EPL game reviews – 2026-01-02

EPL Matchday Review: Tight Finishes, Stubborn Defences and Missed Chances

It was a cagey night of Premier League action, with goals at a premium across all fixtures on the slate. From Leeds vs Liverpool to Fulham vs Crystal Palace and a pair of goalless draws involving Manchester City and Tottenham, the story of the day was defensive discipline and attacking frustration.

Across the board, every match on this card finished either 0–0 or 1–1. Fulham vs Crystal Palace was the only game to produce goals, while Leeds vs Liverpool, Manchester City vs Sunderland, and both versions of the Tottenham vs Brentford listing all ended in stalemates on the scoreboard. Corners told a different story, with some sides racking up impressive totals despite being unable to turn pressure into goals.

Below is a game-by-game breakdown, using the official score records for goals, shots, shots on target, assists and corners to unpack how each contest played out and which players stood out statistically – even when the scoreline stayed flat.

Leeds vs Liverpool: Goalless, But Liverpool Dominate Territory

The first listing of Leeds vs Liverpool wrapped up in a 0–0 draw, with the standard full-time metric confirming the deadlock: both home and away sides finished on 0 goals. Despite the lack of scoring, there were clear signs of attacking intent, especially from the Liverpool “home” side in this dataset.

Liverpool enjoyed a strong territorial edge, most clearly shown in the corners data. The home team recorded 8 corners to Leeds’ 3 at full time. That pressure ramped up after the break, with Liverpool winning 6 corners in the second half alone compared to Leeds’ 1, having split the first half corners 2–2. It paints a picture of a match where Liverpool increasingly penned Leeds back, but simply couldn’t find a finishing touch.

Liverpool’s front line active but misfiring

The shot numbers show Liverpool carried more threat without any end product. Hugo Ekitiké led the way for the home side with 4 shots and 1 shot on target. Florian Wirtz also got into good shooting areas, registering 2 shots and 1 on target, while Virgil van Dijk pushed up to contribute 2 shots from the back.

Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong all chipped in with efforts: Jones had 1 shot and 1 on target, Szoboszlai 1 shot, 1 on target and Wirtz again popped up with another attempt on frame. Despite that flurry, every Liverpool player ended with 0 goals and 0 assists according to the player goals and player assists metrics.

Leeds kept at arm’s length

Leeds created far less in terms of attempts. Jaka Bijol and Ethan Ampadu were the only away players to register shots on target, each with 1 shot and 1 on target. Anton Stach joined them on the shot tally with 1 attempt, but failed to test the keeper. The rest of the Leeds side had either 0 shots or 0 on target across the board, highlighting how rarely they were able to sustain pressure.

With all players on both sides finishing on 0 goals and 0 assists, this was a match defined by Liverpool’s dominance in the corners and shot volumes rather than on the scoreboard. Punters who backed corners or shots markets would’ve found more action than those on goals.

Leeds United vs Liverpool: Duplicate Listing, Same Goalless Story

The card also included a second fixture entry labelled Leeds United vs Liverpool. The score_records here tell an almost identical tale. Once again, the full-time standard metric shows 0–0, and corners mirror the previous listing: Liverpool (home in this record) on 8 corners to Leeds’ 3, with the same breakdown of 2–2 in the first half and 6–1 to Liverpool in the second.

Player stats are the same as the first Leeds/Liverpool entry: Ekitiké on 4 shots and 1 on target, Florian Wirtz heavily involved with multiple attempts, and Van Dijk chiming in from the back with 2 shots. For Leeds, Bijol, Ampadu and Stach were again the only notable shooting contributors.

Regardless of the duplication in listings, the story doesn’t change: Liverpool saw more of the ball, created more, forced more corners, but could not crack a Leeds side that was defensively solid if limited going forward. It’s exactly the kind of matchup that keeps under backers and clean sheet punters happy – but leaves those on goal-scorer markets empty-handed.

Fulham vs Crystal Palace: A 1–1 Draw Where Midfielders Make the Difference

The one game on the slate that actually delivered goals was Fulham vs Crystal Palace. Here, the full-time standard metric has the home side on 1 and the away side on 1, confirming a 1–1 draw.

