Baggie wowzers!
Thursday 20 October 2011 12:03, UK
West Brom's early birds, scorers struggling away and Chelsea's defensive blues... Martin Tyler has the stats.
Martin brings you a teaser from St James' Park
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 skysportsclub@bskyb.com and he will do his best to help.Tyler's Starting Stat - Toon march on
I was at St James' Park on Saturday to see Newcastle go unbeaten in 13 matches in all competitions - and 11 in the Premier League since their 3-0 loss to Liverpool on May 1. This is their best unbeaten start in the league since 1994 when they went 11 games before their first defeat. They have now scored more Premier League goals against Tottenham than against any other team - 58 in 35 games - and they are unbeaten in their last six at home, winning four and drawing the last two. Demba Ba scored his fifth goal in his last three games, while Shola Ameobi scored his 49th league goal in his 241st game. We saw the first penalty in a Premier League game involving Spurs or Newcastle this season and Tottenham's recent record from the spot is quite poor. This was only their ninth goal from their last 15 penalties and they've also lost their last six penalty-shoot-outs, including one against Stoke in the Carling Cup this season. This was the first time in nine appearances for Ledley King that he wasn't on the winning side in the Premier League - but he came off in first half so maybe that explains why Spurs didn't go on to win!WINLESS AT THE TOP TABLE
Dear Martin. Manchester City won their first game in the Champions League proper this week, but are there any teams that have played in the Champions League group stages and never won a match? David Fraser (Manchester City fan) MARTIN SAYS: As detailed below, there are 15 teams who have played in the group stage of the Champions League without ever winning a match. The team with the worst winless record in the group stage is Partizan, who have played in the group stage twice and lost all 12 of their matches. They lost home and away clashes to Porto, Marseille and Real Madrid in 2003/04 and then to Shakhtar Donetsk, Arsenal and Braga last year. Rapid Vienna have also failed to win in 12 Champions League group games, but they have at least had two draws. Here are the 16 teams to have played in the Champions League group stage and not won. Genk, BATE, Galati, Viktoria Plzen and Otelul Galati will be hoping to follow Manchester City's lead by breaking their duck in this year's competition.
| Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses |
| Partizan | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Rapid Vienna | 12 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| BATE Borisov | 9 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Genk | 9 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| Debreceni | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| MFK Kosice | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Levski Sofia | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Zilina | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Bursaspor | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| AIK Stockholm | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Lierse S.K. | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Willem II | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| AZ Alkmaar | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Otelul Galaþi | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Viktoria Plzen | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
BAGGS OF EARLY GOALS
Dear Martin. I have a query that occurred to me after the West Brom game against Wolves. Has any team scored more goals in the opening 10 minutes of matches this season than West Brom? At the moment it seems that if we don't score at the start of the game then we don't score at all! Gavin Cooper (WBA fan) MARTIN SAYS: Chris Brunt's goal against Wolves was the fifth occasion on which West Brom have scored in the first 10 minutes of a Premier League game this season: Shane Long v Chelsea (4 mins)
Peter Odemwingie v Norwich (3 mins)
James Morrison v Sunderland (4 mins)
