Martin Tyler's stats and facts column is back for 2008 and will be here offering you statistical gems for the remainder of the season.
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.
Carew: ninth treble
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.
Tyler's Starting Stat
- Derby delights
I was at Old Trafford on Sunday to see City win a poignant derby and provide us with some superb stats along the way. It was of course City's second win over them this season and the fourth time they have completed the league double over their rivals, the other occasions being 1930-31, 1954-55, and 1969-70. It was only Sven Goran Eriksson's second game against United as City boss, but it took his record to three wins in three against them following Lazio's European Super Cup win over Sir Alex Ferguson's treble winners back in 1999. Sven also has a remarkable record at Old Trafford though, because in 10 England games there he only lost once - to Denmark in a friendly - and won seven and drew two, so I suppose the result was not that great a surprise. Finally, Benjani's goal proved to be the winner and marked the second occasion in which a City player has scored against United on his debut for the club. The other being Mikhail Kavelashvili, who netted in the 3-2 home defeat at Maine Road back in April 1996 - a game I was also commentating on!
TWO MUCH TO TAKE
I am sure you have been bomarded with questions about the Manchester derby at the weekend, but I was wondering when United last conceded two goals at home in the first half? Also, have they ever been 2-0 down at half-time in a home Premier League game before? Jamie Davereux
MARTIN SAYS: That was only the eighth time in Premier League history that Manchester United have been two goals behind in a Premier League game, so it is no surprise that instances of them conceding two goals at home and before half-time are few and far between. In fact, you have to go back almost 10 years to December 1998 to find the last time they were 2-0 adrift at the break. That was against Middlesbrough, who scored through Hamilton Ricard (23) and Dean Gordon (31) and even went on to lead 3-0 thanks to Brian Deane (59) on their way to a 3-2 success. As for the last time United conceded two goals at Old Trafford in the first 45 minutes of a Premier League match, that was against Fulham in April 2006. Brian McBride (22) and Heidar Helguson (37) were on target, but sadly for the Cottagers they conceded three themselves in the opening 23 minutes!
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Martin, we all know Sunday's win gave City the double over United, but how many other sides have done that in Premier League history. I can't think of too many other sides who have beaten them home and away in the same season? Karl Taverner
MARTIN SAYS: Well Karl, City joined an elite band of Premier League clubs who have done the league double in the 16 years (and counting!) that the Premier League has been in existence. Only five other teams can boast two wins over them in the same campaign, although it has happened on 10 occasions now, with one club doing it three times and two teams doing it twice. You might not be surprised to discover that Arsenal are the former, with league doubles over them on their way to their own league and FA Cup Double in 2001-02 (3-1 home, 1-0 away) and in 1997-98 (3-2 home, 1-0 away) and last season (2-1 home, 1-0 away). Liverpool - thanks to two Danny Murphy winners - did it in successive seasons in 2000-01 (2-0 home, 1-0 away) and 2001-02 (3-1 home, 1-0 away). Chelsea were the first team to do it in 1993-94 when Gavin Peacock scored the winner on both occasions in two 1-0 wins and they also managed it on their way to the title in 2004-05 (1-0 home, 3-1 away). Two other clubs have done it once - Blackburn did it in 2005-06 (4-3 home, 2-1 away) with a little help from David Bentley's hat-trick - still the only Premier League hat-trick against United - and of course, West Ham did it last season (1-0 home, 1-0 away), the latter being the result that kept them in the Premier League.
VASSELL DO NICELY
I am sure I heard someone say over the weekend that Darius Vassell has NEVER lost a Premiership game in which he has scored. This can't be true, can it? Millie Stevens
MARTIN SAYS: It is indeed true that Darius Vassell has never lost a league game in which he has scored. His strike at Old Trafford on Sunday was his 50th Premier League goal during spells at Aston Villa and Manchester City and he has never ended up on the losing side on the 44 occasions he has found the net. His record also stands up for England - he has scored six goals for his country and whenever he has scored, the national team have not lost. He has also scored four FA Cup goals and, once again, his side won each time he found the net. The record does not exactly hold true in Europe though because he scored a goal for Aston Villa in their 2-1 Intertoto Cup defeat away at Rennes in July 2001. However, Villa won the home leg 1-0 and won the tie overall, so you could argue he did not end up on the losing side. If you don't include that, there is only one match in Vassell's professional career in which he has scored and his team has lost. That was Aston Villa's dramatic 4-3 League Cup quarter-final defeat to Liverpool in December 2002. The game was famously delayed by almost an hour due to ticketing problems and Vassell opened the scoring with a penalty. However, Villa ended up losing a thrilling game thanks to Danny Murphy's injury-time winner. As for England, Darius scored six times and England never lost, although in his last game he did of course fail to score in a penalty shoot-out as England crashed out of Euro 2004 to Portugal.
