Omens for Arsenal, hat-trick heavy fixtures and Chicharito's goals record... Martin Tyler has the stats.
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Martin Tyler's stats and facts column is here!
Every week he will be here to offer you statistical gems to make your day, impress your mates and, on occasion, to settle the odd bet.
Sky Sports' voice of football and his back-up team of experts are here to answer your questions and queries on all things statistical and historical from the beautiful game.
If you have spotted something from a game or have been stumped by a pub quiz question, simply email skysportsclub@bskyb.com and he will do his best to help.Tyler's Starting Stat - Messi magic
I'm back from the Nou Camp after commentating on the seventh meeting of Barcelona and Arsenal. We are still yet to see a clean sheet from either side in their meetings - and Arsenal even managed to get on the scoresheet without having a shot in the match! In fact, the only shot they attempted was chalked off for an offside against Robin van Persie - and in shooting he of course ended up getting sent off. That was Arsenal's ninth red card this season and the 86th overall under Arsene Wenger.
Lionel Messi has now scored 92 goals in his last 93 games, and he has 130 in 144 games under Pep Guardiola. His total for this season is 45 from 40 games and he is closing on the club record of 47 goals in a season, a record he currently shares with Ronaldo. His goals also saw him overtake Nicolas Anelka, Samuel Eto'o and Mario Gomez as this season's top Champions League scorer, an accolade he has won in the last two seasons. He also scored his 32nd Champions League goal, overtaking Rivaldo's record of 31 European goals for Barcelona.
Meanwhile, Xavi scored only his seventh Champions League goal and his first against an English club. It was the 57th goal for Barcelona's all-time leading appearance maker (he has now played 563 times for the club).
GUNNERS... THEN GONERS
Dear Martin. I've been thinking. Last year we got knocked out by Barcelona and they went and lost in the next round. The year before we lost to Man United and they got beat in the Final. It seems that knocking out Arsenal is bad luck for your next round. Do the statistics back this up? Steve (Arsenal fan)
MARTIN SAYS: Looking at the statistics, there is some truth to what you are saying. In each of the last seven seasons the team that has knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League has been knocked out themselves in the next round - apart from in 2005/06 when Arsenal lost the final to Barcelona and there was no next round to play!
Furthermore, eight seasons ago Arsenal were knocked out in the second group stage and the two teams that went through - Valencia and Ajax - both got knocked out. The only team to have beaten Arsenal in a knock-out round of the Champions League and won their next tie was Valencia as they reached the final back in 2000/01.
Here's a list of teams to have knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League and how they fared in the next round. Note, when they were knocked out in a group stage we have considered the team or teams that went through ahead of them:
| Season | Knocked out Arsenal | Round | Result in next round |
| 2009/10 | Barcelona | Quarter-Final | Lost to Inter Milan |
| 2008/09 | Man Utd | Semi-Final | Lost to Barcelona |
| 2007/08 | Liverpool | Quarter-Final | Lost to Chelsea |
| 2006/07 | PSV Eindhoven | Last 16 | Lost to Liverpool |
| 2005/06 | Barcelona | Final | n/a |
| 2004/05 | Bayern Munich | Last 16 | Lost to Chelsea |
| 2003/04 | Chelsea | Quarter-Final | Lost to Monaco |
| 2002/03 | Valencia
Ajax | Second Group Stage | Lost to Inter
Lost to AC Milan |
| 2001/02 | Bayer Leverkusen
Deportivo | Second Group Stage | Beat Liverpool
Lost to Man Utd |
| 2000/01 | Valencia | Quarter-Final | Beat Leeds |
| 1999/00 | Barcelona
Fiorentina | First Group Stage | Won Group
Third in group (out) |
| 1998/99 | Dynamo Kiev | Group Stage | Beat Real Madrid |
ARSENAL'S PERFECT 10
Hi Martin, love to read your column. After the results of last weekend the simple arithmetic of Arsenal winning the league is the same, win all of their 10 games and the title is ours. My question is when was the last time Arsenal won 10 Premier League games on the trot (I think it might be way back in 2001 season when we won the title by winning the last 14 games). Forget about 10, when was the last time we won at least seven or eight games on the trot? Eagerly waiting for the answer, Ankur Tyagi (Arsenal fan from India).
MARTIN SAYS: As you say, Arsenal's longest ever winning run in the Premier League was the 14 games they won at the end of 2001/02 and start of 2002/03. They won 13 straight games on their way to claiming the 2002 Premier League title and then won the first game of the next season against Birmingham before a 2-2 draw at West Ham halted their run.
The last time they won 10 straight league games was between March and May 1998 as, again, they claimed the league title. After beating Everton 4-0 to clinch the trophy, they went on to lose their final two games of that campaign.
The last time they won seven straight games was at the start of the 2007/08 campaign. In fact, they were unbeaten until December that year when they lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough and they fell out of the title picture in the New Year.
