Martin Tyler's stats and facts column is back for another season here on skysports.com!

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.

Gerrard & Torres: milestones

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.

Email Martin Tyler here

Tyler's Starting Stat
Porto in a storm

I was at Anfield on Wednesday night to see Liverpool keep their Champions League dream alive and extend Porto's abysmal record in England in that competition. The 4-1 defeat was the 10th time the reigning Portuguese champions have played on our shores and the ninth time they have lost. Add a UEFA Cup tie against Liverpool funnily enough and that is 10 out 11 European games lost in England! Of course, you might remember the one game they didn't lose, because it was that 1-1 draw at Old Trafford back in the last 16 of the 2004 Champions League when Costinho's last-minute equaliser sent his side through - and triggered that famous touchline dash from Jose Mourinho. As for Liverpool, Fernando Torres scored his first Champions League goals, Steven Gerrard notched for the seventh time in eight games and the fourth match in a row, and Peter Crouch's goal was the first time he had found the net as a Liverpool sub since the trip to his old club Portsmouth in May 2006. And to top the lot, Gerrard equalled Michael Owen's record of 22 European goals for Liverpool with his second half penalty.

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Dear Martin, could barely believe the vidiprinter as I saw Everton put seven past Sunderland on Saturday! I remember us getting beat by seven (Arsenal) not long ago, but can't remember the last time we actually dished out a similar beating. Can you fill in the gaps please? George Eldron
MARTIN SAYS: I would be glad to George, although you might kick yourself when I tell you that the Toffees have actually hit seven in a Premier League game before. That came on November 16 1996 when they beat Southampton 7-1 and Gary Speed scored a hat-trick, Andrei Kanchelskis got two, and Nicky Barmby and Graham Stuart one apiece. The only other time Everton have won by six goals in the Premier League was against West Ham in May 1999 when they won 6-0, a day when Kevin Campbell was the hat-trick hero and Michael Ball, Don Hutchison and Francis Jeffers also scored. But even Saturday's result fell short of Everton's all-time record league win. They have won 9-1 on two occasions, beating Manchester City in Division One on September 3 1906 and thrashing Plymouth Argyle by the same score in Division Two on September 27 1930. They also beat poor Southampton 8-0 in 1972, when Joe Royle bagged four. Goodison Park has now witnessed eight goals in one game five times since the Premier League began. Apart from the two 7-1 wins, there was a 6-2 triumph over Swindon in January 1994, a 5-3 defeat to QPR in April 1993 and a 4-4 draw with Leeds in October 1999. Everton let in seven themselves in a Premier League match in a 7-0 defeat to Arsenal in May 2005 - which is what you refer to in your question, George.

ARSENE'S ENGLISHMEN
Here's a good pub quiz question from last night - name the six English players Arsene Wenger has signed in his 11 years at Arsenal. We got it right but we're all Gooners. Let's see if you know your stuff Martin! Shirley Ebdon
MARTIN SAYS: I am always up for a challenge and have answered most of your pub quiz questions down the years - correctly I hope - so I will gladly answer this one. The six Englishmen that Arsene Wenger has signed in his 11 seasons to date are: Sol Campbell, Francis Jeffers, Richard Wright, Jermaine Pennant, Matthew Upson and Theo Walcott. Just for the record as well, Wenger's lack of Englishmen set a record on 13th September 2006, when he fielded 11 players from 11 different countries for 41 minutes at Hamburg. That was a Champions League record and the Arsenal team was: Lehmann (Germany), Eboue (Ivory Coast), Hoyte (England), Djourou (Switzerland), Gallas (France), Hleb (Belarus), Fabregas (Spain), Silva (Brazil), Rosicky (Czech Republic), van Persie (Holland) and Adebayor (Togo). Those 41 minutes came between the introduction of Justin Hoyte, the only Englishman, on 28 minutes and Mathieu Flamini and Julio Baptista on 69, who became the second Frenchman and Brazilian in the line-up, respectively. Arsenal also have the distinction of naming the first all-foreign Premier League squad of 16, which Wenger did on February 14, 2005. Mind you, Chelsea beat them to the first all-foreign starting XI on Boxing Day, 1999 when Gianluca Vialli's side took on Southampton without an Englishmen amongst them.

