Quick and the Red
Thursday 12 May 2011 12:33, UK
Maxi's quick start, hat-tricks from midfield and the top dog before Liverpool. Martin Tyler's here!
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 - Blue Moon rising
I was at Eastlands on Tuesday night, where Tottenham's recent domination over Manchester City came to an end - at an important time for the home team. Spurs had previously lost only one of their last 15 home and away meetings in the Premier League and had won nine of their last 13 away games at City, including five of the previous six. Tottenham had done the double over City in five of the last six seasons, but this season they didn't even score against them. The only goal in the two league games this season was scored by a Spurs player - but by Peter Crouch at the wrong end. Having done so much to get Spurs into the Champions League last season - both with his winner at Eastlands last year and his hat-trick against Young Boys in the qualifying round - his luck turned in 2011. His red card against Real Madrid contributed to their exit and then Tuesday's own goal ended their hopes of getting back next year. Crouch's goal in May 2010 was his only Premier League goal for Spurs against Man City and he has now scored FOR Man City with the first own goal of his career. The game was his 450th career match and he has scored 139 goals to date at the right end. Meanwhile, Joe Hart equalled Nicky Weaver's club record of 26 clean sheets (all competitions). The record was set in 1998/99 when City were promoted from Division Two via the play-offs, beating a Tony Pulis team (Gillingham) at Wembley.TOP DOGS
Hi Martin. With Man U seemingly about to surpass the mighty Reds as the country's most successful club, could you tell me just how long Liverpool have been the kings of England and in what year did they gain that status? Also from whom did Liverpool take over as most successful club in the country? Now for the hard part... can you compile a list of clubs who have held the title of top dog in the land since 1900 showing what year they were anointed and what year they were surpassed? Adam Williams, Liverpool fan. MARTIN SAYS: Good question! Liverpool have held the record of top dogs in England since 1973 when they equalled Arsenal's record of eight titles and were out front from 1976 when they won their ninth. They were equalled on 18 by Manchester United in 2009 and that means they've been top dogs for 38 years (five of which have been joint with Arsenal or Manchester United). It's also worth mentioning that they were top dogs between 1966 and 1971 (joint with Arsenal, Man Utd and Everton). I have compiled a list of "top dogs" for you. If we begin, as you suggest, in 1900 then the initial kings were Aston Villa, who won their fifth crown that year. They won a sixth in 1910 and that mark was matched by Sunderland in 1936 and then by Arsenal in 1948. Arsenal's seventh title saw them go out in front on their own in 1953, but that number was matched by Liverpool in 1966, then by Manchester United in 1967 and by Everton in 1970. Arsenal went ahead on their own by winning championship number eight in 1971, but as mentioned above that was matched by Liverpool in 1973 and then surpassed in 1976. They moved on to 18 titles by 1990, but then Manchester United battled back to equal that record in 2009. They are now on the brink of going ahead on their own for the first time in their history. English football's "top dogs" (number of titles needed to become top dog is in brackets): 1900-1936: Aston Villa (five titles)
1936-1948: Aston Villa & Sunderland (six titles)
1948-1953: Aston Villa, Arsenal & Sunderland (six titles)
1953-1966: Arsenal (seven titles)
1966-1967: Arsenal & Liverpool (seven titles)
1967-1970: Arsenal, Liverpool & Man Utd (seven titles)
1970-1971: Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd & Everton (seven titles)
1971-1973: Arsenal (eight titles)
1973-1976: Arsenal & Liverpool (eight titles)
1976-2009: Liverpool (nine titles)
2009-2011: Liverpool & Man Utd (18 titles)
2011?: Man Utd (19 titles)
QUICK OFF THE MARK
Dear Martin. After seeing Maxi score in under a minute against Fulham and Hernandez doing the same against Chelsea I was wondering, what are the quickest goals in the Premier League so far and who has scored them? Nice one, Ian Wheeler (Liverpool Fan). MARTIN SAYS: It's great to be able to talk about early goals. We see so many late goals in the Premier League, so it's nice that Sky Sports could bring you two quick goals in two days. In fact, last weekend witnessed the quickest two goals in the Premier League this season. Javier Hernandez's goal in the 36th second against Chelsea was, according to Opta's timings, the quickest of the season at the time - beating Marouane Chamakh's 37th-second strike against Wolves in November. However, the Mexican held that record for just over 24 hours as Maxi Rodriguez's strike for Liverpool against Fulham on Monday night was timed at just 30 seconds. The fastest goals in the Premier League this season:
| Date | Player | For | Against | Exact time |
| 09/05/2011 | Maxi Rodriguez | Liverpool | Fulham | 00:30 |
| 08/05/2011 | Javier Hernandez | Man Utd | Chelsea | 00:36 |
| 10/11/2010 | Marouane Chamakh | Arsenal | Wolves | 00:37 |
| 05/02/2011 | Theo Walcott | Arsenal | Newcastle | 00:42 |
| 13/11/2010 | Richard Stearman (og) | Bolton | Wolves | 00:47 |
| 01/02/2011 | Wayne Rooney | Man Utd | Aston Villa | 00:48 |
| 26/12/2010 | Gareth Barry | Man City | Newcastle | 01:10 |
| 27/11/2010 | Dimitar Berbatov | Man Utd | Blackburn | 01:12 |
| 19/09/2010 | Salomon Kalou | Chelsea | Blackpool | 01:13 |
| 22/01/2011 | Dimitar Berbatov | Man Utd | Birmingham | 01:32 |
| Date | Player | For | Against | Time |
| 09/12/2000 | Ledley King | Tottenham | Bradford | 10secs |
| 18/01/2003 | Alan Shearer | Newcastle | Man City | 10.4secs |
| 17/03/2001 | Mark Viduka | Leeds | Charlton | 11secs |
| 28/08/2004 | James Beattie | Southampton | Chelsea | 12.5secs |
| 01/04/1995 | Chris Sutton | Blackburn | Everton | 13 secs |
| 30/09/1995 | Dwight Yorke | Aston Villa | Coventry | 13 secs |
| 10/01/2004 | Kevin Nolan | Bolton | Blackburn | 14secs |
| 16/09/2006 | Kevin Doyle | Reading | Sheffield Utd | 16secs |
WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT?
