and West Ham).
Jack Rodwell is the only Premier League player to have been subbed off in all four games this season.
Sunderland have lost only one of their last five Premier League away games (W2 D2 L1).
Newcastle United v Hull City
None of the last six competitive meetings between Hull and Newcastle have ended as a home win (four away wins and two draws).
Indeed, the Tigers have won on four of their last five trips to St James' Park in all competitions (L1).
Newcastle have scored only 17 goals in the Premier League in 2014, fewer than any other ever-present side this year.
Hull are just one of five teams to score in all four of their games this season (along with Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton & Swansea).
Newcastle have lost eight of their last 12 Premier League games at St James Park (W3 D1).
Hull have scored at least once in eight of their last nine Premier League away games.
Hull have made more clearances than any other side in the PL this season (186).
Alan Pardew now has the same Premier League win percentage at Newcastle (36%) as he did at West Ham.
Steven Taylor is the only player to feature in the Premier League this season and not make a single pass.
No Newcastle player has been caught offside yet this season in the Premier League, despite playing four games.
Swansea City v Southampton
Swansea City have gone 287 minutes of football without a goal against Southampton.
Saints did the double over Swansea last season and are unbeaten in five overall against them (W2 D3).
There have been just five goals scored in the four Premier League meetings between Southampton and Swansea City.
Swansea's average possession figure of 49% is lower than Stoke's (51%) this season.
Swansea are one of only two teams to have won both of their home games in the Premier League this season (alongside Chelsea).
Southampton are looking to win three games in a row for only the third time since returning to the Premier League in August 2012.
Graziano Pelle has scored three goals from just six shots on target in the Premier League for Southampton.
Nathan Dyer has scored with all three of his shots on target for Swansea this season.
Gylfi Sigurdsson has assisted four goals in four appearances this season.
Swansea have used 16 players this season, fewer than any other side.
West Ham United v Liverpool, 5.30pm
There have been four own goals scored in the last seven Premier League meetings between Liverpool and West Ham.
Steven Gerrard has scored seven Premier League goals against West Ham and six of them have been netted at the Boleyn Ground.
Liverpool have won eight and lost just one of the last 11 Premier League meetings with the Hammers (D2).
There have been five goals in the five minutes leading up to half time of the last five Premier League matches between Liverpool and West Ham.
West Ham's starting XI versus Hull City in their last match had an average age of 26y 355d - their youngest in the Premier League since May 2011.
Since the start of last season, the only English player to create more goalscoring chances in the Premier League than Stewart Downing (75) is Steven Gerrard (78).
If Liverpool score in this game they will set a new club top-flight record of scoring in 17 consecutive away games.
Liverpool have scored 33 goals in their last 11 Premier League away games.
Mario Balotelli has scored just one goal in his last 18 Premier League appearances.
West Ham have scored four goals from outside the box this season, matching their total from 2013-14.
Leicester City v Manchester United, Sunday, 1.30pm
The Foxes have netted just one goal in their last eight Premier League matches against Manchester United.
Wayne Rooney has scored in both of his Premier League appearances against Leicester City.
The Red Devils have won the last nine successive Premier League games against Leicester City.
Angel Di Maria has scored the only direct free-kick goal in the Premier League this season.
Wayne Rooney's 175 Premier League goals came in 378 games, compared to 258 for Thierry Henry, who also scored 175.
Juan Mata has eight goals and four assists in 19 Premier League games for Manchester United.
United have gone four Premier League away games without a win (D3 L1); they last went five without a victory in September 2001.
Manchester United have used a league-high 26 players already this season, at least three more than any other club.
Manchester United have won only four of their last 17 Premier League games on a Sunday (D7 L6).
Before this run, United were unbeaten in 22 Premier League games on a Sunday (W18 D4).
Tottenham Hotspur v West Bromwich Albion, Sunday, 1.30pm
Christian Eriksen scored in both Premier League games against West Brom last season.
West Brom are without a win in nine Premier League meetings with Spurs (D5 L4).
Tottenham have conceded almost as many handballs (6) as they have scored goals (7) in the Premier League this season.