Shane Long v Sunderland (5 mins)
Chris Brunt v Wolves (8 mins) What's even more remarkable is that they have only scored seven goals in total, which means 71.4% of their goals have come in the opening 10 minutes of games. That statistic becomes even more remarkable when you contrast it with other clubs. For example Manchester City, who have scored 27 Premier League goals so far, haven't scored at all in the first 10 minutes. The other Premier League teams have managed just 15 goals in the first 10 minutes between them this season. That means West Brom have scored a quarter of all the goals scored in the first 10 minutes of top-flight games this term. My message is this: don't be late to a West Brom game! Goals scored in the first 10 minutes of Premier League games (2011/12):
| Team | Goals in first 10 mins | Total goals |
| Arsenal | 2 | 12 |
| Aston Villa | 0 | 10 |
| Blackburn | 0 | 9 |
| Bolton | 1 | 12 |
| Chelsea | 2 | 20 |
| Everton | 0 | 7 |
| Fulham | 1 | 10 |
| Liverpool | 0 | 11 |
| Man City | 0 | 27 |
| Man Utd | 2 | 25 |
| Newcastle | 0 | 11 |
| Norwich | 1 | 10 |
| QPR | 2 | 6 |
| Stoke | 0 | 6 |
| Sunderland | 1 | 10 |
| Swansea | 1 | 7 |
| Tottenham | 2 | 13 |
| West Brom | 5 | 7 |
| Wigan | 0 | 6 |
| Wolves | 0 | 6 |
QUICK OFF THE MARK
Hi Martin. Robin van Persie scored in 29 seconds against Sunderland at the weekend. Can you tell me when was the last time a player scored in less than 30 seconds and what is the fastest goal we have seen in the Premier League? Bradley Haveland MARTIN SAYS: According to our friends at Opta, Robin Van Persie's goal is the quickest in the Premier League since Geovanni's effort for Manchester City against Wigan in December 2007. That goal was also timed at 29 seconds. His strike is comfortably the quickest of the season so far, although Anthony Pilkington's effort for Norwich against Swansea - also scored this weekend - is in second place.
| Date | Player | Team | Opposition | Exact time |
| 16/10/2011 | Robin van Persie | Arsenal | Sunderland | 00:29 |
| 15/10/2011 | Anthony Pilkington | Norwich | Swansea | 00:48 |
| 02/10/2011 | Andrew Johnson | Fulham | QPR | 01:21 |
| 02/10/2011 | Daniel Sturridge | Chelsea | Bolton | 01:33 |
| 11/09/2011 | Peter Odemwingie | West Brom | Norwich | 02:05 |
| 24/09/2011 | Rafael van der Vaart | Tottenham | Wigan | 02:44 |
| 15/10/2011 | Nigel Reo-Coker | Bolton | Wigan | 03:29 |
| 01/10/2011 | James Morrison | West Brom | Sunderland | 03:35 |
| 20/08/2011 | Shane Long | West Brom | Chelsea | 03:52 |
| 10/09/2011 | Javier Hernandez | Man Utd | Bolton | 04:34 |
| 18/09/2011 | Titus Bramble | Sunderland | Stoke | 04:42 |
| 01/10/2011 | Shane Long | West Brom | Sunderland | 04:42 |
| 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 |
NOT PLAYING AWAY
I was surprised to hear that David Ngog scored his first ever away goal in the Premier League against Wigan for Bolton at the weekend. Can you tell me who holds the record for the most goals without scoring away? Keep up the good work, Col (Bolton fan) MARTIN SAYS: You are right to point out that David Ngog's 10th Premier League goal was his first away from home. All nine of his league strikes for Liverpool came at Anfield. Before Saturday, no player in history had scored more Premier League goals than Ngog without scoring an away goal. After that goal at the DW Stadium, Ngog has handed that particular record back to former QPR and Tottenham midfielder Clive Wilson, who scored nine goals in the Premier League and all of them came in home games (eight for QPR and one for Spurs). Next on the list is Ronnie Johnsen, who scored eight goals in the Premier League with seven coming for Manchester United at Old Trafford and one for Aston Villa at Villa Park. That tally is matched by Jeff Kenna, who scored eight Premier League goals - all at home for Blackburn, Southampton and Birmingham. As you'll see, there aren't many strikers on the list as they tend to score home and away... Most Premier League goals without scoring away: Clive Wilson (9)
Ronnie Johnsen, Jeff Kenna (8)
Marc-Antoine Fortuné (7)
Jo, Paul Rogers, Roman Bednar, John McGinaly (6)
