Bath wing Tom Biggs is halted during their defeat to Saracens © Getty Images

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Matches: Bath Rugby 23 - 19 Exeter Chiefs

Tournaments/Tours: Aviva Premiership

Teams: Bath Rugby | Exeter Chiefs

Bath will go into their Aviva Premiership clash with table-toppers Exeter Chiefs on Saturday still smarting from their late-gasp defeat to Saracens last weekend.

Fly-half Sam Vesty edged Bath ahead with a penalty with six minutes to go only for young Sarries fly-half Owen Farrell to kick a last-minute penalty, off both posts, to deny them a second successive victory in the Premiership this season.

Exeter Chiefs have started the season at express pace, showing no signs of the fated second-season sndrome. They followed a morale-soaring 30-28 victory over Leicester Tigers at Welford Road on the opening day of the season with a bonus-point win at home to Newcastle Falcons last weekend. The victory left them top of the Premiership standings and promising another strong showing this season.

Bath - Player to Watch: Sam Vesty is enjoying an excellent start to the new season and his fine form with the boot will be integral to Bath's hopes of ending Exeter's 100 percent record.

Bath - Team News: Bath are buoyed by the return of skipper Stuart Hooper to the second-row but Simon Taylor has been ruled out through injury and that necessitates a back-line reshuffle which sees Ben Skirving switch to No.8, Carl Fearns move to blindside flanker and Guy Mercer come into the team on the openside. In the backs, Mark McMillan is preferred to Michael Claassens at scrum-half.

Exeter Chiefs - Player to Watch: Lock Peter Short left Bath to join Exeter over the summer so he would love nothing better than to prove a point by helping his side get one over on his former employers.

Exeter Chiefs - Team News: The Chiefs have been forced into three changes through injury. In the backs, Josh Tatupu and Sireli Naqelevuki have both been ruled out so there are starts for Nic Sestaret and Bryan Rennie on the wing and at centre respectively. Up front, meanwhile, James Phillips takes over at No.8 from the crocked Richard Baxter.

Key Battle: With these two sides looking pretty well matched, the game could easily hing on the kicking duel between Vesty and his opposite number, Ignacio Mieres. And there is little to choose between them, with Mieres having landed 11 strikes on goal already this season to Vesty's 10.

Trivia: The only two previous Premiership meetings between these two sides yielded just two tries, with Matt Carraro accounting for Bath's touchdown and Luke Arscott responsible for Exeter's.

Stats: Leicester's Sam Vesty has scored 31 points already this season, just eight less than top scorer Nick Evans of Harlequins.

Quote Unquote:

"Right now we are happy with where we are, but there are areas of our game where there are steps to be made"
- Exeter boss Rob Baxter is not getting carried away by his side's fine start to the new season

"It's great. I am very proud of that record. To play that many times for the club I supported as a boy is something I could only have dreamed would happen."
Bath's Duncan Bell on his 200th appearance for the club

Prediction: A pretty tough one to call but home advantage should swing it in Bath's favour.