Martin Tyler's stats and facts column is back to offer you statistical gems to make your day and impress your mates.

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.

It could be on a side in the Premier League or Football League, international scene or European competitions - or it could be about an individual player or manager.

If you have spotted something from a game or have been stumped by a pub quiz question, simply email here and Martin will do his best to answer.

Or use the feedback form at the bottom of the page....

Tyler's starting stat
Double dutch

Well I was at Stamford Bridge with the Super Sunday team to see Robin Van Persie turn the game on its head and break his duck against Chelsea. Those two goals were the Dutchman's first against the Blues in all competitions, although surprisingly it was only his third start, along with six substitute's appearances. What those goals did do as well were see Chelsea lose a game in which they had scored first for the first time since November 2006, when Claude Makelele - of all people - put them 1-0 up only for goals from Michael Dawson and Aaron Lennon to make it 2-1 to Spurs. And of course, as you probably heard and perhaps knew, that was the first time Chelsea had scored first at home and lost in four years and nine months since Edu and Patrick Vieira overturned Eidur Gudjohnsen's goal to give Arsenal a 2-1 win. That game did of course, spark that 86-game unbeaten run that was only ended by Liverpool this season.

RIGHT TO HAVE THE BLUES?
I'm worried that Chelsea have blown their title chances and it's not even Christmas yet. We've played our three biggest rivals in Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and we haven't won a game. One draw from those three matches could really cost us by the end of the season. Martin, please can you tell me if a team has ever won the league without beating any of the other top four teams at home? Stu, London
MARTIN SAYS: Well Stu I've looked through the records and the answer to your question is no. A side has never won the league without beating at least one of their nearest rivals at home. The worst return from the champions from their home games against the three sides immediately below them is four points - which is what Manchester United got in the 2006-07 season and what Arsenal picked up in 2001-02. That means Chelsea's return of one point from those three games would set a record IF they win the league and IF Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal finish in the top four. In 11 of the 16 Premier League seasons, the champions have remained undefeated at home to the teams finishing in second, third and fourth but only on three occasions have the champions enjoyed a maximum return from those fixtures - Manchester United last season and in 2002-03 plus Chelsea under Jose Mourinho in 2005-06. Of course it is worth pointing out that Aston Villa also look like being in the hunt for that top-four finish this season and the Blues did beat them 2-0 earlier this season. Here is a table detailing the champions home results against the teams that eventually finished second, third and fourth:

Season	Champions	Result v 2nd	Result v 3rd	Result v 4th	Points
2007-08	Man Utd	Beat Chelsea 2-0	Beat Arsenal 2-1	Beat Liverpool 3-0	9
2006-07	Man Utd	Drew Chelsea 1-1	Beat Liverpool 2-0	Lost Arsenal 1-0	4
2005-06	Chelsea	Beat Man Utd 3-0	Beat Liverpool 2-0	Beat Arsenal 1-0	9
2004-05	Chelsea	Drew Arsenal 0-0	Beat Man Utd 1-0	Beat Everton 1-0	7
2003-04	Arsenal	Beat Chelsea 2-1	Drew Man Utd 1-1	Beat Liverpool 4-2	7
2002-03	Man Utd	Beat Arsenal 2-0	Beat Newcastle 5-3	Beat Chelsea 2-1	9
2001-02	Arsenal	Drew Liverpool 1-1	Beat Man Utd 3-1	Lost Newcastle 3-1	4
2000-01	Man Utd	Beat Arsenal 6-1	Lost Liverpool 1-0	Beat Leeds 3-0	6
1999-00	Man Utd	Drew Arsenal 1-1	Beat Leeds 2-0	Drew Liverpool 1-1	5
1998-99	Man Utd	Drew Arsenal 1-1	Drew Chelsea 1-1	Beat Leeds 3-2	5
1997-98	Arsenal	Beat Man Utd 3-2	Lost Liverpool 1-0	Beat Chelsea 2-0	6
1996-97	Man Utd	Drew Newcastle 0-0	Beat Arsenal 1-0	Beat Liverpool 1-0	7
1995-96	Man Utd	Beat Newcastle 2-0	Drew Liverpool 2-2	Drew Aston Villa 0-0	5
1994-95	Blackburn	Lost Man Utd 4-2	Beat Forest 3-0	Beat Liverpool 3-2	6
1993-94	Man Utd	Drew Blackburn 1-1	Drew Newcastle 1-1	Beat Arsenal 1-0	5
1992-93	Man Utd	Drew Aston Villa 1-1	Beat Norwich 1-0	Beat Blackburn 3-1	7

