Tyler's festive treats

The Premier League Santa, the wrong Christmas sack, away and in danger and a festive teaser...

Test your knowledge with a Christmas teaser...

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 here and he will do his best to help.

Tyler's starting stat - A time for sharing

Sunday's derby draw with Chelsea was the first time since being promoted back to the Premier League that West Ham have not been beaten at home by their London rivals. Alessandro Diamanti's penalty was also their seventh of the season in all competitions and those seven have all been scored - by no fewer than five different players. Diamanti has scored three, Junior Stanislas, Mark Noble, Carlton Cole and Luis Jimenez one each. As for Chelsea, Frank Lampard's thrice-taken penalty maintained their impressive record of having scored in every Premier League game since last season's 0-0 draw with Ev Everton at Stamford Bridge on April 22, which is a run of 23 games. It was also a day of individual milestones for the Blues as well: it was Ricardo Carvalho's 200th Chelsea game; Ashley Cole's 150th Premier League game for them; Lampard's 450th game in all competitions (138 goals); and Salomon Kalou's 100th Premier League game for the Blues and his 100th start for them in all.

TWO WISE MEN
Hi Martin, me and my friend were having an argument recently as to who has the best goals per minute played ratio this season. He is an Everton fan and thinks it's Louis Saha whereas I think it's Fernando Torres. Please could you help settle this dispute? Thanks, Lee Roden
MARTIN SAYS: Well Lee, I hope you and you're friend are not going to have a festive fall-out over this, but I can give you an early Christmas present by telling you are indeed right, Fernando Torres does have the best goals-per-minute ratio in the Premier League so far. The Spaniard has hit 11 goals in a fraction under 11½ games which turns out a goal every 93½ minutes. He has scored seven of those goals, including a hat-trick against Hull at Anfield, where his overall record is now an incredible 35 in 37 in Premier League games at home. Just across Stanley Park, Louis Saha is not doing too badly either and is the currently fifth most prolific scorers in terms of minutes. The Frenchman has 10 goals to his name at a rate of one every 109 minutes, which puts him behind Torres, Jermain Defoe, Ivan Klasnic and Didier Drogba. The boffins at Opta have kindly provided the Premier League's top five to spare any further arguments, with a minimum of five goals scored.

Player	Club	Goals	Time played (mins)	Mins per Goal
Ferando Torres	Liverpool	11	1,028	93.5
Jermain Defoe	Tottenham	13	1,250	96.2
Ivan Klasnic	Bolton	5	514	102.8
Didier Drogba	Chelsea	13	1,405	108.1
Louis Saha	Everton	10	1,091	109.1

AWAY AND IN DANGER
Hi Martin, following the Burnley-Wolves match and watching Burnley lose yet again away from home had me thinking: has any team ever only picked up one point away from home at this stage in the season and stayed up. Thanks, Haaris Ahmed
MARTIN SAYS: Hi Haaris. Burnley have enjoyed some spectacular moments in their debut season in the Premier League as we approach the busy Christmas period. However, that away form will become more of an issue as the season goes on but Clarets supporters can take heart from the Wigan team of 2007/08 who had one point from nine games but still finished 14th, with two wins and four more draws on the road in the second half of the season. West Ham had also taken one point from their travels at this stage of the 2006/07 season. They also survived, winning four away games in the process. However, six teams have been in the same position, with just one away point to their name at this time, and have slipped out of the top flight. Derby County have twice suffered this fate. In their dismal 2007/08 season they were relegated with the lowest ever Premier League points total after winning just one point away from home at this stage of the season. The Rams were also relegated from the top flight in 2001/02, despite adding three away wins and one away draw to their one point away from home in mid-December. Charlton (2006/07), Leicester (1994/95), Sheffield Wednesday (1999/2000) and Bolton (1995/96) have also failed to avoid the drop after taking just one point on their travels at this stage