Hi Martin! I have recently been told that should all shots that hit the woodwork this season have instead gone in, Arsenal would be about 10 points clear at the top of the league. I attribute this to Van Persie having a bizarre 'skill' to hit the woodwork an unbelievable amount of times, not just this season, but for as long as I can remember. I can't find any stats to prove this, can you help? I genuinely would not be surprised if he has hit the woodwork the most times in the history of professional football. Cheers! Dom Stokes MARTIN SAYS: I think you're referring to a table, produced by Opta, that shows that if all shots that hit the woodwork had been counted as goals then Arsenal would, indeed, be top of the league. They have hit the woodwork 21 times and if those shots had gone in then they would have an additional 21 goals - which would have equated to an additional 19 points - and would be 10 points clear of Manchester United at the top. United have hit the woodwork 11 times, but their own bar has been rattled 10 times and under this format would still be on the same number of points. As you can see below, under this format Liverpool (hit the woodwork 10 times) would be fourth, Man City (13 times) would be sixth, Aston Villa (18 times) would be ninth and West Ham (18 times) would be 12th. The bottom three would be made up of Blackpool, Birmingham and Wigan - with Newcastle just one point above the drop zone. Premier League table if hitting the woodwork counted as a goal:
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1. Arsenal | 36 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 90 | 42 | 48 | 86 |
| 2. Man Utd | 36 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 84 | 44 | 40 | 76 |
| 3. Chelsea | 36 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 87 | 40 | 47 | 74 |
| 4. Liverpool | 36 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 69 | 46 | 23 | 62 |
| 5. Man City | 36 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 68 | 45 | 23 | 59 |
| 6. Tottenham | 36 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 65 | 56 | 9 | 57 |
| 7. Stoke City | 36 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 63 | 57 | 6 | 50 |
| 8. Everton | 36 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 57 | 53 | 4 | 50 |
| 9. Aston Villa | 36 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 61 | 64 | -3 | 46 |
| 10. Bolton | 36 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 57 | 64 | -7 | 46 |
| 11. Fulham | 36 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 52 | 49 | 3 | 42 |
| 12. West Ham | 36 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 59 | 87 | -28 | 42 |
| 13. Sunderland | 36 | 10 | 11 | 15 | 50 | 64 | -14 | 41 |
| 14. West Brom | 36 | 11 | 8 | 17 | 64 | 82 | -18 | 41 |
| 15. Blackburn | 36 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 50 | 71 | -21 | 40 |
| 16. Wolves | 36 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 54 | 76 | -22 | 37 |
| 17. Newcastle | 36 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 61 | 66 | -5 | 36 |
| 18. Wigan | 36 | 8 | 11 | 17 | 43 | 72 | -29 | 35 |
| 19. Birmingham | 36 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 44 | 67 | -23 | 33 |
| 20. Blackpool | 36 | 7 | 10 | 19 | 59 | 92 | -33 | 31 |
20: Chelsea
18: Aston Villa, Stoke City, West Ham
14: Tottenham
13: Man City, Wolves
12: West Brom
11: Man Utd
10: Blackpool. Liverpool, Newcastle
9: Birmingham, Sunderland
8: Blackburn, Fulham
7: Bolton, Everton, Wigan As for Robin van Persie, he has hit the woodwork individually four times this season, but three other players have hit it more often. Didier Drogba and Kenwyne Jones have both rattled the upright six times each, while Frederic Piquionne has done so five times. Players to have hit the woodwork the most often this season: SIX: Didier Drogba, Kenwyne Jones
FIVE: Frederic Piquionne
FOUR: Ashley Young, Chris Brunt, Stewart Downing, Nani, Seb Larsson, Robin van Persie
WHEN VAN'S NOT A FAN