CAREW'S COMPANY - THE THREE'S CROWD
Hi Martin, after John Carew's hat-trick at the weekend, it set me thinking how many there had been already this season. As well as Carew's, I can think of Yakubu, Santa Cruz, Adebayor, Ronaldo, Berbatov and two by Benjani. Have I forgotten anybody? This makes at least 8 this season so far - which seems an awful lot. How does this compare with other Premier League seasons and are we in for a record season? Peter from Redcar
MARTIN SAYS: Well Peter, Marcus Bent will not be happy because you have left his treble against Blackburn off the list - remember he scored three in the same game as Roque Santa Cruz? That means we have had nine so far this season and you are right, it is an awful lot when you consider there have only been 10 Premier League hat-tricks in the previous two campaigns! There were just three last season and seven the season before, so this season is indeed better. But it will have to go some way to beat the all-time Premier League best of 19 in a season! That came in 1993-94 when of course there were 42 games in a season, so you can expect a few more, but even so 19 is a pretty decent haul. This season so far Benjani is the only man to score two hat-tricks, but back in 1993-94 five players achieved it - Ian Wright (Arsenal), Andy Cole (Newcastle United), Kevin Campbell (Arsenal) and my Sky Sports colleagues Tony Cottee (Everton) and Matt Le Tissier (Southampton). The previous best for a 38-game campaign stands at 16, which happened in 1995-96 and 1997-98, with Alan Shearer's five hat-tricks boosting the tally in the first instance and two Chris Sutton hat-tricks for Blackburn the stand-out in the second season. But just for recent comparison Peter, here's how this season compares to the last three in the Premier League...
| PREMIER LEAGUE HAT-TRICKS | ||
| SEASON | TOTAL | PLAYERS |
| 2004-05 | 8 | Yakubu (Portsmouth), Hasselbaink (Middlesbrough), Gudjohnsen (Chelsea), Baros (Liverpool), Defoe (Spurs), Henry 2 (Arsenal), Earnshaw (West Brom) |
| 2005-06 | 7 | Harewood (West Ham), Camara (Wigan), Owen (Newcastle), Henry 2 (Arsenal), Bentley (Blackburn), L Moore (Aston Villa) |
| 2006-07 | 3 | Rooney (Man Utd), Drogba (Chelsea), Crouch (Liverpool) |
| 2007-08 | 9 | Adebayor (Arsenal), Benjani 2 (Portsmouth), Yakubu (Everton), Santa Cruz (Blackburn), Bent (Wigan), Ronaldo (Man Utd), Berbatov (Spurs), Carew (Aston Villa) |
EMMANUEL VII
I see Adebayor has scored in eight games in succession now. I was wondering is this a record? If not, who holds the Premier League record for scoring in the most games in a row? Charles MaborraMARTIN SAYS: I am going to have to correct you first Charles, because Emmanuel Adebayor has actually scored in seven consecutive Premier League games and his last nine games in all competitions! He scored in the FA Cup against Newcastle and the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Tottenham - which remains the only time he has scored and lost in an Arsenal shirt to date. But going back to those seven consecutive scoring games in the Premier League, it is still not a record because he has to do it in the next three league games to equal the best, which stands at 10 in a row. The man responsible for the remarkable run is Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored in the last eight games of the 2002-03 campaign and the first two of the 2003-04 campaign - netting a total of 15 goals (five penalties) and two hat-tricks along the way. Adebayor currently stands level with Arsenal predecessors Thierry Henry and Ian Wright, Alan Shearer for Blackburn and Mark Stein for Chelsea.
SLOG ON THE TYNE?
Martin. I am beginning to wonder if King Kev's second coming was a mistake. I seem to remember him starting fairly slowly last time around, but how do his stats compare with the last few Toon bosses - particularly Big Sam? Davey Mack
MARTIN SAYS: It is not for me to pass comment Davey, but I think you have to remember that very rarely do managers take over when sides are doing well, so it is never surprising to see some difficult starts. In this instance it is hard to gauge because of cup games and the like, so what I have done for you - with a little help from the ever-reliable Sky Sports Stats team - is list the managers going back to Keegan's first spell in charge and their points return after four league games. As you can see, Kevin did slightly better first time around but this time his two-point return puts him on a par with Ruud Gullitt. But the good news for Newcastle as they prepare to play host to Manchester United next up, is that the Dutchman did win his fifth league game in charge!
| NEWCASTLE MANAGERS' STARTS | ||
| NAME | LEAGUE FORM | POINTS |
| Kevin Keegan | W L D W | 7 |
| Kenny Dalglish | D W W W | 10 |
| Ruud Gullitt | D D L L | 2 |
| Sir Bobby Robson | L W L W | 6 |
| Graeme Souness | W W D D | 8 |
| Glenn Roeder | W W D W | 10 |
| Sam Allardyce | W D D W | 8 |
| Kevin Keegan | D L D L | 2 |
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