Tottenham have given away two of the five penalties awarded in the Premier League this season.
Craig Gardner has been booked in four of his last five Premier League appearances, including in each of his last three.
Saido Berahino remains the only West Brom player to score in the Premier League this season (2).
Last season, Tottenham played a Premier League-record 22 games on a Sunday.
WBA have made four errors leading to goal this season, equalling their total from last season.
The Baggies have won none of their last 13 Premier League games on a Sunday (D6 L7), last tasting victory when Roy Hodgson guided them to a win against Liverpool in April 2012.
Etienne Capoue has made the most successful passes in the Premier League this season (342).
Everton v Crystal Palace, Sunday, 4pm
Everton have lost three of their five previous Premier League home meetings with Crystal Palace, winning the other two.
Jason Puncheon has played twice at Goodison Park in the Premier League and scored on both occasions.
Everton are the second top scorers with nine goals, but they have conceded the most (10).
Leighton Baines has assisted two goals this season; he only assisted four in the whole of 2013-14.
Everton have delivered fewer crosses than any other team in the Premier League this season (47).
After winning seven home games in a row between December and April, Everton have won only one of five (L3 D1), a run that started with a 3-2 reversal to Crystal Palace.
Palace have scored a total of 13 goals in their last six Premier League away games, after bagging only six in their previous 15 on the road.
Everton have only played London teams at home so far this season (2-2 vs Arsenal, 3-6 vs Chelsea).
Everton have won their last four Premier League games on a Sunday, keeping a clean sheet in the last three.
Palace took just two points (L4 D2) from six games played on a Sunday last season.
Manchester City v Chelsea, Sunday, 4pm
Manchester City have only failed to score in two of their last 71 home league games, against Stoke last time out and against Chelsea last season.
Chelsea have won away from home at Manchester City more often than any other team in Premier League history (11 times).
The Londoners took 16 from a maximum 18 possible points in head-to-head matches with the other teams in the top four last season (W5 D1), including two wins over Man City.
Yaya Toure has not scored or assisted a single Premier League goal in his three appearances so far this season. The last time that he failed to score or assist a goal in four successive PL apps was back in between Nov-Dec 2012.
Joe Hart should make his 200th Premier League appearance for City in this game.
Diego Costa has scored seven goals in the first four games of the season; the PL record five games into the campaign is nine by Wayne Rooney in 2011-12.
City's Sergio Aguero scored eight goals in his first five games for the club in 2011-12.
Sergio Aguero has scored 10 goals in his last 12 Premier League appearances at the Etihad Stadium. He has also assisted four more goals in this period.
Cesc Fabregas will be looking to assist a goal for a seventh Premier League game in a row.
Chelsea have won all of their games by a two-goal margin this season; only three sides have won by 2+ goals in their opening five games (Newcastle 94-95, Arsenal 04-05 & Chelsea 10-11 - none of them went onto win the title).
Eden Hazard has created the most chances (14) without recording a single assist in the Premier League this season.
Sam Allardyce has none of his injured players returning to fitness in time to face Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday.
West Ham will still be without a host of names for the game at Upton Park, with Matt Jarvis (thigh), Andy Carroll (ankle), Kevin Nolan (shoulder) and Joey O'Brien (knee) all missing and James Collins (hamstring) still a doubt.
But Allardyce could yet hand full debuts to Carl Jenkinson, Alex Song and Morgan Amalfitano after the trio all came off the bench in Monday night's 2-2 draw at Hull.
Defender Martin Skrtel returns to the Liverpool squad to face West Ham after recovering from a knee injury which has sidelined him for three matches.
Fellow defender Glen Johnson (thigh) is unlikely to be ready to come back while Jon Flangan has undergone an operation on a troublesome knee.
Midfielder Joe Allen has still not recovered from a knee injury sustained on international duty while Daniel Sturridge is edging closer to a return from a thigh strain.
Sam Allardyce has none of his injured players returning to fitness in time to face Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday.
