Paying the price

Arsenal's costly late lapses, one-goal wins, hat-trick heroes... Martin Tyler answers your posers.

Can you answer Tyler's teaser this week?

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 skysportsclub@bskyb.com and he will do his best to help.

Tyler's Starting Stat - Away they go

I was in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday night to see Manchester United continue their amazing away record in this season's Champions League. The 2-0 win over Schalke made it all six games without conceding a goal - and you have to go back to the second leg of last season's semi-final against Bayern Munich for the last time they let one in on the road. The impressive run takes in the group games at Valencia (1-0), Bursaspor (3-0), Rangers (1-0), Marseille (1-0), the last 16 game against Chelsea (1-0) and of course Tuesday's triumph. At the other end, Ryan Giggs opened the scoring to mark yet another milestone as he became the top British appearance-maker in European competition, racking up 140 in all competitions and overtaking Jamie Carragher in the process. It was his 125th Champions League appearance and his 26th goal - both records he already had. As for Wayne Rooney, that was his eighth goal in his last 12 games in the Champions League and also his eighth goal in as many games in all competitions - and made for a happier return to Gelsenkirchen, where he was of course, sent off for England against Portugal in the 2006 World Cup finals.

LATE LAPSES
Hi Martin. Pleasure to hear from you as always. Yet again Arsenal conceded very late this weekend and I've almost lost count of the number of times it has happened this season. So I put this question to you. How many times have Arsenal conceded a goal in the last 10 minutes of normal time that has decided the outcome of the match? Not considering inconsequential goals. Sahil Sampat
MARTIN SAYS: Well Sahil, the goal against Bolton made it two times in the last three and, dare I say, nine times in all this season - six of them in the Premier League! Tamir Cohen and Dirk Kuyt's goals robbed them of a point and two points respectively, while the 4-4 draw with Newcastle, the 2-2 draw at Wigan, the 3-2 defeat at home to Tottenham and the 1-1 draw at Sunderland also saw late lapses cost them points. In fact, they have dropped a total of 10 points courtesy of goals in the last 10 minutes, and as I'm sure you are more than aware, they currently trail Manchester United by nine! They have also conceded late goals in all three cup competitions this season, none worse than the Carling Cup final when they handed Obafemi Martins and Birmingham City a simple winner at the death. In the Champions League both Braga's goals in their group game win came in the last 10 minutes and then in the FA Cup Jonathan Tehoue earned Leyton Orient a fifth-round replay with a late strike in their first meeting at Brisbane Road.

THEATRE OF TITLE DREAMS
Hi Martin, I'm an Arsenal fan and my fondest moment is winning the league at Old Trafford in 2002. It seems to me that if Man United don't win the league, the team that does tends to beat them at Old Trafford during the season. What I want to know is, how often is this the case? Daryl Martins
MARTIN SAYS: Dating back to the start of the Premier League (or Premiership as it was then) Daryl, Blackburn were beaten both at Ewood Park (0-1) and at Old Trafford (4-2), yet still went on to claim the title in the 1994/95 season. Next up to deny United the championship was Arsenal in 1997/98, and they indeed won 3-2 at Highbury before pipping the Red Devils 1-0 at Old Trafford. The Gunners doubled United again in 2001/02 on their way to glory - again nicking a 1-0 win at Old Trafford and emerging 3-1 winners at Highbury. When Arsenal won the title again two seasons later, both clashes with United ended in stalemates - 1-1 at Highbury and 0-0 at Old Trafford. The Chelsea title-winning side of 2004/05 twice beat United that season - 1-0 at Stamford Bridge and 3-1 won the league, at Old Trafford. In the next campaign, the Blues again won the title and thumped the Red Devils 3-0 at the Bridge before earning a goalless draw in Manchester. The Chelsea side of last term, who won the Premier League, beat Sir Alex Ferguson's men 1-0 in London and clinched a 2-1 victory at the Theatre of Dreams. Therefore, in short, of the seven times Manchester United have failed to win the top flight since it became the Premier League in 1992, four of the title-winning sides took three points away from Old Trafford. MAXI-MUM TREBLE
Hi Martin, I'm a Liverpool fan and I heard in commentary that Maxi Rodriguez's hat-trick against Birmingham was the 15th hat-trick in the Premier League this season. Is that true and if so is that some kind of record? Josh Keith
MARTIN SAYS: Well Josh, it was indeed the 15th treble of the Premier League season which leaves us one short for the record over a 38-game campaign, which stands at 16. They came in the 1995/96 and two years later in 1997/98. Of the 16 hat-tricks scored in the 1995/96 season, four belonged to the greatest Premiership goalscorer of all time, Alan Shearer. This was his last season at Blackburn before a much-publicised £15m switch to Newcastle - and he signed off at Ewood Park with 37 goals in all competitions. Liverpool's Robbie Fowler notched two trebles - including four against Bolton at Anfield, but perhaps the most memorable hat-trick of the campaign included Tony Yeboah's wonder-strike at Wimbledon. Other surprise hat-trick baggers that year were Gary McAllister (against his future employers Coventry), and Chelsea's Gavin Peacock. Blackburn's Chris Sutton was the only player to contribute more than one hat-trick to the 16 scored in the 1997-98 campaign - including one first-half treble at Aston Villa. Bolton conceded three hat-tricks that season, to Ian Wright, Andy Booth and Duncan Ferguson. Chelsea's Gianluca Vialli and Tottenham's Jurgen Klinsmann both bagged four in a game, against Barnsley and Wimbledon respectively, but it was Dennis Bergkamp's famous three at Leicester that stole the hat-trick headlines that year.

