Premier League gameweek 1 statspack
By Ben Gray
West Ham United vs Aston Villa: Saturday 5:30pm
Aston Villa are unbeaten in three meetings with West Ham, their longest such sequence since 2015, despite the fact the Hammers had prevailed in five successive encounters beforehand.
In East London, the Villans are winless in nine outings, dating back 13 years, with their last two trips to the London Stadium resulting in 1-1 draws.
Julen Lopetegui has won his first league match in charge of all four club sides he's previously managed, Porto, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Wolves, and he's yet to taste defeat against Aston Villa, losing only one of seven encounters with Unai Emery, claiming three victories.
Ollie Watkins has scored four times in his career against West Ham, only on target more frequently in the Premier League against Brighton, Arsenal and Liverpool.
The Villans are seeking to avoid a fourth successive opening day defeat, while the Irons have lost six of their last eight opening weekend fixtures.
Brentford vs Crystal Palace: Sunday 2pm
The first five Premier League encounters between these two all resulted in draws, a pair of goalless stalemates followed by a trio of 1-1s, a streak finally ended by Crystal Palace's 3-1 victory when Brentford visited Selhurst last December.
When clashing in West London, the Eagles have only prevailed on four occasions in 22 attempts, most-recently doing so on Christmas Day 1957 when the duo were in the Third Division South.
Ivan Toney has faced 22 different opponents in his Premier League career, scoring against 19 of them, with Crystal Palace, alongside Chelsea and Watford, the sole exceptions.
Having ended the previous campaign with three successive victories, unbeaten in seven overall, Oliver Glasner is aiming to become the first Palace manager since Roy Hodgson in March-June 2020 to win four successive top-flight matches.
The Bees won only three of 12 London derbies last season, losing five.