English scorers, doubles against Man Utd and African Premier League stars... it's Martin Tyler!
Can you answer Martin's teaser from the Liberty Stadium?
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 - Woe for Wenger
This was only the third season that Swansea have played Arsenal in a league game - and it was the first time that the result wasn't the same both home and away. In 1981/82 Swansea won 2-0 in both matches, while in 1982/83 Arsenal won 2-1 home and away. Arsenal went 1-0 up on Sunday and I wondered if they were going to replicate their Emirates win... but we know what happened after that!
It was Arsene Wenger's 100th defeat in the Premier League and after 35 goals in 2011 for Arsenal, Robin van Persie started 2012 with his first league goal of the New Year.
Thierry Henry returned to the Premier League to be Arsenal's 30th different player in the league this season. This was his first Premier League game since a 2-1 home win against Wigan in February 2007. Swansea became the 35th different side he has faced in the Premier League, but the first he has failed to score against.
Meanwhile, Swansea have won five home league games this season and Scott Sinclair has scored in all five, four of them penalties.
CONCEDES OF DOUBT
Hi Martin, I understand that Spurs are one goal away (at the time of writing this) from being the first Premier League team to concede 1000 league goals. Who else in Premier League history has conceded the most goals in total? Josh Barton (Tottenham fan)
MARTIN SAYS: Since we received your question, Steven Fletcher's goal for Wolves became the 1,000th goal that Tottenham have conceded in the Premier League years and, as you say, they are the first to reach that particular landmark.
In terms of the most Premier League goals conceded, two of the other ever-present sides make up the top three: Everton (963) and Aston Villa (897). They are followed by West Ham, even though the Hammers have spent just 16 seasons in the Premier League. Swansea (25) have conceded fewer Premier League goals than any other side, but, of course, they have only spent half a season in the league.
Here is a list of the teams to have conceded more than 500 Premier League goals (all seasons). You'll notice that Arsenal could concede their 700th goal against Manchester United on Super Sunday:
Tottenham (1000)*
Everton (963)*
Aston Villa (897)*
West Ham (880)
Blackburn (873)
Newcastle (859)
Middlesbrough (741)
Southampton (738)
Liverpool (731)*
Man City (723)
Chelsea (720)*
Bolton (714)
Arsenal (699)*
Man Utd (647)*
Sunderland (584)
Leeds (573)
Fulham (530)
* ever-present in the Premier League
THE FULL ENGLISH
Hi Martin, I noticed that Man Utd had three English goalscorers against Bolton recently and I was wondering since they have other English players such as Rooney, Jones, Young and Smalling, are they the team who has had the most English goalscorers this season? Also who has the least? Keep up the good work! Daniel Steven (Gillingham fan)
MARTIN SAYS: It would have been four English scorers against Bolton had Rooney not had his penalty saved!
Manchester United can now boast seven English goalscorers in the Premier League this season with Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Ashley Young, Michael Carrick, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Paul Scholes all on the scoresheet. That puts them ahead of teams such as Bolton, Sunderland and Swansea - who all have six English scorers. United can also boast a total of 25 goals from English scorers this season, which is more than anybody else.
Ironically, the team with the highest percentage of their goals coming from English players is the only non-English club in the Premier League! So far, 87 per cent of Swansea's goals have come from English players, including all three against Arsenal at the weekend.
Three teams can only boast one English scorer this season: Arsenal (Theo Walcott), Wigan (Ben Watson) and West Brom (Jerome Thomas). In fact, Thomas has scored just once for the Baggies meaning that just one of their 20 goals has come from an English player.