Palace (home in this dataset) started the brighter, taking a 1–0 lead into half-time on the 1st-half standard metric (home 1, away 0). Fulham (away) hit back after the break, with the 2nd-half standard metric reading home 0, away 1. Both sides found a way through once, but neither could find a winner as the game settled level.

Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tom Cairney on the scoresheet

From the player goal metrics, we can identify the scorers. On the Palace side, Jean-Philippe Mateta is the only home player credited with a goal: he recorded 1 goal from 1 shot on target and 1 total shot. That’s classic centre-forward efficiency – minimal chances, maximum impact.

For Fulham, Tom Cairney stands out. He registered 1 goal, with 1 shot and 1 shot on target, again showing a sharp clinical edge. In a game where neither side created a mountain of chances, those two chances taken defined the result.

Support cast: Wilson, Mateta and the creative links

Beyond the goals, a few attacking players popped up frequently in the shooting stats:

Harry Wilson (Fulham) produced 1 shot and 1 on target, contributing to the away side’s attacking threat even though he didn’t find the net.
Marc Guéhi (Palace) surprisingly added a real edge from the back with 2 shots, 1 on target. He had no goal to show for it, but he consistently got on the end of set pieces or loose balls.
Jean-Philippe Mateta combined his goal with 1 total shot, 1 on target, again underlining how little room for error Fulham had in their box.

On the creative side, two players are credited with assists in the data:

Nathaniel Clyne (Palace) has 1 assist, which links logically to Mateta’s goal given he’s the only home scorer.
Saša Lukić (Fulham) is the only away player with an assist, tying him to Cairney’s equaliser and highlighting his role as a key link man in Fulham’s midfield.

Fulham edge corners, Palace competitive early

On the set-piece front, Fulham had a slight edge over the 90 minutes. The full-time corners metric shows the home side (Palace) with 6 corners and the away side (Fulham) with 3. The pattern was interesting: Palace and Fulham split the first half 2–1 on corners in the home side’s favour, but Palace added another 4 after the break to Fulham’s 2. Despite that volume, they couldn’t turn late pressure into a decisive second goal.

From a betting angle, this match ticked plenty of boxes: both teams to score, draw, goal-scorer markets around Mateta or Cairney, and corners for the home side all came into play. In a low-scoring round, this was the fixture most likely to have rewarded attacking-side markets.

Manchester City vs Sunderland: City Blanked in a Tight 0–0

The Manchester City vs Sunderland matchup finished in a surprising 0–0 draw, with the full-time standard metric showing both teams on 0. Given City’s usual free-scoring reputation, the numbers here tell a very different story – plenty of attempts, but no end product.

The corners count shows City had more of the ball in advanced areas: the away side (City in this record) ended with 5 corners to Sunderland’s 3. City led 3–2 on corners by half-time and edged the second half 2–1, yet the scoreboard refused to budge.

City’s attackers fire but fail to convert

Several City players recorded promising shooting stats:

Erling Haaland – 2 shots, 1 on target, but 0 goals, which is noteworthy any time you’re talking about Haaland.
Savinho – 2 shots, 1 on target, causing problems out wide.
Joško Gvardiol – an eye-catching 3 shots and 1 on target from the back, showing how aggressively he stepped forward.
Phil Foden – 1 shot, 1 on target, but no breakthrough.
Tijjani Reijnders – 1 shot, 1 on target from midfield.

Despite this spread of shots on target – Haaland, Savinho, Gvardiol, Foden and Reijnders all hitting the target once each – the player goals metrics show every City player finishing with 0 goals and 0 assists. Sunderland’s defence and keeper shut the door at every key moment.

Sunderland hold the line

Sunderland themselves offered just enough threat to keep City honest. The standout names in their attacking numbers were:

Eliezer Mayenda – 2 shots, 1 on target from the forward line.
Simon Adingra – 1 shot, 1 on target.
Brian Brobbey – 1 shot, 1 on target.
Wilson Isidor – 2 shots, 1 on target.

Even with four separate Sunderland attackers hitting the target once each, the hosts couldn’t find a way past City’s defence either. All Sunderland players also finished with 0 goals and 0 assists in the stats.

For punters, this was a fixture where under 2.5 goals, “no” on both teams to score, and perhaps draw or correct score 0–0 angles would have come good. City’s shot tally and corner count might have tempted many into overs, but the numbers underline how vital it is to look beyond the name on the team sheet and into form and game flows.