Hi Martin, simple question, against which team has Edwin Van der Sar conceded the most goals since he joined Man Utd??? Two of my mates are arguing. One says Chelsea, the other Liverpool. What do you reckon??? Bamise O MARTIN SAYS: It is a simple question and thanks to our friends at Opta I can give you an answer. In terms of Premier League goals, Edwin van der Sar has conceded more against Liverpool than he has against any other club. In 12 league appearances against the Reds he has conceded 14 goals. Meanwhile, Frank Lampard's strike on Sunday was the 12th occasion he has conceded against Chelsea in United colours in the league, but he has only played 11 times against the Blues (one fewer than against Liverpool). Premier League goals conceded by Edwin van der Sar:
| Opponent | Goals Conceded | Games Played |
| Liverpool | 14 | 12 |
| Chelsea | 12 | 11 |
| Fulham | 10 | 10 |
| Everton | 10 | 11 |
| Middlesbrough | 9 | 7 |
| Manchester City | 9 | 11 |
| Arsenal | 9 | 10 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 8 | 9 |
| Aston Villa | 8 | 10 |
| Tottenham | 6 | 11 |
| Bolton | 6 | 10 |
THE 20 OF PLENTY... AGAIN
Dear Martin. It is always a pleasure to read your columns and a special thanks to you (and our friends at OPTA). After the euphoria of winning the title (almost) settled I noticed that in this week's matches every team scored and no defence kept a clean sheet. During this squeaky bum time the strikers seem to be holding their nerve while the defences are failing. Has it ever happened in the Premier League era before? Cheers, Amrinder (Manchester United fan) MARTIN SAYS: Only once before in the history of the Premier League have all of the teams scored on the same matchday - and that occurred earlier this season! You may remember than on 28/29 November all 20 of the Premier League's teams found the net for the first time. Interestingly, these fixtures will be replayed this weekend. Aston Villa 2 - 4 Arsenal
Fulham 1 - 1 Birmingham
Stoke 1 - 1 Man City
Everton 1 - 4 West Brom
Wolves 3 - 2 Sunderland
Bolton 2 - 2 Blackpool
Man Utd 7 - 1 Blackburn
West Ham 3 - 1 Wigan
Newcastle 1 - 1 Chelsea
Tottenham 2 - 1 Liverpool However, it was not the first weekend when all of the teams who had a fixture found the net. Back on 21/22 February 2004, there were 18 teams in Premier League action, with Liverpool and Portsmouth playing in the FA Cup. On that weekend, all 18 teams found the net (and out of interest, Liverpool lost the cup tie 1-0 to Portsmouth). Our friends at Opta have also told us about three weekends in Premier League history when just one team out of 20 failed to score. Back on September 13-15, 2008 only Blackburn Rovers, who lost 4-0 at Arsenal, failed to find the net. Back on April 19, 1997 all 20 teams were in action and the only side that failed to score was Middlesbrough, in a 1-0 home defeat to local rivals Sunderland. Earlier that season, on the weekend of November 23-25, 1996 there was also just one side in 20 who failed to score in the Premier League and that was Southampton, who lost 2-0 at home to Leeds. Fewest teams failing to score in a single weekend matchday in the Premier League:
| Weekend end date | Teams playing | Failed to score |
| 09/05/2011 | 20 | 0 |
| 28/11/2010 | 20 | 0 |
| 22/02/2004 | 18 | 0 |
| 25/11/1996 | 20 | 1 |
| 19/04/1997 | 20 | 1 |
| 15/09/2008 | 20 | 1 |
| 02/01/2006 | 16 | 1 |
TREBLES FROM THE MIDDLE
Hi Martin. Great column. Can you tell me if Maxi Rodriguez is the first midfielder to score two hat-tricks in a Premier League season? Andrew (Liverpool fan) MARTIN SAYS: On Monday night, Maxi Rodriguez became only the 40th player to score more than one Premier League hat-trick and of those 40, only four could be classed as midfielders. The other three are as follows: Andrei Kanchelskis: v Man City (10/11/1994) and v Sheffield Wednesday (27/04/1996)
Frank Lampard: v Derby County (12/03/2008) and v Aston Villa (27/03/2010)
Paul Scholes: v West Ham (01/04/2000) and v Newcastle (12/04/2003) So as you can see, he is not the first non-striker to score two Premier League hat-tricks, but he is the first to do it in one season. I can also update you on a couple of hat-trick questions from previous columns. Monday night's treble was the 16th of the campaign, which equals the record for a 38-game Premier League season. We saw 16 hat-tricks scored in both 1995/96 and 1997/98 - so there are two rounds of games left to break that record. Also, as discussed in a previous column, Maxi's hat-trick means this is the first ever Premier League season where we have seen a hat-trick in all 10 months of the campaign. We have seen at least one Premier League treble in every month from August to May for the very first time!