Samassi Abou, Gary Neville, Jody Morris, Gary Rowett (5) In terms of current players, as you've seen above the player with the most goals without scoring away is West Brom's Marc-Antoine Fortune. All seven of his Premier League goals have come at the Hawthorns. Here is a list of other players hoping to break their away goalscoring ducks this season: Most Premier League goals without scoring away - current players: Marc-Antoine-Fortune (7)
Nicky Shorey (3)
Jay Bothroyd (3)
Moussa Dembele (3)
Martin Olsson (3)
Gretar Steinsson (3)
Daniel Agger (3)
Jamie Carragher (3)
REDS DIRECT
Dear Martin. Just before Steven Gerrard scored against Man Utd I was saying to my dad that I couldn't remember the last time we'd scored from a direct free-kick. Apart from Saturday, can you tell me when it was? Thanks, Steve the Red. MARTIN SAYS: Opta have given us the stats on this and interestingly Liverpool's last goal Premier League scored direct from a free-kick was more than one year ago by the same player against the same opposition. Steven Gerrard scored in the Reds' 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford last September. They were identical goals too - although with different culprits in the defensive wall. In fact, Liverpool's last three direct free-kick goals in the league have come against Manchester United. The previous one was scored by Fabio Aurelio in that famous 4-1 win at Old Trafford in March 2009. I feel we don't see so many goals scored direct from free kicks these days, maybe because of the type of footballs used; they're great for power shooting, but not so good for clipping and chipping. Here are Liverpool's last 10 direct free-kick goals in the Premier League, which go back all the way to May 2001. 01/05/2001: Gary McAllister v Bradford City
11/09/2002: Danny Murphy v Birmingham
16/10/2004: Xabi Alonso v Fulham
20/08/2005: Xabi Alonso v Sunderland
09/12/2006: Mark Gonzalez v Fulham
11/08/2007: Steven Gerrard v Aston Villa
01/09/2007: Xabi Alonso v Derby
14/03/2009: Fabio Aurelio v Man Utd
19/09/2010: Steven Gerrard v Man Utd
15/10/2011: Steven Gerrard v Man Utd
DEFENSIVE BLUES
Dear Martin. I have a question about my beloved Chelsea that I was hoping you could answer. I have noticed that they have not kept a clean sheet in the last seven league games, which is very surprising given our strong defensive performances in recent seasons. Can you tell us the last time this happened because I don't think it has happened very often? Thanks for your time. Verinder (Chelsea fan) MARTIN SAYS: Saturday's game against Everton was indeed the seventh straight league game in which Chelsea have failed to keep a clean sheet. It's the first time this has happened since 2003 when the Blues went nine games without a shut-out between April and September. Claudio Ranieri was in charge and they failed to keep out Aston Villa, Everton, Fulham, West Ham and Liverpool in the last five games of the 2002/03 season before conceding to Liverpool, Leicester, Blackburn and Tottenham at the start of the next campaign. Their run ended with a 5-0 win over Wolves on September 20, 2003. If you're looking for Chelsea's longest Premier League run without a clean sheet you have to go all the way back to 1996/97 season when they conceded goals in 13 consecutive league games. After beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-0, Ruud Gullit's side conceded against Aston Villa, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Leicester, Wimbledon, Tottenham, Man Utd, Blackburn, Newcastle, Leeds, Everton, Sunderland and West Ham before beating Aston Villa 2-0 on Boxing Day. In total there have been 11 instances of Chelsea going seven or more games without a clean sheet in the Premier League: 09/04/1993 to 21/08/1993: NINE GAMES
01/01/1994 to 27/02/1994: SEVEN GAMES
26/12/1994 to 25/02/1995: NINE GAMES
08/03/1995 to 12/04/1995: SEVEN GAMES
10/02/1996 to 13/04/1996: TEN GAMES
15/09/1996 to 21/12/1996: THIRTEEN GAMES
11/01/1997 to 16/03/1997: EIGHT GAMES
04/11/2000 to 16/12/2000: SEVEN GAMES
28/12/2002 to 01/03/2003: NINE GAMES
19/04/2003 to 13/09/2003: NINE GAMES
20/08/2011 to 15/10/2011: SEVEN GAMES