Tottenham vs Brentford: Goalless and Even, Despite Brentford’s Industry

The first listing of Tottenham vs Brentford also ended in a 0–0 draw, with the full-time standard metric at 0–0. It was another match where both sides created some half chances but couldn’t break the deadlock.

Corners again offer a sense of the balance of play. The home side (Brentford in this dataset) finished with 3 corners to Spurs’ 1. Brentford earned 1 corner in the first half and 2 after the break, while Spurs managed just the solitary second-half corner. That suggests Brentford carried slightly more attacking momentum, particularly through wide areas and set pieces.

Brentford’s midfield and full-backs get shots away

In the shot metrics, several Brentford players showed up with encouraging attacking contributions:

Nathan Collins – 1 shot, 1 on target from defence.
Vitaly Janelt – 1 shot, 1 on target from midfield.
Yehor Yarmolyuk – 1 shot, 0 on target.
Rico Henry – 1 shot, 0 on target from left-back.
Igor Thiago – 1 shot, 0 on target up front.

Both Collins and Janelt recorded 1 shot on target each, but like the rest of the Brentford squad, they ended the match with 0 goals and 0 assists. For all of Brentford’s probing, they couldn’t turn pressure into a breakthrough.

Spurs’ flair players kept quiet in front of goal

For Tottenham, the key names in the shot records were:

Archie Gray – 1 shot, 1 on target from midfield.
Mohammed Kudus – a bright presence with 2 shots, 1 on target.
Richarlison – 2 shots, 1 on target as the central front man.

All three tested the keeper with one effort each, but like their Brentford counterparts, they recorded 0 goals and 0 assists. None of Spurs’ squad in the data registered a goal or an assist, emphasising how both defences came out on top.

From a betting perspective, unders, clean sheets and draw markets were again the winners here. Shot and corners props on Brentford players had some life, but anyone on goal-scorer bets would have been left frustrated by yet another goalless outcome.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Brentford: Same Match, Same Stalemate

Like Leeds vs Liverpool, the schedule also listed a second entry as Tottenham Hotspur vs Brentford. The underlying numbers are effectively the same: full-time standard at 0–0, and corners ending 3–1 in favour of the home side (Brentford in this data structure).

Once again, Brentford’s Collins and Janelt popped up with 1 shot and 1 shot on target each, while Rico Henry, Yehor Yarmolyuk and Igor Thiago also registered attempts. For Spurs, Archie Gray, Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison led the way in the shots column, all with at least one effort and at least one on target between them.

All players still ended with 0 goals and 0 assists, and the corner and shot profiles mirror the first Tottenham/Brentford listing. However you cut it, this was a match that underlined the importance of defensive structure, perhaps to the frustration of neutrals craving a goal.

Conclusion: A Tight, Low-Scoring Card Perfect for Unders and Draw Backers

Across all the fixtures on this card, one theme dominated: goals were hard to come by. Both Leeds vs Liverpool listings ended 0–0 despite Liverpool’s dominance in corners and shot output. Manchester City vs Sunderland also finished scoreless, even with a stacked City attack generating multiple shots on target. Tottenham vs Brentford (and its duplicate listing) added two more 0–0s to the tally, with Brentford edging the corners but neither side finding the net.

The only match to break the pattern was Fulham vs Crystal Palace, where Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tom Cairney traded goals in a 1–1 draw, supported by assists from Nathaniel Clyne and Saša Lukić. Even there, chances were at a premium and the scoreline stayed tight.

For bettors, this was the kind of round where:

Under 2.5 goals and even under 1.5 goals were heavily rewarded.
Draws and correct score 0–0 markets became very attractive across multiple games.
Corners and shots props, especially on dominant sides like Liverpool or Manchester City, offered more action than goal-scorer bets.

When matchdays shake out like this, having up-to-the-minute price comparisons is crucial. Tight games and low-scoring trends often mean small edges in the odds can make a big difference to your return.

Before you get stuck into the next round of fixtures, make sure you’re getting the best value on every selection. Use our odds comparison tool to line up prices from the leading Australian bookmakers, find the sharpest odds on unders, draws, corners and player props, and take your betting decisions to the next level.

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