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Torres: another Anfield goal
Image: Torres: another Anfield goal

Fernando's form, spot-kick kings, own goal records and Big Four defeats. Martin Tyler has it all!

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Martin Tyler's stats and facts column is back! 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 - Upton sparks

I was at Upton Park on Sunday where Arsenal took their goal tally to 29 in nine Premier League games. By my reckoning that equals the best tally from the first nine games of any team in any Premier League season, matching the 29 Arsenal themselves managed in 2004. Robin van Persie scored his sixth of the season to become the club's current top scorer, although ahead of Arsenal's Carling Cup clash with Liverpool, Thomas Vermaelen, Cesc Fabregas and Andrey Arshavin were just behind the Dutchman on five each. Meanwhile, Carlton Cole has now scored in five consecutive home Premier League games for West Ham, having scored in all four this year and also in the last home game of last season. FERNANDO'S HOME COMFORTS
Dear Martin. People keep going on about Fernando Torres' goalscoring record but I have a theory that he's very good at Anfield in familiar surroundings, but he's not very good when he has to play away from home. What do the statistics suggest about this? Karl. MARTIN SAYS:
Torres' goal against Manchester United on Super Sunday continued a remarkable run of goalscoring form for the Spaniard at Anfield. That was his 34th goal in 35 games (0.97 goals per game), compared to just 13 goals in his 31 away games in the league (0.42 goals per game). In the Champions League he is also stronger at home, as you can see from the table below. He manages 0.45 goals per game at Anfield in that competition, as opposed to 0.27 goals per game on the road. However, that pattern does not continue in the domestic cups. He has failed to score in the three domestic cup games he has played at Anfield, but in his four away cup games he has managed four goals - one per game. Overall, in his two-and-a-bit seasons at Liverpool, he has managed 0.80 goals per game at Anfield and 0.43 goals per game on the road. Perhaps you could say his away record suffers in comparison to his home record - but any striker would be happy with a return like that away from home! Fernando Torres' goals for Liverpool:
Competition Home goals / apps Away goals / apps
Total 39 / 49 20 / 46
Premier League 34 / 35 13 / 31
Champions League 5 / 11 3 / 11
FA Cup 0 / 2 1 / 2
Carling Cup 0 / 1 3 / 2
THE BIG FLAW
So much for the so-called Big Four. I've just added it up and they've already lost 10 games between them this season. Is that some sort of record? I swear they can't have lost that many games before by this stage.

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