Season	Number of hat-tricks
1992-93	13
1993-94	19
1994-95	13
1995-96	16
1996-97	13
1997-98	16
1998-99	12
1999-00	13
2000-01	14
2001-02	7
2002-03	13
2003-04	10
2004-05	8
2005-06	7
2006-07	3
2007-08	15
2008-09	6
2009-10	14
2010-11	15

SILVER LININGS
Hi Martin. Seeing that Arsenal will have to extend their trophy-less run for another season, it made me wonder which top-flight team has gone the longest without a trophy? Habib Ayubi
MARTIN SAYS: I think we all know how long Arsenal have gone without winning any silverware Habib, but spare a thought for Premier League rivals Fulham and Wigan. Neither of those have ever lifted a major trophy - and by that I mean the League, FA or League Cup! In fact, there are only five sets of supporters of the current 20 clubs that have enjoyed more success than Arsenal fans in recent years. Here's the full list...

Team	Last honour	Years
Fulham	Never won a major trophy	-
Wigan	Never won a major trophy	-
Blackpool	FA Cup 1953	58
Bolton	FA Cup 1958	53
West Brom	FA Cup 1968	43
Newcastle	Inter Cities Fairs Cup 1969	43
Stoke	League Cup 1972	39
Sunderland	FA Cup 1973	38
Manchester City	League Cup 1976	35
West Ham	FA Cup 1980	31
Wolves	League Cup 1980	31
Everton	FA Cup 1995	16
Aston Villa	League Cup 1996	15
Blackburn	League Cup 2002	9
Arsenal	FA Cup 2005	6
Liverpool	FA Cup 2006	5
Tottenham	League Cup 2008	3
Manchester United	League Cup 2010	1
Chelsea	Premier League and FA Cup Double 2010	1
Birmingham	League Cup 2011	2 months

ONE-GOAL WONDERS
Hey Martin. I'm an Arsenal fan from India. Arsenal have been unable to get points when they are not in top form. While United have been able to snatch a victory even when they look down and out and most of them 1-0's or 2-1's. So I was thinking which team has won the most games by a one-goal margin? SarveshMARTIN SAYS: You might be surprised to know it's not Manchester United, Sarvesh. But as an Arsenal fan, it will probably be of little comfort to know that Tottenham have eked out the most one-goal wins so far this season. They have racked up 11, and in fact they have not won a Premier League game by a bigger margin since December 28th, when they beat Newcastle 2-0 at White Hart Lane - that was four wins ago. All six of Spurs' away wins in the league this season have been by the odd goal including - and sorry to remind you - that 3-2 success at The Emirates in November. In terms of all-time single-goal wins, Spurs are fifth on the list, kindly compiled by the boffins at Opta. Hardly surprisingly United have the most, Chelsea second and Arsenal third. Then come Arsenal, and perhaps surprisingly Aston Villa. I think these lists explain better than I could...

2010-11	Wins by one goal margin
Tottenham	11
Manchester United	10
Aston Villa	8
Manchester City	8
Wolves	8
Arsenal	7
Birmingham	6
Bolton	6
Liverpool	6
Sunderland	6
West Brom	6
Blackpool	5
Chelsea	5
Everton	5
Stoke	5
Wigan	5
Blackburn	4
Newcastle	4
Fulham	3
West Ham	1

All-time	Wins by one-goal margin
Manchester United	195
Chelsea	176
Arsenal	159
Aston Villa	154
Tottenham	154
Liverpool	151
Blackburn	137
Everton	131
Newcastle	124
West Ham	121
Leeds	89
Bolton	87
Manchester City	87
Middlesbrough	87
Southampton	83
Fulham	62
Coventry	61
Wimbledon	61
Sunderland	59
Charlton	54
Sheffield Wednesday	50
Birmingham	48
Leicester	45
Wigan	44
Derby	42
Portsmouth	40
Norwich	37
Nottingham Forest	37
Ipswich	33
QPR	32
Stoke	22
West Brom	21
Wolves	20
Crystal Palace	19
Sheffield United	19
Reading	16
Oldham	15
Hull	12
Barnsley	9
Bradford	8
Watford	8
Blackpool	5
Burnley	4
Swindon	3

