Home of football statistics and historyWelcome to our weekly review of some of the leading stats and facts from the latest round of Premier League games.
On the day that Liverpool paid its respects to the Reds’ late former player, coach and caretaker manager Ronnie Moran, current boss Jurgen Klopp became the first Liverpool manager to win his first three league Merseyside derbies. Young Everton defender Matthew Pennington became the fifth player to score his first Premier League goal in a Merseyside derby after Duncan Ferguson, John Arne Riise, Raul Meireles and Steven Naismith.
Chelsea’s lead at the top was surprisingly reduced to seven points as Crystal Palace boss Sam Allardyce became the first manager to win a Premier League game against Blues with four different clubs. Despite a fine victory, the Eagles narrowly failed in their attempt to win four consecutive Premier League games with conceding a goal for the first time.
Tottenham Hotspur maintained their title challenge by imposing on Burnley their first defeat at Turf Moor by a margin of two or more goals in the Premier League since losing 1-3 against Everton on 26 October 2014.
If you get the feeling its déjà vu all over again with Arsenal, after 28 games, the Gunners have now won the same number of points (51) so far in this Premier League season as they had at the same stage last season.
With their fourth goalless draw of the season, Manchester United have now drawn eight home league games in a season for the first time since 1980-81 in League Division One. The Red Devils have now drawn 0-0 at home eight times in the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in May 2013. There were no goalless draws at Old Trafford in the four previous years.
Despite the controversial departure of title-winning boss Claudio Ranieri, the change at the top has clearly done the trick for Leicester City as new manager Craig Shakespeare has become the fifth manager to win each of his first four Premier League games after Pep Guardiola, José Mourinho, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti.
The ‘highlight’ of AFC Bournemouth’s trip across the New Forest to Southampton was Harry Arter’s spectacular penalty miss. After scoring ten of their first 11 Premier League penalties, the Cherries have now missed the last three in a row.
Watford recorded their first win against Sunderland at Vicarage Road since 30 January 1999 to equal their club record for the most home wins in a Premier League season. The Hornets also won six in 2015-16.
Hull City’s hopes of unexpected relegation escape have been boosted by only one defeat at KCOM Stadium since 22 October. More so that manager Marco Silva has completed a three-year unbeaten run in home league games since 30 March 2014 when he was in charge of Estoril.
Despite a battling draw at Swansea City, Middlesbrough’s Premier League future continues to look increasingly bleak. That’s despite conceding only 33 goals so far (less than 3rd placed Liverpool and 6th placed Arsenal) and having kept nine clean sheets (more than 13 other teams, including three of top six). However, Boro have failed to score in 14 games.
And finally elsewhere, former Premier League stalwarts Coventry City put their troubles behind them for just one day as they beat Oxford United in the Checkatrade Trophy Final. A remarkable backing of nearly 45,000 Cov fans in the 74,434 Wembley crowd proved there could yet be a bright future for the Sky Blues. We do hope so.
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