BRAD ALL OVER
Hello Martin, am Milton a Kenyan studying in India, and am a big fan of your column and commentary. I have been following the Premier League closely and I have a funny question. Does Brad Fiedel have an understudy? I can't remember seeing a different keeper in goal for Blackburn since Friedel joined the club! How many consecutive matches has he been in goal? I guess it's Frank Lampard who holds the record for consecutive appearances though. Milton Getonto
MARTIN SAYS: I am more than happy to receive such kind words from so far afield Milton and even happier to answer a question about one of the nice guys in our game today, a real top man. You are right to wonder whether Blackburn even need a back-up goalkeeper because Brad Friedel is one of the Premier League's most consistent appearers down the years. Since he joined Blackburn in November 2000, the club have played 270 league games and Brad has featured in 263 of them, missing a paltry seven in as many years. In that time he has started 129 consecutive league games, although this season he did come off at half-time against Wigan. That would have given you the chance to see the man who usually finds himself on the Blackburn bench, Jason Brown - who actually saved a penalty when he came on! Peter Enckelman is technically Rovers' number two, and he was the man who took over from Friedel the last time he missed a league game, which was on May 15 2004 against Birmingham. But even Brad still has some way to go before he catches up with the all-time Premier League record for consecutive appearaces, which as you say, is held by Frank Lampard at 164. Funnily enough I was at the last game of that sensational run when he was named in the starting side to face Manchester City on December 28th 2005, did the warm-up, but was taken ill and never started the game.

RYAN'S RUN
Martin. I noticed that Ryan Giggs clocked up 99 appearances in the Champions League the other night, but was wondering where this puts him in the overall standings? He can't be far away from the record. Daz
MARTIN SAYS: If he plays in Rome next matchday - which, with qualification assured is by no means certain - Ryan Giggs will indeed join an exclusive club of players to have made 100 Champions League appearances. He is still 14 behind Real Madrid legend Raul though who, as well as being the competition's top scorer, is also the leading appearance-maker with 113. Roberto Carlos is one behind on 112, then comes Paolo Maldini with 106. Ryan's old team-mate David Beckham is tied in fourth place with Oliver Kahn with 103 appearances, while Luis Figo has also racked up a century. Giggs though, could be pipped to the century by Clarence Seedorf who, with AC Milan playing a week early against Celtic in the San Siro, might well move on from 99. A little further down the list, United's place in the knockout stages will be doubly welcomed by two more stalwarts closing in on 100 appearances - Gary Neville (98) and Paul Scholes (97).

EURO TREBLE
Hi Martin, I would like to know if Arsenal win the Champions League this season, will they become the first team to have won the Uefa Treble i.e. The Uefa Cup, The European Cup and The Cup Winners Cup? Thanks, Hamza Mohamed
MARTIN SAYS: That is still a long, long way away Hamza, but even if Arsene Wenger did guide Arsenal to that elusive Champions League victory this season they wouldn't be the first club to do that treble. In fact, four other European giants have done it, remembering of course that the Inter-City Fairs Cup was of course the precursor to the Uefa Cup, so that comes into the equation as well. Those four clubs are Juventus, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Juve were the first, winning the Fairs Cup in 1965, the Cup Winners' Cup in 1984 and the Champions League - or European Cup as it was known then - in 1985. Ajax, who won three European Cups between 1971 and 1973, went on to win the Cup Winners' Cup in 1987, but had to wait until 1992 for the clean sweep and their only Uefa Cup win. Barcelona were also Fairs Cup winners back in 1966, won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1979, but had to wait until 1992 for European Cup success. The fourth side to have done the clean sweep are Bayern, who like Ajax did it a different way round, winning the Cup Winners' Cup in 1967 and then three straight European Cups between 1974 and 1976 but then had to wait another 20 years to complete the treble with a 1996 Uefa Cup win.

CLEAN SWEEPS
Hi Martin, with Manchester United winning their fifth consecutive game in the Champions League group stage this week, I was wondering how often it is that a team has gone all the way and won all six? Thanks in advance. Mitch Woods, Australia
MARTIN SAYS: I will be in Rome to see if Manchester United can indeed rack up the clean sweep in the group stages in two weeks' time, but even if they do make it six from six Mitch, they won't be the first. That 100 per cent group-stage record has been done three times and perhaps more worryingly for any United fans, no side has gone on to win the competition after doing it. Paris St German were the first back in 1994-95 when they won all six games against Bayern Munich, Spartak Moscow and Dynamo Kiev but only accrued 12 points in the days of two for a win. A year later Spartak Moscow had clearly learned from the French side because they breezed through their group stage with six wins from six at the expense of Legia Warsaw, Rosenborg and Blackburn Rovers. Since the turn of the century, only Barcelona have managed the same thing in 2002-03 when Lokomotiv Moscow, Club Brugge and Galatasaray were blown away in a six-win campaign.

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