WINNING FOUR-MULA
Hi Martin. I'm still smarting from our derby defeat to United at the weekend. We've now played all of the "big four" and have picked up three points. I was wondering how this compares with the other teams in the league. Could you provide a league table for the "other" 16 teams to show their record against the Big Four so far this season. I reckon Aston Villa would be top. Cheers, Dave Armstrong, Man City fan
MARTIN SAYS: My back-up team of helpers at skysports.com have compiled a league table for games against the big four and in fact, Aston Villa do not finish in top spot. It may come as a surprise to learn that Tottenham have the best record against the top four so far this season following their victory over Liverpool and their draws with Arsenal and Chelsea. A mention must also go to Fulham who are third in our league table, even though they have only played two of the big four. Their win against Arsenal and draw at Anfield means, like Tottenham, Roy Hodgson's men are currently unbeaten against the top four sides so far. The team with the worst record is West Brom who have played all of the big four and have lost all four meetings, failing to score a single goal and conceding 11 in the process. The full table is below:

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Tottenham	3	1	2	0	7	6	5
Aston Villa	4	1	2	1	2	2	5
Fulham	2	1	1	0	2	1	4
Stoke	4	1	1	2	2	8	4
Man City	4	1	0	3	6	7	3
Hull	3	1	0	2	5	8	3
Newcastle	3	0	2	1	1	4	2
Everton	3	0	1	2	2	6	1
West Ham	3	0	1	2	0	4	1
Sunderland	3	0	1	2	1	7	1
Wigan	2	0	0	2	2	4	0
Middlesbrough	2	0	0	2	1	7	0
Bolton	3	0	0	3	1	7	0
Portsmouth	3	0	0	3	0	6	0
Blackburn	3	0	0	3	0	8	0
West Brom	4	0	0	4	0	11	0

NOT HELL FOR BENT
As a Spurs fan it's good to see Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko starting to find the net. I'd love to see their records this season comapred to our other strikers - especially Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov, but also Jermain Defoe and Mido. I bet our strikers have a better goals record. Stan McGuinness
MARTIN SAYS: I've compiled the stats and the news is good for Darren Bent. Of the players you've mentioned, he has the most league goals (joint with Jermain Defoe), the most goals overall and the best goals per game ratio in all competitions so far this season. As for Roman Pavlyuchenko, he has scored fewer goals that Defoe but has a better goals per game record - although his goals ratio is not as good as that of Mido so far this season.The news is much less pleasing for Robbie Keane. The Liverpool man has scored the fewest league goals, the fewest goals overall and has the worst goals per game record by far out of those six players. Here are the stats in full:

Player	League	Other	Total	Games	Goals per game
Robbie Keane	2	2	4	22	0.18
Dimitar Berbatov	2	4	6	15	0.40
Jermain Defoe	7	1	7	16	0.44
Roman Pavlyuchenko	3	3	6	13	0.46
Mido	4	1	5	10	0.50
Darren Bent	7	4	11	21	0.52