West Ham will still be without a host of names for the game at Upton Park, with Matt Jarvis (thigh), Andy Carroll (ankle), Kevin Nolan (shoulder) and Joey O'Brien (knee) all missing and James Collins (hamstring) still a doubt.
But Allardyce could yet hand full debuts to Carl Jenkinson, Alex Song and Morgan Amalfitano after the trio all came off the bench in Monday night's 2-2 draw at Hull.
Defender Martin Skrtel returns to the Liverpool squad to face West Ham after recovering from a knee injury which has sidelined him for three matches.
Fellow defender Glen Johnson (thigh) is unlikely to be ready to come back while Jon Flangan has undergone an operation on a troublesome knee.
Midfielder Joe Allen has still not recovered from a knee injury sustained on international duty while Daniel Sturridge is edging closer to a return from a thigh strain.
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With Liverpool set to travel to West Ham United’s Boleyn Ground on Saturday in the Premier League, Jack Lusby talks to former Liverpool and Hammers centre-back Julian Dicks.
West Ham United v Liverpool
Saturday 20 September; 17:30pm kick-off
Premier League
Boleyn Ground
After a miserable home loss at the hands of Aston Villa last weekend, Liverpool will be buoyed somewhat by a tight victory in a first Champions League tie for five years, defeating Ludogorets at Anfield, 2-1.
Brendan Rodgers’ Reds travel to West Ham United on Saturday to take on a side whose last Premier League result was a hard-fought 2-2 draw away to Hull City.
We spoke to West Ham legend and former Liverpool centre-back Julian Dicks, who spent the 1993/94 season at Anfield under Graeme Souness, who offered an insight into the London side’s successful summer, a season of change under Sam Allardyce and an interesting career move.
Hi Julian, first of all, are you happy with the way things have gone for West Ham this summer?
Yeah, they’ve bought some decent players, they played hard the other day (in the 2-2 draw away to Hull City) and they looked quite balanced. Like all teams it’s just about keeping the players fit and keeping them playing together.
Against Hull the side were very impressive, and their style of play looked to have changed with a more attacking emphasis—do you think the style of play under Allardyce needed to change?
I think so, yeah. I think if you’ve got the players do it—everything’s about personnel—if you’ve not got the players to do it then you can’t.
West Ham have the players to do it, so for me personally, yeah, they need to be more attacking, especially at home.
Do you think the style of play under Allardyce lost the fans somewhat last season?
Well they lost the fans quite a while ago, but football’s about winning games and if you can win games it obviously gets the fans on your side.
With West Ham, they expect to see a certain style of football, and unfortunately over the last couple of seasons, that hasn’t been the case. So hopefully with the new players coming in, they can put that right.
Which of the new signings are you most impressed with in particular? Enner Valencia played well on his debut against Hull.
They’re only good players if they do it week in, week out. Yeah, Valencia cost £12 million and yeah, he scored a great goal the other night, but it’s about playing consistently well for West Ham.
I like Aaron Cresswell most, who’s a left-back who likes to overlap.
Last season there was a lack of key figures in the West Ham squad, especially with Andy Carroll injured, do you think there’s anyone who can step up this season in that respect?
Not really, I think football is now not about someone standing up and shining through. We obviously all know it’s a team game.
Taking from the game against Hull the other day, they had a good balanced, they have some strong, powerful players; it’s just about keeping them fit and keeping them consistent.
Hopefully, West Ham can have a good season.
Where do you feel West Ham will finish at the end of the season?
With the players they’ve got, and I’m basing this on if they play well most games and attacking-wise, I can see them in the top half of the table quite comfortably.
That’s where they should be with the players they’ve got, but as I said they’ve got to perform week in, week out. We had players like Mohamed Diame who, when I saw him play his first game he was absolutely fantastic, but in the next game it was like he’d never kicked a ball in his life.
You can’t afford to have players like that, especially at West Ham who have always been known as a team that plays football, but also that they’re a hardworking side. You can’t have players that inconsistent week in, week out.
On to Liverpool, you spent a season with the club under Souness before going back to West Ham, what did you take from your time at Anfield?
