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NB: Player appearances are based on a player starting and completing at least 60 minutes. The sample is based on a team’s home and away league matches since the start of last season unless otherwise stated.

Everton v Liverpool

Liverpool have been missing their Spanish international winger Albert Riera for the past few games during which time they have struggled badly.

Since the start of last season the Spaniard has played 28 and missed 20 of Liverpool’s matches with a good degree of success as the Reds have won 17 and lost only two of the matches he has played to average 2.14 points per game, while without him their PPG has fallen to 1.95, losing on five occasions.

The goal-scoring winger has helped Liverpool average 2.21 goals per game when he has played compared to just 2.05 when he has been missing, while they have also had more problems defensively in the matches he has missed with goals conceded rising from 0.79 per game to 1.20.

Liverpool may well have an even bigger problem in finding the net should top-scorer Fernando Torres not be fit for the trip to Goodison as in the 29 matches that the club’s record signing has played since the start of last season Liverpool have scored an average of 2.31 goals per game compared to just 1.77 in the 22 matches he has missed.

Catania v AC Milan

Andrea Pirlo is suspended for AC Milan’s trip to Catania but this may actually be a blessing for the Rossoneri. Since the start of last season, the Italian playmaker has played 38 and missed 13 of Milan’s matches and while they have lost 10 times with him Milan are unbeaten without Pirlo as they have won nine of those 13 matches to average 2.38 points per game – a 33% increase on their PPG with Pirlo. The most striking stats coming out of this are Milan’s defensive prowess without the midfielder as they have conceded just five goals in 13 matches without him compared to conceding an average 1.18 goals per game when he plays.

Plymouth v Barnsley

Plymouth host a Barnsley team that have been rejuvenated since Mark Robins took charge earlier this season, but will have  to do so without their leading scorer Jamie Mackie. The former Exeter forward has played 49 and missed 14 of the Pilgrims matches since the start of last season. With him Plymouth have won 14 and lost 23 of their matches (1.10 points per game) and while these stats are not good they have been even worse without him as they have won only three and lost eight of the 14 matches he has missed to average just 0.86 points per game. Unsurprisingly given Mackie has been their top scorer in this time with 10 goals; Plymouth’s average goals scored have fallen from 1.00 to 0.79 without him.

Hoffenheim v Dortmund

After last season’s impressive Bundesliga debut Hoffenheim are flying high once again after a good start to the current campaign. They will probably fancy their chances of picking up another three points this weekend with Dortmund missing two of their main players with both Dedê and Sebastian Kehl out for the visitors.

Since the start of last season the Brazilian left back Dedê has played 20 of Dortmund’s 47 matches with his attacking raids down the flanks proving particularly affective as Dortmund have won 11 of the 20 matches he has played compared to just eight of the 27 he has missed. However, while their points per game has fallen from 1.95 with the Brazilian to 1.41 without him, this has largely been down to the Schwarzgelben drawing 14 of the matches he has missed rather than losing a lot of extra matches.

Dortmund have actually conceded slightly fewer goals without the Brazilian (1.07 per game compared to 1.15), although they have struggled going forward with their goals scored falling from 2.00 per game with Dedê to just 1.22 without him. As a result the number of games with three or more goals has fallen from 45% to 33% in his absence.

Hertha Berlin v Frankfurt

Hertha have been struggling this season and are rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga table. With several of their players out this weekend their position looks unlikely to improve. One of their latest players to get injured is defender Marc Stein who has played 38 and missed nine of Hertha’s games since the start of last season. In his absence The Old Lady has struggled badly as they have fallen to seven defeats and recorded just one win. This is in large part due to their shocking defensive record in these matches of conceding 23 goals (2.56 per game) while in the 38 matches he has played they have conceded just 1.18 goals per game.

Lorient v Grenoble

Grenoble have picked up their first two points in recent weeks but travel to high-flying Lorient without influential midfielder Sofiane Feghouli. The French U21 international has played 22 and missed 29 of Grenoble’s matches since the start of last season and with him Grenoble have averaged 1.14 points per game whilst winning six and losing nine of their matches. Without him Grenoble’s results have been dire as they have fallen to 16 defeats including 12 L/L doubles while winning only four times. In fact, Grenoble have not won in 15 matches without Feghouli – losing 10 times. Overall, they have scored an average of 0.73 goals per game with the attacking midfielder and just 0.48 without.