MEN FOR ALL DECADES
Hi Martin, has anyone ever won the European Cup/Champions League in three different decades? I reckon if United get there both Giggs and Van der Sar would have won the cup in the 90s, 00s and now 10s. Johnny Hynes
MARTIN SAYS: There are four players who are currently in with a shout of winning the European Cup/Champions League in the 90s, 00s and 10s - and they are Ryan Giggs, Edwin van der Sar, Wes Brown (as an un-used sub in 1999) and Raul. Players to have completed the feat in previous decades would include Paolo Maldini, who won it five times in the 80s, 90s and 00s. Alessandro Costacurta was part of the same Milan side that won in 1989, 1990, 1994 and 2003 - but was suspended for the 1994 final (suspension also deprived Paul Scholes from taking his place alongside that current quartet). Maldini shares the record of appearances in finals with Real Madrid great Francisco Gento at eight - although Gento's sixth European Cup winners' medal in 1966 makes him the player with the most European Cup/Champions League winner's medals to his name.

MIND THE GAP
Hello Martin, your page is always a good read... just wondering, with this season seeming like anyone can really beat anyone the table has become very tight from the top all the way through to the bottom, so what I want to know is that since the premiership was created, what have been the largest and smallest point margins between the top club and the bottom, if the league finished today it would be around 41 points which is the lowest surely? George Burry
MARTIN SAYS: The current gap between table-toppers Manchester United and rock-bottom West Ham is indeed 41 points. This equals the current record of the tightest Premiership/Premier League table from 1996-97, when United won with 75 points and Nottingham Forest were relegated with 34. However, the margin between top and bottom is likely to grow in the remaining four games, and will probably end up also surpassing the margin between top and bottom at the end of the Premiership's inaugural season of 1992-93, when United won with 84 points and Forest were (again) relegated with 40. The largest margin thus far is 76 points, which has happened twice - in 2005-06 when Chelsea amassed a colossal 91 points and Sunderland were relegated with 15, and in 2007-08 when United lifted the title on 87 points and Derby recorded the lowest ever points haul since the start of the Premiership with 11. 1992-93
Winners: Manchester Utd (84 pts)
Bottom club: Nottm Forest (40 pts)
Difference: 44 points
1993-94
Winners: Manchester Utd (92 pts)
Bottom club: Swindon Town (30 pts)
Difference: 62 points 1994-95
Winners: Blackburn (89 pts)
Bottom club: Ipswich (27 pts)
Difference: 62 points 1995-96
Winners: Manchester Utd (82 pts)
Bottom club: Bolton (29 pts)
Difference: 53 points 1996-97
Winners: Manchester Utd (75 pts)
Bottom club: Nottm Forest (34 pts)
Difference: 41 points 1997-98
Winners: Arsenal (78 pts)
Bottom club: Crystal palace (33 pts)
Difference: 45 points 1998-99
Winners: Manchester Utd (79 pts)
Bottom club: Nottm Forest (30 pts)
Difference: 49 points 1999-2000
Winners: Manchester Utd (91 pts)
Bottom club: Watford (24 pts)
Difference: 67 points 2000-01
Winners: Manchester Utd (80 pts)
Bottom club: Bradford (26 pts)
Difference: 54 points 2001-02
Winners: Arsenal (87 pts)
Bottom club: Leicester (28 pts)
Difference: 59 points 2002-03
Winners: Manchester Utd (83 pts)
Bottom club: Sunderland (19 pts)
Difference: 64 points 2003-04
Winners: Arsenal (90 pts)
Bottom club: Wolves (33 pts)
Difference: 57 points 2004-05
Winners: Chelsea (95 pts)
Bottom club: Southampton (32 pts)
Difference: 63 points 2005-06
Winners: Chelsea (91 pts)
Bottom club: Sunderland (15 pts)
Difference: 76 points 2006-07
Winners: Manchester Utd (89 pts)
Bottom club: Watford (28 pts)
Difference: 61 points 2007-08
Winners: Manchester Utd (87 pts)
Bottom club: Derby (11 pts)
Difference: 76 points 2008-09
Winners: Manchester Utd (90 pts)
Bottom club: West Brom (32 pts)
Difference: 58 points 2009-10
Winners: Chelsea (86 pts)
Bottom club: Portsmouth (28 pts)
Difference: 58 points

Tyler's teaser

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