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Martin Tyler's stats: Wayne Rooney's Liverpool record

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Martin Tyler brings you his latest teaser from White Hart Lane

Who is Wayne Rooney's favourite opponent? Have the Manchester and Merseyside clubs ever all finished in the top four?

Can any club match Sunderland's reliance on Jermain Defoe in terms of goals contributed?

Martin Tyler has the answers - plus, hit the video to see his latest tricky teaser.

How to send your questions to Martin:

Use the comments box at the bottom of this page

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This weekend's Super Sunday will mark the 50th Premier League meeting between Manchester United and Liverpool. Both sides are currently enjoying in-form spells with plenty hoping for more fireworks than October's goalless draw. 

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Liverpool 0-0 Man Utd

The fixture has seen the second-highest number of red cards of any top flight match-up (16) - behind the Merseyside derby (21) - with Steven Gerrard's now infamous sending off less than 60 seconds after coming on as a second-half substitute in March 2015 the last to occur. 

United just shade the wins - taking all three points 27 times in 49 games - with just 13 wins for Liverpool and nine draws, although Jurgen Klopp has lost just one of his six meetings with Jose Mourinho (W3 D2 L1).

In the spirit of Manchester v Merseyside this weekend, Everton will be aiming for their first win in seven Premier League meetings with Man City in the first of the Super Sunday double header, although the last two have ended in draws.

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Manchester City 1-1 Everton

Both managers have needed time to adapt to their new surroundings, with City in particular having lost as many top flight games in their last seven outings (3) as they did in their previous 24 games.

Roo's the man

MARTIN SAYS: A long-standing Manchester United record could tumble on Super Sunday, with Wayne Rooney one goal short of taking the outright lead from Sir Bobby Charlton atop the club's all-time goalscoring chart.

Having grown up on the blue side of the Merseyside divide, he would surely love to do so against Liverpool, but the Reds are far from his favourite opposition.

When you break down his 249-goal haul, he's scored the same amount of goals against AC Milan (six) as he has versus Liverpool.

Rooney's goals for Man Utd - top 10

Team How many goals scored?
Aston Villa 14
Newcastle 13
Arsenal 12
Fulham 12
West Ham 12
Manchester City 11
Portsmouth 10
Tottenham 10
Wigan 10
Bolton 9
Chelsea 9

That tally is some way short of the 14 he's scored against Aston Villa and 13 netted against Newcastle, his two favourite opponents - so it's fair to say he may have been disappointed to see the pair relegated from the Premier League last season.

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Martin Samuel described Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United goalscoring record as a ‘phenomenal achievement’ on the Sunday Supplement

The assist king?

Since Leighton Baines started playing in the Prem, has any defender made more assists? Jon (Sheffield)

MARTIN SAYS: Leighton Baines is in a league of his own when it comes to assists from defence. Since he made his first Premier League appearance in 2005/06, he has 49 assists - which makes him the defender with the most assists in Premier League history.

Opta have given us a list of assists in that period and in that time, only Antonio Valencia comes close to matching his output (35 assists) and the Ecuadorian has played much of his career on the wing before switching to right-back.

PL defenders assist since 05/06

Player Assists
Leighton Baines 49
Antonio Valencia 35
Glen Johnson 23
Nicky Shorey 21
Patrice Evra 21
Alexander Kolarov 20
Branislav Ivanovic 20
Ashley Cole 19
Bacary Sagna 19
Pablo Zabaleta 18

Baines has more than double any other recognised defender since the start of 2005/06, with Stoke's Glen Johnson a distant third with 23 assists.

And the Everton left-back is in exalted company when you look at the top assist-makers regardless of position since his Premier League debut in 2005.

PL players assists since 05/06

Player Assists
Cesc Fabregas 95
Wayne Rooney 91
James Milner 73
Frank Lampard 62
Ashley Young 62
Steven Gerrard 61
David Silva 61
Robin van Persie 53

Baines is 11th on the list for players of any position, just one short of Drogba's 50 assists and two shy of Ryan Giggs' tally of 51, but has some way to go to match Cesc Fabregas (95).

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 04:  Leighton Baines of Everton celebrates as he scores their first and equalising goal from the penalty spot during the Prem
Image: Leighton Baines is one assist short of matching Didier Drogba's total since the 2005/06 season

Your team's talisman...

Who has had a hand in the most goals (assists + goals) for each Premier League side this season? Adam (Kent)

MARTIN SAYS: Most teams have a talisman and so far this season none has been more crucial than Sunderland's Jermain Defoe.

The former England striker has been involved in 13 of Sunderland's 19 goals - scoring 11 and assisting two.

Defoe is one of five players to have scored or assisted more than 50 per cent of their team's goals, alongside Everton's Romelu Lukaku, Middlesbrough's Alvaro Negredo, Hull's Robert Snodgrass and Manchester United's Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Top PL goal contributors (goals + assists)

Player Goals Assists Percentage of team goals
Jermain Defoe - Sunderland 11 2 68.4%
Romelu Lukaku - Everton 11 4 53.6%
Robert Snodgrass - Hull 7 2 52.9%
Alvaro Negredo - Boro 5 4 52.9%
Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Man Utd 13 3 51.6%
Gylfi Sigurdsson - Swansea 5 6 47.8%
Alexis Sanchez - Arsenal 13 7 45.5%
Diego Costa - Chelsea 14 5 45.2%
Matt Phillips - WBA 4 8 42.9%
Charlie Austin - Saints 6 1 36.8%

But in terms of volume, nobody can beat Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez. The Chilean has been directly involved in 20 goals - more than any other player - scoring 13 and assisting seven. Only Diego Costa, who has contributed to 19 Chelsea goals, comes close.

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Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann believes Manchester United have the edge over his former team ahead of their Premier League clash on Sunday

Liverpool and Man City, in contrast, spread their goals around the most.

Liverpool's top contributor is Adam Lallana, who has been involved in 29 per cent of the Reds' goals - the second lowest percentage of a team's total among Premier League clubs.

Only Man City can beat that figure, with Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne each responsible for 11 of Man City's 41 goals, or 27 per cent.

All Mersey/Manchester top four?

Have Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton ever all finished as the top four? Chris, (Solihull)

MARTIN SAYS: No, but we once saw the Manchester and Merseyside clubs finish in four of the top five positions.

You have to go all the way back to 1967/68 for that. In that season, Manchester City won the title with Manchester United in second and Liverpool third. Everton finished fifth, just one point behind Leeds who prevented an all Manchester/Merseyside top four.

Three seasons ago, all four finished in the top seven. Man City won the title for the second time in three years, beating Liverpool into second place. Everton, in Roberto Martinez's first campaign in charge, finished fifth, seven points behind fourth-place Arsenal. But Manchester United had their worst season for 24 years, sacking David Moyes 10 months on from replacing Sir Alex Ferguson and eventually finishing seventh.

Vincent Kompany and Manuel Pellegrini celebrate with the Premier League trophy in 2014
Image: Vincent Kompany and Manuel Pellegrini celebrate with the Premier League trophy in 2014

We also saw all four in the top seven in the 2012/13 season. Manchester United won the league from Man City that year with Everton in sixth and Liverpool in seventh.

Liverpool, Man Utd and Everton also finished in the top three in 1963/64, but Man City weren't even in the top flight, finishing sixth in the old second division.

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