Arsenal's longest winning streaks in Premier League history:
FOURTEEN
10/02/2002 - 18/08/2002: Everton, Fulham, Newcastle, Derby, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Charlton, Tottenham, Ipswich, West ham, Bolton, Man Utd, Everton, Birmingham
TEN
11/03/1998 - 03/05/1998: Wimbledon, Man Utd, Sheff Wed, Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn, Wimbledon, Barnsley, Derby, Everton
NINE
10/01/2004 - 20/03/2004: Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Man City, Wolves, Southampton, Chelsea, Charlton, Blackburn, Bolton
EIGHT
19/03/2000 - 06/05/2000: Tottenham, Coventry, Wimbledon, Leeds, Watford, Everton, West Ham, Chelsea,
SEVEN
09/05/2004 - 11/09/2004: Fulham, Leicester, Everton, Middlesbrough, Blackburn, Norwich, Fulham
25/08/2007 - 20/10/2007: Man City, Portsmouth, Tottenham, Derby, West Ham, Sunderland, Bolton
It's worth pointing out that Manchester United will also win the league if they win their remaining nine games of the season. It reminds me of my own experiences as a coach with Kingstonian when we won the Ryman League South in 2008/09. We lost our 32nd game, but then won the next nine games to claim the title before drawing the 10th with the league already won. We chose the same players in each of those 10 games, changing just one substitute in the final game - the continuity definitely helped.
AND FOR MY NEXT TRICK
Great column Martin! After watching Dirk Kuyt's hat trick, how many fixtures have produced a hat-trick in both games in the season? By which I mean Kuyt got one today, and Berbatov got one in the reverse fixture. Thomas Winter
MARTIN SAYS: This was in fact the ninth occasion in Premier League history when we have witnessed a hat-trick in the home and away fixtures between the same two teams. In fact, the very first Premier League hat-trick was scored by Eric Cantona for Leeds against Tottenham in August 1992 - and later that same season, Spurs' Teddy Sheringham responded by scoring in the reverse fixture.
This was only the fourth occasion when the hat-tricks have been scored by players from opposing teams. Apart from the Cantona / Sheringham example mentioned above, we saw Robbie Fowler and Matt Le Tissier score in the meetings of Liverpool and Southampton in 1993/94, while Fowler and Fabrizio Ravanelli both netted trebles in the Liverpool v Middlesbrough clashes of 1996/97.
There has been just one occasion whereby a hat-trick has been scored, home and away, by the same player against the same team in the same season. That was Emmanuel Adebayor, who bagged home and away trebles for Arsenal against Derby County in 2007/08.
Hat-tricks in both games of same fixture in one season:
Eric Cantona,
Leeds 5-0 Tottenham, 25 Aug 1992
Teddy Sheringham
Tottenham 4-0 Leeds, 20 Feb 1993
Andy Sinton,
QPR 4-2 Everton, 28 Dec 1992
Les Ferdinand, Everton 3-5
QPR, 12 Apr 1993
Kevin Campbell,
Arsenal 4-0 Ipswich, 11 Sep 1993
Ian Wright, Ipswich 1-5
Arsenal, 05 Mar 1994
Robbie Fowler,
Liverpool 4-2 Southampton, 30 Oct, 1993
Matt Le Tissier,
Southampton 4-2 Liverpool, 14 Feb 1994
Fabrizio Ravanelli
Middlesbrough 3-3 Liverpool, 17 Aug 1996
Robbie Fowler,
Liverpool 5-1 Middlesbrough, 14 Dec 1996
Chris Sutton, Aston Villa 0-4
Blackburn, 13 Aug 1997
Kevin Gallacher
Blackburn 5-0 Aston Villa 17 Jan 1998
Ruud van Nistelrooy,
Man Utd 5-3 Newcastle 23 Nov 2002
Paul Scholes, Newcastle 2-6
Man Utd, 12 Apr 2003
Emmanuel Adebayor
Arsenal 5-0 Derby, 22 Sep 2007
Emmanuel Adebayor, Derby 2-6
Arsenal, 28 Apr 2008
Dimitar Berbatov
Man Utd 3-2 Liverpool, 19 Sep 2010
Dirk Kuyt,
Liverpool 3-1 Man Utd, 06 Mar 2011
GETTING THE BETTER OF UNITED
Mr. Tyler. During the game between Chelsea and Manchester a commentator said that Chelsea is the only team that has won more games than they have lost against United in the Premier League, is that a fact? Can you also tell me the statistics: P; W D L, for United against every team they have played in the top flight? Thank you, Einar Þór
MARTIN SAYS: You're absolutely right. Chelsea's victory last Tuesday was their 13th against Manchester United in 37 Premier League meetings, compared to just 10 wins for Sir Alex Ferguson's men in the same period. As you can see from the table below, supplied by Opta, the Blues are the only side who have won more games against United than they have lost. They have also scored the most goals and taken the most points off them in the Premier League. They have only lost six times at Old Trafford, while United haven't won in their last nine trips to Stamford Bridge.