FIVE OLD WINS
Hi Martin. Love the blog. As a Birmingham fan, I can't help but notice our brilliant form in the Premier League. But where did we end up finishing in the league the last time we won five consecutive matches? Cheers, Ben Mountford
MARTIN SAYS: Well Ben, we are in unchartered territory in terms of the Premier League, so who knows how far they can go? But I can tell you you have to go all the way back to the 1972/73 season to find the last time they won five top-flight games in a row. That came in March and April of that year, when a team managed by the former Lancashire cricketer and Manchester United player, Fred Goodwin, and including my Sky Sports colleague Trevor Francis, PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor, Bob Latchford and Bob Hatton beat Coventry (3-0, home), Norwich (2-1, away), Liverpool (2-1, home), Leicester (1-0, away) and Stoke (3-1, home). That season, Birmingham had only won eight games before this run started, but went on to win seven of their last eight games. To answer your question Ben, they finished 10th that season. The club's current run eclipses their previous best Premier League streak of four straight victories, which they have achieved in two separate seasons. The first occurred in 2002/03 when they overcame Sunderland (2-0), Charlton (0-2), Southampton (3-2) and Middlesbrough (3-0)) en route to a total of 13 victories and 13th place in the table. But the Blues improved on that finish by one spot in 2004/05 when they won 11 games in total including a run over the Christmas period in which they saw off Aston Villa (1-2), West Brom (4-0), Middlesbrough (2-0) and Fulham (2-3).

LOST CHRISTMAS
My question is has anyone finished outside the top four with the least amount of losses because as a City fan I know that currently we are the only team to have lost just two games and we look miles off the pace and was wondering if it has ever been done before? Mike Davies
MARTIN SAYS: No team has finished outside the top four with the fewest defeats in Premier League history, Mike; although if Manchester City continue to add to their collection of draws this season then they could take that title! However, Arsenal pipped London rivals Tottenham Hotspur to a Champions League spot in 2005/06, despite recording 11 defeats in the league - two more than Spurs. And of course last year second-placed Liverpool were defeated just twice all season compared to champions Manchester United who were beaten four times. However, the Reds 11 draws put paid to their title hopes.

THE WRONG CHRISTMAS SACK
Hi Martin in the wake of Mark Hughes ill-timed sacking from Manchester City, it got me wondering: how many Premier League managers have lost their jobs over the Christmas period down the years. I'm sure I remember Charlton giving someone the boot on Christmas Day! Jeremy Hocks
MARTIN SAYS: Well Jeremy, there is never a good time for a manager to lose his job and the last thing we want to see is anyone out of work at Christmas, so thankfully Premier League bosses are safer than your average turkey at this time of year. However, as you point out, there have been one or two departures deep into the festive period, none worse that Les Reed who was actually relieved of his duties as Charlton manager on Christmas Eve in 2006. Back in 1994 Paul Goddard was in temporary charge of Ipswich but left the role on December 28, while 1996 was a far from happy New Year for Colin Todd, who left Bolton on January 2. It's just as well Billy Davies is doing so well at Nottingham Forest this season because the City Ground have twice changed managers over the Christmas period, Frank Clark going on December 19, 1997 and Dave Bassett on January 5 two years later. More recently, Lawrie Sanchez was relieved of his duties at Fulham on December 21, 2007 and last year, Blackburn dispensed with Paul Ince on December 16. Of all these those last two were at least vindicated down the line as both clubs managed to avoid relegation and stay in the Premier League - something which Mark Hughes' successor, Roberto Mancini, should be able to match in 2010!

REAL-LIFE SANTA
Martin, a silly Christmas question, but after his two goals against Sunderland what chance Roque Santa Cruz giving us another present in the next two games. What is his strike rate like at this time of year. Alice McDermott
MARTIN SAYS: Well Alice, it's nice to have at least one Christmas-themed question! Roque Santa Cruz has not actually played that many times in December simply because he came from the Bundesliga where they do of course take a winter break. But in his three seasons in the Premier League his return around this time of year is indeed something Santa would be proud of. He has played 14 games in December and scored 13 goals. Ten of those games have come in the Premier League and one in the League Cup, where he scored twice in Blackburn's 3-2 defeat by Arsenal in 2007. That Christmas was a particularly good one for the Paraguay international as he scored eight goals in five games, including a hat-trick in the 5-3 win over Wigan, a brace against current club Manchester City and one against Derby.

Tyler's Teaser

Hit the video for this week's teaser and for the answers to last week's question. Send in your answers using the feedback form below... and don't forget to keep your questions coming.