I enjoyed it, it wasn’t a particularly long stay for me, but I made some good friends up there and I played with some fantastic players, the supporters were fantastic, I love Graeme Souness as a manager and as a person, but obviously I was only there about nine months.
I played for one of the biggest clubs in the world and I’m honoured that way.
To score the last goal from a Liverpool player in front of the standing Kop, that was an honour. No one can ever beat that, it’s something that’s going to stay in the record books, so on a personal level it was a good experience for me.
Brendan Rodgers has signed nine players this summer, who are you most impressed with?
Obviously you look at Mario Balotelli, for me he’s a good player and I enjoyed watching him at Manchester City because he’s a bit different.
You want him firing on all cylinders every game, you don’t want him getting mixed up with the other team and putting him off his game, because to be honest, I would pay to watch him.
He’s something different—you never know what’s going to happen with him. But he’s not one of those players that leads the line, if he’s not getting the service he seems to get the hump a little, but hopefully at Liverpool he will get the service from people like Philippe Coutinho.
It’s about him doing the job and about Rodgers keeping him focussed whilst he’s playing.
I know Liverpool have signed new players but they’ve also got to keep their best players fit, players like Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge, and if they can I think they’re going to have a good season.
How would you have approached playing against Balotelli?
I would’ve smashed him. You can’t do it so much now but what the players know is that if you kick him he’s going to go off his game, and he’d probably want to kick you back and that’s all he’s going to be focussed on. So if I was playing him I’d go through the back of him.
We saw that against Aston Villa, and they got a result.
What about your predictions for Saturday’s game? Do you think West Ham can get a result?
I do. It was a great result against Hull, and a point away from home against anybody in the Premier League is a good result, and I think they’ll have a lot of confidence after that game and especially with the new players coming in.
It depends on what side Allardyce puts out and, for me, you have to play Valencia, you have to play Cheikhou Kouyate—you have to play your best side against teams like Liverpool.
At home you always have a chance, if it was at Anfield I’d go ‘hang on a minute, this is going to be tough,’ but at home, and with they’re best team, personally I think West Ham have a chance.
It’s about putting Liverpool under pressure, because if you let Liverpool pass the ball they’re going to cause you problems.
Your non-playing career has taken an unusual turn in taking charge of the West Ham Ladies FC, how are you finding this role?
To be honest, I enjoy it. I enjoy it a lot because they’re honest; they have no egos, no real attitude.
You can do training, and you say ‘we’re going running today,’ and they’ll say ‘how far?’ It’s not full of people whinging and moaning, like I used to.
It’s obviously a lot different from men’s football, and I’m trying to make them a little bit more aggressive, and it’s going to take time.
Trying to recruit women for football is still difficult, for every 5,000 blokes that would want to play there’s probably five women.
Do you think there’s an interest growing though, for women’s football?
There is, but it’s going to take a long time. With the likes of Arsenal and Man City Ladies, there’s a lot growing there.
Some people will never take it seriously. I get tweets saying ‘why do I want to watch women’s football?’
With the likes of West Ham and some of the teams we play, like Tottenham and Keynsham, it’s going to take some time for people to take it seriously.
Julian Dicks is a former West Ham and Liverpool centre-back, who made 28 appearances for the Reds in the 1993/94 season under Graeme Souness, scoring three goals. Dicks is now manager of West Ham Ladies FC, and you can follow him on Twitter here.
What are your predictions for Saturday’s visit to West Ham United? Let us know in the comments below.
.
With Liverpool set to travel to West Ham United’s Boleyn Ground on Saturday in the Premier League, Jack Lusby talks to former Liverpool and Hammers centre-back Julian Dicks.
West Ham United v Liverpool
Saturday 20 September; 17:30pm kick-off
Premier League
Boleyn Ground
After a miserable home loss at the hands of Aston Villa last weekend, Liverpool will be buoyed somewhat by a tight victory in a first Champions League tie for five years, defeating Ludogorets at Anfield, 2-1.
Brendan Rodgers’ Reds travel to West Ham United on Saturday to take on a side whose last Premier League result was a hard-fought 2-2 draw away to Hull City.