Man Utd record v each club in Premier League history:
| Team | Wins | Draws | Losses |
| Arsenal | 16 | 11 | 10 |
| Aston Villa | 25 | 10 | 3 |
| Barnsley | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Birmingham | 10 | 4 | 0 |
| Blackburn | 19 | 9 | 5 |
| Blackpool | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bolton | 15 | 5 | 3 |
| Bradford | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Burnley | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Charlton | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| Chelsea | 10 | 14 | 13 |
| Coventry | 16 | 1 | 1 |
| Crystal Palace | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| Derby | 8 | 4 | 2 |
| Everton | 27 | 6 | 4 |
| Fulham | 12 | 4 | 3 |
| Hull City | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Ipswich | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Leeds | 13 | 7 | 4 |
| Leicester | 11 | 4 | 1 |
| Liverpool | 20 | 7 | 11 |
| Man City | 17 | 6 | 5 |
| Middlesbrough | 16 | 7 | 5 |
| Newcastle | 20 | 10 | 3 |
| Norwich | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Nottingham Forest | 7 | 2 | 1 |
| Oldham | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Portsmouth | 10 | 1 | 3 |
| QPR | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| Reading | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Sheffield United | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| Southampton | 19 | 2 | 5 |
| Stoke City | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Sunderland | 14 | 5 | 1 |
| Swindon Town | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Tottenham | 27 | 8 | 3 |
| Watford | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| West Brom | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| West Ham | 20 | 7 | 4 |
| Wigan | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Wimbledon | 11 | 3 | 2 |
| Wolves | 4 | 0 | 2 |
THE MINUTE MEN
Hi Martin. Javier Hernandez has scored 14 goals this season and 10 in the league with such little game time. My question is what is the best goals per minutes played ratio in Premier League history. David O'Sullivan(Man United fan)
MARTIN SAYS: Opta have been on the case for you and I can tell you that of players who have scored at least 10 goals in the Premier League, Javier Hernandez now boasts the best goals-per-minute record in history. His consolation strike against Liverpool was his 10th Premier League goal for Manchester United with Opta clocking his playing minutes at 962. That means that on average, he scores a goal for every 96 minutes, 12 seconds that he is on the pitch. His 10 goals have also come from just 14 shots on target.
That puts him ahead of striking legends such as Thierry Henry (121.95 minutes per goal), Fernando Torres (126.2 minutes per goal) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (128.19 minutes per goal).
Courtesy of Opta, here are the best minutes per goals rates in Premier League history - and you may be surprised to see players such as Ivan Klasnic and Daniel Strurridge alongside the likes of Alan Shearer in the list.
Best mins per goal in PL history (minimum 10 goals):
| Player | Games Played | Goals | Minutes/Goal |
| Javier Hernández | 20 | 10 | 96.2 |
| Thierry Henry | 254 | 174 | 121.95 |
| Fernando Torres | 106 | 65 | 126.2 |
| Ruud van Nistelrooy | 150 | 95 | 128.19 |
| Ivan Klasnic | 40 | 11 | 128.64 |
| Hernán Crespo | 49 | 20 | 140.65 |
| Daniel Sturridge | 52 | 10 | 142.1 |
| Alan Shearer | 441 | 260 | 146.87 |
| Uwe Rösler | 70 | 29 | 148.93 |
| Rafael van der Vaart | 19 | 10 | 151.1 |
SHOOTING PRACTICE
Hi Martin, I Tottenham fan and I was so relieved to see Jermain Defoe finally end his drought in front of goal. I know he's been injured but it seems like forever since he last scored and he's never frightened to shoot! Can you tell me how many shots he's had in the Premier League before he managed to score against Wolves? I bet no other player has had as many shots without scoring. Andy (Spurs fan)
MARTIN SAYS: I can tell you that Jermain Defoe had 39 shots on goal this season without scoring - more than any other player - before finally finding the net with his 40th attempt against Wolves (and then scoring again a few minutes later for good measure with both goals coming from outside the area, unusually).
Now that he has broken his duck, the man with the most shots to his name without scoring a goal is Steed Malbranque. The Sunderland player has had 38 shots in the Premier League this season without finding the net once.
Premier League players with most shots (including blocks) without scoring in 2010/11:
1. Steed Malbranque (38 shots)
2. Mohamed Diamé (27)
3. Danny Murphy, David Bentley (25)
5. Tomas Rosicky (24)
6. Jack Rodwell, Bolo Zenden, Franco di Santo (22)
9. Jermaine Jenas (21)
10. Pablo Barrera (20)
Tyler's teaser
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