Please note we have not included own goal-scorers in the list of scorers below, but own goals are included in the list of total goals. We have also not included the likes of Victor Moses and Shola Ameobi who have been cleared to play for Nigeria, and were born there, despite playing for England Under-21's:
| Team |
Number of English goalscorers |
Goals by Englishmen |
Total goals |
% of total goals scored by Englishmen |
| Arsenal |
1 (Walcott) |
3 |
38 |
7.9% |
| Aston Villa |
5 (Bent 7, Warnock 1, Heskey 1, Albrighton 2, Agbonlahor 5) |
16 |
23 |
69.6% |
| Blackburn |
2 (Dunn 1, Dann 1) |
2 |
32 |
6.25% |
| Bolton |
6 (Eagles 3,K Davies 2, Cahill 2, Reo-Coker 2, M Davies 1, Muamba 1) |
11 |
25 |
44% |
| Chelsea |
3 (Lampard 9, Sturridge 9, Terry 4) |
22 |
40 |
55% |
| Everton |
4 (Baines 3, Osman 3, Jagielka 2, Rodwell 2) |
10 |
21 |
47.6% |
| Fulham |
4 (Zamora 4, Johnson 3, Murphy 2, Sidwell 1) |
10 |
23 |
43.5% |
| Liverpool |
4 (Carroll 2, Gerrard 2, Johnson 1, Henderson 1) |
6 |
24 |
25% |
| Man City |
4 (Johnson 5, Milner 3, Barry, 1, Richards 1) |
10 |
57 |
17.5% |
| Man Utd |
7 (Rooney 13, Welbeck 5, Young 2, Carrick 2, Jones 1, Smalling 1, Scholes 1) |
25 |
52 |
48.1% |
| Newcastle |
2 (Gosling 1, Taylor 2) |
3 |
30 |
10% |
| Norwich |
5 (Holt 7, Jonson 2, Surman 2, Barnett 1) |
12 |
32 |
37.5% |
| QPR |
5 (Young 2, Barton 2, Bothroyd 2, Smith 1, Campbell 1) |
8 |
19 |
42.1% |
| Stoke |
5 (Crouch 6, Etherington 2, Shawcross 1, Shotton 1, Jerome 1) |
11 |
22 |
50% |
| Sunderland |
6 (Richardson 2, Gardner 2, Brown 1, Colback 1, Wickham 1, Bramble 1) |
8 |
27 |
29.6% |
| Swansea |
6 (Graham 7, Sinclair 6, Dyer 3, Lita 2, Routledge 1, Moore 1) |
20 |
23 |
87% |
| Tottenham |
3 (Defoe 7, Lennon 3, Walker 1) |
11 |
39 |
28.2% |
| West Brom |
1 (Thomas 1 ) |
1 |
20 |
5% |
| Wigan |
1 (Watson 3) |
3 |
18 |
16.7% |
| Wolves |
3 (O'Hara 2, Jarvis 1, Ebanks-Blake 1) |
4 |
23 |
17.4% |
DOUBLES OVER DEVILS
Hi Martin, just read your blog, as Demba Ba has scored against Man United home and away, I decided to ask, how many other players have also completed this in the Premier League era? Kyle Thompson (Liverpool fan)
MARTIN SAYS: Demba Ba has indeed achieved this feat, scoring a penalty in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford and then again in the 3-0 win at the start of the year.
However, you may be surprised to learn that this is the 36th time that a player has scored home and away against United in the same season. The last man to do so was Frank Lampard, who did it for Chelsea in 2010/11. The first man to do it in the Premier League era was Chris Kiwomya of Ipswich Town in the very first Premier League season!
One man has even pulled off the feat twice - and for two different clubs. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored home and away for Leeds in 1998/99 and again for Chelsea in 2000/01.
Here is Opta's full list of players to have done this:
1992/93
Chris Kiwomya (Ipswich), Niall Quinn (Man City), John Sheridan (Sheff Wed), Ian Rush (Liverpool)
1993/94
Gavin Peacock (Chelsea), Andy Cole (Newcastle), Graeme Sharp (Oldham), John Fashanu (Wimbledon)
1994/95
Stan Collymore (Nottingham Forest)
1995/96
Neil Shipperley (Southampton), Robbie Fowler (Liverpool)
1996/97
Craig Hignett (Middlesbrough), Paul Warhurst (Blackburn), Egil Ostenstad (Southampton)
1998/99
Julian Joachim (Aston Villa), Jason Euell (Wimbledon), Nicolas Anelka (Arsenal), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Leeds)
1999/00
Freddie Ljungberg (Arsenal), Patrik Berger (Liverpool), Marian Pahars (Southampton)
2000/01
Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea)
2001/02
Kevin Phillips (Sunderland), Mark Viduka (Leeds), Jermain Defoe (West Ham)
2002/03
Shaun Goater (Man City), Claus Jensen (Charlton)
2003/04
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City)
2004/05
Eidur Gudjohnsen (Chelsea)
2005/06
Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham)
2006/07
Leighton Baines (Wigan)
2007/08
Benjani (Man City)
2009/10
Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
2010/11
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
2011/12
Demba Ba (Newcastle)
Of these players, three of them (Gudjohnsen, Peacock and Benjani) scored in two wins over Man Utd, while five (Baines, Jensen, Phillips, Warhurst and Sharp) scored in two defeats.
