The Dugout Discussion – Saturday

Having witnessed Everton school a bitterly disappointing Southampton in their own backyard, Saturday affords us another five matches to soak in this afternoon.

Swansea and West Ham look to build on their excellent away performances in Gameweek 1 as they play host to Newcastle and Leicester respectively.

The Swans are heavily fancied for this one – Garry Monk’s side fired 17 attempts at the Bridge last weekend, producing 12 efforts in the area and more shots on target (nine) than any side in the opening round of fixtures. With Newcastle conceding more headed attempts (five) than any side, we’ve opted for Bafetimbi Gomis in this week’s Scout Picks.

Although the Hammers were restricted to just eight efforts in their 2-0 win at Arsenal, they’ll be expecting to go on the offensive against the Foxes. Leicester conceded more big chances (45) than any away side in 2014/15 and ranked third worst for shots inside the box conceded (201).

Sunderland and Norwich go head-to-head at the Stadium of Light as both sides attempt to bounce back from opening day defeats. Looking at the stats, the hosts can expect to face plenty of long-range efforts – only six of Norwich’s 17 attempts against Palace last week were from inside the box.

Promoted Watford welcome West Brom to Vicarage Road, whilst Spurs entertain Stoke at the Lane after both suffered narrow 1-0 losses last time around. Somewhat surprisingly, the Potters afforded their opponents just 24 big chances away from home last year – joint-top for resilience with Chelsea. Mark Hughes’ men only conceded 23 goals in the road – again, mirroring Jose Mourinho’s men – suggesting they were a little unlucky only to manage just four clean sheets outside of the Britannia.