We spoke to West Ham legend and former Liverpool centre-back Julian Dicks, who spent the 1993/94 season at Anfield under Graeme Souness, who offered an insight into the London side’s successful summer, a season of change under Sam Allardyce and an interesting career move.
Hi Julian, first of all, are you happy with the way things have gone for West Ham this summer?
Yeah, they’ve bought some decent players, they played hard the other day (in the 2-2 draw away to Hull City) and they looked quite balanced. Like all teams it’s just about keeping the players fit and keeping them playing together.
Against Hull the side were very impressive, and their style of play looked to have changed with a more attacking emphasis—do you think the style of play under Allardyce needed to change?
I think so, yeah. I think if you’ve got the players do it—everything’s about personnel—if you’ve not got the players to do it then you can’t.
West Ham have the players to do it, so for me personally, yeah, they need to be more attacking, especially at home.
Do you think the style of play under Allardyce lost the fans somewhat last season?
Well they lost the fans quite a while ago, but football’s about winning games and if you can win games it obviously gets the fans on your side.
With West Ham, they expect to see a certain style of football, and unfortunately over the last couple of seasons, that hasn’t been the case. So hopefully with the new players coming in, they can put that right.
Which of the new signings are you most impressed with in particular? Enner Valencia played well on his debut against Hull.
They’re only good players if they do it week in, week out. Yeah, Valencia cost £12 million and yeah, he scored a great goal the other night, but it’s about playing consistently well for West Ham.
I like Aaron Cresswell most, who’s a left-back who likes to overlap.
Last season there was a lack of key figures in the West Ham squad, especially with Andy Carroll injured, do you think there’s anyone who can step up this season in that respect?
Not really, I think football is now not about someone standing up and shining through. We obviously all know it’s a team game.
Taking from the game against Hull the other day, they had a good balanced, they have some strong, powerful players; it’s just about keeping them fit and keeping them consistent.
Hopefully, West Ham can have a good season.
Where do you feel West Ham will finish at the end of the season?
With the players they’ve got, and I’m basing this on if they play well most games and attacking-wise, I can see them in the top half of the table quite comfortably.
That’s where they should be with the players they’ve got, but as I said they’ve got to perform week in, week out. We had players like Mohamed Diame who, when I saw him play his first game he was absolutely fantastic, but in the next game it was like he’d never kicked a ball in his life.
You can’t afford to have players like that, especially at West Ham who have always been known as a team that plays football, but also that they’re a hardworking side. You can’t have players that inconsistent week in, week out.
On to Liverpool, you spent a season with the club under Souness before going back to West Ham, what did you take from your time at Anfield?
I enjoyed it, it wasn’t a particularly long stay for me, but I made some good friends up there and I played with some fantastic players, the supporters were fantastic, I love Graeme Souness as a manager and as a person, but obviously I was only there about nine months.
I played for one of the biggest clubs in the world and I’m honoured that way.
To score the last goal from a Liverpool player in front of the standing Kop, that was an honour. No one can ever beat that, it’s something that’s going to stay in the record books, so on a personal level it was a good experience for me.
Brendan Rodgers has signed nine players this summer, who are you most impressed with?
Obviously you look at Mario Balotelli, for me he’s a good player and I enjoyed watching him at Manchester City because he’s a bit different.
You want him firing on all cylinders every game, you don’t want him getting mixed up with the other team and putting him off his game, because to be honest, I would pay to watch him.
He’s something different—you never know what’s going to happen with him. But he’s not one of those players that leads the line, if he’s not getting the service he seems to get the hump a little, but hopefully at Liverpool he will get the service from people like Philippe Coutinho.
It’s about him doing the job and about Rodgers keeping him focussed whilst he’s playing.
I know Liverpool have signed new players but they’ve also got to keep their best players fit, players like Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge, and if they can I think they’re going to have a good season.
How would you have approached playing against Balotelli?
I would’ve smashed him. You can’t do it so much now but what the players know is that if you kick him he’s going to go off his game, and he’d probably want to kick you back and that’s all he’s going to be focussed on. So if I was playing him I’d go through the back of him.