NO VILLA THRILLER
I was at Villa Park on Saturday to see my team Aston Villa draw 0-0 with Fulham, a week after we drew 0-0 against Manchester United. It got me wondering, when was the last time Aston Villa drew two Premier League games in a row 0-0? We've got Everton coming up on Sunday and with their striker crisis and their strong defence I wouldn't be surprised if it was three in a row. Has that ever happened before in the Premier League? Miles Stevens
MARTIN SAYS: Goalless draws are becoming a much more regular occurrence for Aston Villa fans, Miles. Last season none of Villa's home games ended 0-0 - the only stalemate for Martin O'Neill's men in the Premier League was away at Newcastle in their second game of the season. However, this year half of Villa's eight home league games have finished goalless, the matches against Liverpool and Portsmouth plus the ones you mention against Manchester United and Fulham. The last time Villa drew two consecutive league games 0-0 was more than four years ago in September 2004 when Chelsea and Norwich visited Villa Park in consecutive weeks and played out stalemates. In the history of the Premier League, Aston Villa have never drawn three league games in a row 0-0, which is good news for Sky Sports viewers as their trip to Everton is live on Sunday afternoon. Villa v Everton is the most played fixture in league football history and of their 32 meetings in the Premier League era, only six have finished 0-0 so let's hope you see some goals at the weekend. Also, I am on my way to Craven Cottage this Saturday to commentate on a Fulham side that could also make it three in a row take on Manchester City. I think you'll agree we've all had enough goalless games this season!

BRAD ALL OVER
Dear Martin. I'd like to congratulate Brad Friedel for breaking the Premier League record for consecutive appearances. What I'd like to know is what was the last game he missed? And how many clean sheets he has kept during that run? Thanks, Austin Maynard
MARTIN SAYS: The stats on Brad Friedel make impressive reading. The American has now played 167 Premier League games in a row and his appearance for Aston Villa against Fulham at the weekend surpassed the record of 166 set by David James. Out of interest, the Premier League record for consecutive appearances for an outfield player is held by Frank Lampard at 164. Friedel joined Blackburn in November 2000 and the club played 293 league games while he was there. Friedel featured in 286 of them, missing just seven matches in seven-and-a-half seasons. In that time he started 152 consecutive league games, although he did come off at half-time against Wigan last season. He has since made 15 consecutive starts for Aston Villa to take his grand total up to 167. To answer your questions Austin, he kept 53 clean sheets in that 167-game run. That includes 47 for Blackburn - including an impressive 16 shutouts in the 2005-06 season - as well as his six Premier League clean sheets so far for Aston Villa. The last time he missed a league game was on May 15 2004 - the last day of the 2003-04 season - when Blackburn Rovers drew 1-1 with Birmingham and Peter Enkelman was handed a starting berth. But I do think Brad's success is one for perseverance because he struggled to get a work permit when he first tried to break into English football, 'trying out' - as the Americans say - with Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Sunderland before eventually going to Galatasaray, who were managed by a certain Graeme Souness at the time.

DOUBLE TREBLES
Hi Martin, this is definitely the best column on the Sky Sports website (favourite stat so far is the one about Gareth Bale!). I was thinking back to the Blackburn v Wigan game last year where Roque Santa Cruz and Marcus Bent both scored hat-tricks and it got me thinking; I just wanted to know which other games feature two players scoring hat-tricks an indeed if there had been a game where three or more players had scored hat-trick? Jonny Beesley
MARTIN SAYS: Well Jonny, thanks for the kind words! I have answered this question before, but will gladly do it again. I can confirm that it was indeed the first time in Premier League history that players on opposing teams have netted a hat-trick. In fact since the league's inception in 1992 it was also only the second time that we have seen two hat-tricks in the same game, the last being in May 2003 when Jermaine Pennant and Robert Pires both scored three in Arsenal's 6-1 win over Southampton. On a personal note, I was actually commentating on the game the last time we saw three hat-tricks in a game in England, which happened in November 1987 when Manchester City beat Huddersfield Town 10-1 in the old Second Division. Tony Adcock, David White and Paul Stewart were the three City players left arguing over the match ball!