This weekend, Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie will aim to become the first Arsenal player since Thierry Henry to score home and away against United. That year he scored in a heavy defeat at Old Trafford (6-1), but scored the winner in a 1-0 home win. Gunners fans will hope that's an omen for Super Sunday!
STARS OF AFRICA
Hi Martin, with players leaving for the African Cup of Nations, I was wondering how much influence have African players contributed since the beginning of the Premier League? A list of the most influential (probably in terms of total amount of goals) would be great. I am thinking Drogba will be topping the list. William Muir (Portsmouth fan)
MARTIN SAYS: We asked our friends at Opta to produce a list of the top-scoring African players in Premier League history and it's no surprise to see Didier Drogba at the top of the list ahead of the likes of Yakubu and Emmanuel Adebayor. Please note, we have only included players who have qualified to play for African nations, so Shola Ameobi is included beause he was born in Nigeria and has been given clearance to play for them, but Patrick Vieira is not because he played interntaional football for France, despite being born in Senegal.
Top African scorers in Premier League history:
1. Didier Drogba, Ivory Coast (98)
2. Yakubu, Nigeria (90)
3. Emmanuel Adebayor, Togo (70)
4. Kanu, Nigeria (54)
5. Efan Ekoku, Nigeria (52)
6. Freddie Kanoute, Mali (43)
7. Benni McCarthy, South Africa (37)
8. Salomon Kalou, Ivory Coast (36)
9. Peter Ndlovu, Zimbabwe (34)
We also asked Opta to provide a list of the most influential African defenders in the Premier League, judged according to the number of clean sheets they have kept. This list includes players who primarily played in defence:
1. Kolo Toure, Ivory Coast (98)
2. Lucas Radebe, South Africa / Joseph Yobo, Nigeria (64)
4. Lauren, Cameroon (63)
5. Celestine Babayaro, Nigeria (59)
6. Abdoulaye Faye, Senegal (37)
7. Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Cameroon (36)
8. Mark Fish, South Africa (33)
9. Christopher Samba, Congo (30)
10. Quinton Fortune, South Africa / John Pantsil, Ghana (26)
And here are the top African appearance-makers in Premier League history:
1. Kolo Toure, Ivory Coast (286)
2. Kanu, Nigeria (273)
3. El-Hadji-Diouf, Senegal (250)
4. Yakubu, Nigeria (238)
5. Shola Ameobi, Nigeria (231)
6. Joseph Yobo, Nigeria (220)
7. Didier Drogba, Ivory Coast (217)
8. Chris Bart-Williams, Sierra Leone (211)
9. Lucas Radebe, South Africa (179)
10. Lauren, Cameroon (184)
SCORING AGAINST THE LOT
Hi Martin, I was wondering is there a player that has scored against every team in the Premier League in one season? Duncan Oswald (Aston Villa fan)
MARTIN SAYS: This has never happened. The closest any player has got was Ian Wright back in the 1996/97 season. He scored against 17 of Arsenal's 19 Premier League opponents that year with Sunderland and Manchester United the only sides he failed to net against.
Two other players have scored against 17 teams in one campaign, but they both did it in seasons when there were 22 teams in the Premier League. Back in 1994/95 Alan Shearer scored against every side except Norwich, Man Utd, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace, while back in 1993/94 Andy Cole scored against 17 teams, but not Tottenham, Coventry, Swindon, QPR or Chelsea.