We saw that against Aston Villa, and they got a result.
What about your predictions for Saturday’s game? Do you think West Ham can get a result?
I do. It was a great result against Hull, and a point away from home against anybody in the Premier League is a good result, and I think they’ll have a lot of confidence after that game and especially with the new players coming in.
It depends on what side Allardyce puts out and, for me, you have to play Valencia, you have to play Cheikhou Kouyate—you have to play your best side against teams like Liverpool.
At home you always have a chance, if it was at Anfield I’d go ‘hang on a minute, this is going to be tough,’ but at home, and with they’re best team, personally I think West Ham have a chance.
It’s about putting Liverpool under pressure, because if you let Liverpool pass the ball they’re going to cause you problems.
Your non-playing career has taken an unusual turn in taking charge of the West Ham Ladies FC, how are you finding this role?
To be honest, I enjoy it. I enjoy it a lot because they’re honest; they have no egos, no real attitude.
You can do training, and you say ‘we’re going running today,’ and they’ll say ‘how far?’ It’s not full of people whinging and moaning, like I used to.
It’s obviously a lot different from men’s football, and I’m trying to make them a little bit more aggressive, and it’s going to take time.
Trying to recruit women for football is still difficult, for every 5,000 blokes that would want to play there’s probably five women.
Do you think there’s an interest growing though, for women’s football?
There is, but it’s going to take a long time. With the likes of Arsenal and Man City Ladies, there’s a lot growing there.
Some people will never take it seriously. I get tweets saying ‘why do I want to watch women’s football?’
With the likes of West Ham and some of the teams we play, like Tottenham and Keynsham, it’s going to take some time for people to take it seriously.
Julian Dicks is a former West Ham and Liverpool centre-back, who made 28 appearances for the Reds in the 1993/94 season under Graeme Souness, scoring three goals. Dicks is now manager of West Ham Ladies FC, and you can follow him on Twitter here.
What are your predictions for Saturday’s visit to West Ham United? Let us know in the comments below.
.
Daniel Sturridge may not have been regarded as the crucial main man when Luis Suarez was around, but only now are we starting to see how much our team relies on his presence, writes Rebecca Parry.
Against Aston Villa and Ludogorets at Anfield this week, we’ve seen first hand the effect that even just his movement provides to our whole team.
With no disrespect to Mario Balotelli, we are looking at a different type of player. And that’s not a criticism; at times in the past few years, all we’ve needed is for someone to literally be there for when the chances arrive. And Balotelli did that extremely well in taking his late goal against Ludogorets, but did seem to drift wide at times in the first half and in the Villa game.
But from having the overwhelming duo of Suarez and Sturridge last year, to the last couple of games without either of them, there is no real surprise that performances have recently suffered.
Sturridge holds the ball up so well, an attribute that we may have took for granted when we were too busy praising the genius of Suarez (and rightly so at the time).
But watching the past two games, it brought back horrible memories of the Chelsea game from last year – realistically, the game that cost us the title.
When we do see a lot of the ball, possession is sometimes wasted as there is no real focal point. The way that we play doesn’t compliment us when the opposition have 11 men behind the ball, we just seem to struggle in mastering a plan B.
The movement that Sturridge brings to the side when we are on the attack is so vital for space to be created; movement that the whole team was praised for last year. The quick, unforgiving, pass and move football that dazzled and overwhelmed any team that came up against us.
In The Spotlight
Sturridge always said that he wanted to be the main man, the one in the spotlight, and the one that everyone relies on to bring the goals in. After last year with Suarez having such a stunning season, he was more of a package or just seen as the one that benefitted from the type of work that Suarez brought to the team.
The beginning of this season, it was his chance to show that he can be a one man team up front, and that he can create as well as finish off chances, even without the help of Luis.
And against Southampton, we did see that he can finish the chances when they matter most. He does more work than we notice, with so much work being done off the ball, and now seemingly with less service.
International Injury Saga
Of course, and in my opinion, international breaks three games into the new season are just a recipe for disaster in terms of injuries. Players haven’t had the chance to recuperate properly from the Summer, and get back into the demands that the Premier League requires.
It’s a topic that everyone has had a say on, and that Brendan Rodgers put perfectly when mentioning that every player has different needs in terms of recovery time. Just because they are on international duty, doesn’t necessarily mean that their fitness programs go out the window.
However, now, the international injury saga isn’t something that we can turn back with the clock on. Even though Sturridge has only been missing for two games, it became increasingly evident how much our system is dependent on each and every player’s contribution, and some more than others.
The New “SAS”
Although precautionary measures were made to rest Sterling for parts of the games too, his relationship with Sturridge has become more apparent with the forward’s absence. We even saw good examples of their on-pitch connection when playing in that first England game. There is a lack of movement, which I suppose can be expected when we’ve taken Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez out of the equation – our three most influential players in attack last year.
It’s not certain when Sturridge will be available again, although he has returned to light training this week. You’d hope that when he returns, the attacking play will be more fluent and presents our “diamond” players with the focal point to reap the rewards.
.
Daniel Sturridge may not have been regarded as the crucial main man when Luis Suarez was around, but only now are we starting to see how much our team relies on his presence, writes Rebecca Parry.
Against Aston Villa and Ludogorets at Anfield this week, we’ve seen first hand the effect that even just his movement provides to our whole team.
With no disrespect to Mario Balotelli, we are looking at a different type of player. And that’s not a criticism; at times in the past few years, all we’ve needed is for someone to literally be there for when the chances arrive. And Balotelli did that extremely well in taking his late goal against Ludogorets, but did seem to drift wide at times in the first half and in the Villa game.
But from having the overwhelming duo of Suarez and Sturridge last year, to the last couple of games without either of them, there is no real surprise that performances have recently suffered.
Sturridge holds the ball up so well, an attribute that we may have took for granted when we were too busy praising the genius of Suarez (and rightly so at the time).
But watching the past two games, it brought back horrible memories of the Chelsea game from last year – realistically, the game that cost us the title.
When we do see a lot of the ball, possession is sometimes wasted as there is no real focal point. The way that we play doesn’t compliment us when the opposition have 11 men behind the ball, we just seem to struggle in mastering a plan B.
The movement that Sturridge brings to the side when we are on the attack is so vital for space to be created; movement that the whole team was praised for last year. The quick, unforgiving, pass and move football that dazzled and overwhelmed any team that came up against us.
In The Spotlight
Sturridge always said that he wanted to be the main man, the one in the spotlight, and the one that everyone relies on to bring the goals in. After last year with Suarez having such a stunning season, he was more of a package or just seen as the one that benefitted from the type of work that Suarez brought to the team.
The beginning of this season, it was his chance to show that he can be a one man team up front, and that he can create as well as finish off chances, even without the help of Luis.
And against Southampton, we did see that he can finish the chances when they matter most. He does more work than we notice, with so much work being done off the ball, and now seemingly with less service.
International Injury Saga
Of course, and in my opinion, international breaks three games into the new season are just a recipe for disaster in terms of injuries. Players haven’t had the chance to recuperate properly from the Summer, and get back into the demands that the Premier League requires.
It’s a topic that everyone has had a say on, and that Brendan Rodgers put perfectly when mentioning that every player has different needs in terms of recovery time. Just because they are on international duty, doesn’t necessarily mean that their fitness programs go out the window.
However, now, the international injury saga isn’t something that we can turn back with the clock on. Even though Sturridge has only been missing for two games, it became increasingly evident how much our system is dependent on each and every player’s contribution, and some more than others.
The New “SAS”
Although precautionary measures were made to rest Sterling for parts of the games too, his relationship with Sturridge has become more apparent with the forward’s absence. We even saw good examples of their on-pitch connection when playing in that first England game. There is a lack of movement, which I suppose can be expected when we’ve taken Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez out of the equation – our three most influential players in attack last year.
It’s not certain when Sturridge will be available again, although he has returned to light training this week. You’d hope that when he returns, the attacking play will be more fluent and presents our “diamond” players with the focal point to reap the rewards.
.
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