Most teams scored against in one season:
SEVENTEEN
Andy Cole (1993/94), Alan Shearer (1994/95), Ian Wright (1996/97)*
SIXTEEN
Alan Shearer (1993/94), Les Ferdinand (1993/94), Stan Collymore (1994/95), Alan Shearer (1996/97)*, Cristiano Ronaldo (2007/08)*
*20-game season
As for this season, Robin van Persie leads the way having scored against 12 sides. He has scored against Aston Villa, Bolton, Chelsea, Everton, Man Utd, Norwich, QPR, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, West Brom and Wigan.
He could break the record and score against 18 teams if he finds the net against Blackburn, Liverpool, Man City, Newcastle, Tottenham and Wolves in Arsenal's remaining games. However, he will not score against every Premier League team (unless he moves clubs in January) because he has failed to score in either of Arsenal's Premier League games against Fulham this year.
Teams scored against in 2011/12:
TWELVE
Robin van Persie
NINE
Sergio Aguero
EIGHT
Wayne Rooney, Steven Fletcher, Steve Morison, Daniel Sturridge, Demba Ba
THE 2011 TABLE
Hello Martin, apologies for my delay in asking this. With the clamour surrounding RVP's pursuit of the record number of goals in a calendar year what would the 2011 EPL table looked like obviously without promoted or relegated teams? Philip Wilson (Liverpool fan)
MARTIN SAYS: If you include all matches played from January 1 to December 31 2011 then you end up with a table which looks like the one below. As you'll see Manchester United are top of the pile, having picked up nine more points than Manchester City - but they did play three more Premier League fixtures than their City rivals in the calendar year. United picked up more points per game than anyone else and were also the top scorers.
You'll notice that Arsenal and Tottenham picked up exactly the same number of points in 2011, although Spurs played a game less, and Bolton picked up the fewest points - just 30 in 37 games. They also conceded the most goals (72), while Wigan scored the fewest (40).
We've also include the change in position from January 1 to December 31 and Aston Villa (+7 places) enjoyed the biggest rise, while Bolton (-13 places) witnessed the biggest drop in league position of the 17 sides.
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
Pts per game |
Position +/- (Jan 1 - Dec 31) |
| Man Utd |
39 |
27 |
6 |
6 |
88 |
37 |
51 |
87 |
2.23 |
-1 |
| Man City |
36 |
24 |
6 |
6 |
81 |
32 |
49 |
78 |
2.17 |
+1 |
| Chelsea |
38 |
21 |
8 |
9 |
73 |
42 |
31 |
71 |
1.87 |
- |
| Liverpool |
39 |
20 |
10 |
9 |
62 |
36 |
26 |
70 |
1.80 |
+3 |
| Arsenal |
38 |
19 |
11 |
8 |
68 |
47 |
21 |
68 |
1.79 |
-1 |
| Tottenham |
37 |
19 |
11 |
7 |
61 |
43 |
18 |
68 |
1.84 |
+1 |
| Newcastle |
38 |
13 |
15 |
10 |
54 |
51 |
3 |
54 |
1.42 |
+5 |
| Everton |
36 |
15 |
8 |
13 |
48 |
43 |
5 |
53 |
1.47 |
+1 |
| Aston Villa |
38 |
12 |
15 |
11 |
50 |
49 |
1 |
51 |
1.34 |
+7 |
| Fulham |
38 |
12 |
14 |
12 |
50 |
45 |
5 |
50 |
1.32 |
+5 |
| Stoke |
38 |
13 |
9 |
16 |
43 |
54 |
-11 |
48 |
1.26 |
- |
| West Brom |
37 |
12 |
11 |
14 |
50 |
63 |
-13 |
47 |
1.27 |
+3 |
| Wolves |
38 |
10 |
9 |
19 |
47 |
68 |
-21 |
39 |
1.03 |
+4 |
| Sunderland |
36 |
10 |
8 |
18 |
46 |
56 |
-10 |
38 |
1.06 |
-9 |
| Wigan |
38 |
8 |
13 |
17 |
40 |
67 |
-27 |
37 |
0.97 |
-1 |
| Blackburn |
37 |
7 |
11 |
19 |
48 |
69 |
-21 |
32 |
0.87 |
-8 |
| Bolton |
37 |
9 |
3 |
25 |
43 |
72 |
-29 |
30 |
0.81 |
-13 |
Tyler's teaser
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