Fergie's final flings

Martin Tyler tells us how Sir Alex fares in finals, how Fulham are doing on the road and much, much more

Cup final stats and Champions League stats

Martin Tyler's stats offers 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 he will do his best to help.

Tyler's Starting Start - Anfield wrapped

I was at Anfield on Tuesday night to see Liverpool record their sixth consecutive Premier League victory over Sunderland, in which they have scored 11 and conceded 0 goals. The first goal came from David Ngog and was also his first in the league in only his second start, although he does have a Champions League goal to his name courtesy of the strike away to PSV Eindhoven earlier this season. The 2-0 defeat ended Sunderland's best sequence in the league season of four games unbeaten (two wins, two draws) and of course was a repeat of the 1992 FA Cup final when Ian Rush and Michael Thomas scored for the Merseysiders. Finally, Tuesday night was nothing new in terms of Liverpool's star players and their selections, because it was the 18th time in the last 21 league games that Rafa Benitez has been unable to call upon both Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. In other words, the pair have only featured in the same squad three times! BLANKETY-BLANK-BLANK-BLANK
Dear Martin. I can't believe the once free-flowing Arsenal have drawn four league games in a row 0-0. Have they ever done that before in Premier League history? In fact, has any team ever had four successive goalless draws in Premier League history? Charles White
MARTIN SAYS: Before Tuesday night's 3-1 win at West Brom, Arsenal had indeed been involved in four back-to-back goalless draws in the league. This was in fact only the third time in the history of the Premier League that a team has had four 0-0 draws in a row - but it is not the first time it has happened to Arsenal. Back in October 1993 the Gunners went through four league games against Liverpool, Man City, Oldham and Norwich without any goals being scored. The only other team to have done this is Arsenal's near neighbours Tottenham in January and February 2001 when they had successive goalless draws against Everton, Southampton, West Ham and Charlton. Fans of the North London clubs might recall that the man in charge on both of these previous occasions was George Graham. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Hi Martin, I am a Manchester United fan and always love your work on stats and figures. Having seen United participate in many Champions League seasons for the last two decades, I wonder if they are the team to have played the most Champions League games or is there any team to have played more games than them? I know Bayern and AC Milan have dropped to the UEFA cup sometimes. Jamaa Hassan, Northolt, London
MARTIN SAYS: I've looked through the records and your hunch is correct - Manchester United HAVE played in more Champions League games than any other team. Their 147 games puts them five ahead of closest rivals Real Madrid on 142, with those two - some way ahead of those other clubs you suggest. There's no easier way of giving you the information than a basic list, so see below. You will notice Arsenal are the only other English club to come close. I must stress that this is Champions League proper and not qualifying rounds. Just as an aside Jamaa, the away game against Inter the other week was United's 200th game in the Champions Cup competition (European Cup and Champions League) and in those terms they are way behind Madrid, who have played a whopping 314 in both formats combined!
1. Man Utd - 147
2. Real Madrid - 142
3. Barcelona - 128
4. Bayern Munich - 125
5. AC Milan - 123
6. FC Porto - 115
7. Juventus - 113
8. Arsenal - 106FERGIE'S FINAL COUNTDOWN
Hi Martin, I've been trying to find out just how successful Alex Ferguson is when it comes to major finals. Can you tell me what his success rate is when his teams make it to cup finals? Thanks, James
MARTIN SAYS: I have been through Sir Alex's astonishing records and looked at his success rate in major domestic and European cup finals (I have not included one-off matches such as the Community Shield or the Super Cup, nor the international World Club Challenge). His success rate is pretty good and overall Sir Alex has won more than twice as many finals as he has lost. During his spells at Aberdeen and Manchester United, he has been involved in 25 major cup finals, winning 17 of them - a success rate of 68 per cent. He has never lost a major European final and the Scottish League Cup is the only major competition where he has lost more finals than he has won.

FINAL	WON	LOST	WIN RATIO
Champions League	2 (99, 08)	0	100%
Cup Winners' Cup	2 (83, 91)	0	100%
FA Cup	5 (90, 94, 96, 99, 04)	3 (95, 05, 07)	63%
League Cup	3 (92, 06, 09)	3 (91, 94, 03)	50%
Scottish Cup	4 (82, 83, 84, 86)	0	100%
Scottish League Cup	1 (86)	2 (79, 80)	33%
OVERALL	17	8	68%

CRAVEN AN AWAY GOAL
Dear Martin. I'm starting to wonder whether following Fulham on the road is the least rewarding thing a football fan can do. We have played 14 away games this season, we've won none of them - and we've only scored three goals. With just five away games to go I seriously doubt that we're going to make it to double figures. Are we on course to score the fewest away goals ever? Has a team ever failed to reach double figures in terms of away goals? More importantly, has a team ever failed to reach double figures in terms of away goals AND survived? Danny Fellowes, London
MARTIN SAYS: Fulham certainly have a disappointing goalscoring record on their travels this season. Ki-Hyeon Seol's strike eight minutes into their opening game against Hull, Clint Dempsey's 87th-minute leveller at Portsmouth and Paul Konchesky's wonder strike at West Ham are indeed the only three occasions when opposition goalkeepers have been picking the ball out of their nets. To answer your question, there are six teams in Premier League history who have failed to score at least 10 away goals in a season. It has occurred in the last three seasons with Derby County (8 away goals in 2007/08), Sheffield United (8 away goals in 2006/07) and Birmingham City (9 away goals in 2005/06). It won't be lost on you that each of those three sides were relegated in those seasons. However, if we look a little bit further back in Premier League history we can find three Premier League sides who have failed to hit double figures on the road, but still survived. Coventry City only managed 9 away goals in 1999/2000 and finished 14th, Southampton scored just 8 in 1998/99 and finished 17th, while Middlesbrough only managed 8 goals on the road in 1995/96 but still finished as high as 12th. As you can see from the above, the record for the fewest number of away goals scored in a season is eight. That means Fulham need to find the net six times in their remaining five away games if they are to avoid breaking or equalling that record. THE KING AND US
Hi Martin. The big debate for any Spurs' game is the will he won't he play question of Ledley King, I wondered if you could tell me just how good our results are when he plays compared to when he doesn't? I have a feeling that this season alone the contrast could be quite startling, what a shame he can't play every week! Paul Barnes
MARTIN SAYS: If we look at the stats for this season alone in the Premier League we can see that Spurs do indeed tend to win more games when their club captain is in the side. Of their eight league wins this season, King has played in six of them, and only five of their 12 defeats have come when King has featured. Overall, Tottenham have a Premier League win ratio of 43% when King is in the side, compared to 15.3% when he is not. The stats are as follows: Spurs record with King: P14, W6, D3, L5. Win ratio: 43%
Spurs record without King: P13 W2, D4, L7. Win ratio is 15.3%

Tyler's teaser

Can you name the player who has won the Premier League, The FA Cup, The UEFA Cup and the Champions League and still plays in the Premier League but as far as I know, has never won the League Cup? Christopher McLewee
MARTIN SAYS: I believe the answer you are looking for is the Portsmouth striker Kanu. He won the Champions League with Ajax in 1995, UEFA Cup with Inter Milan in 1998, the Premier League with Arsenal (2002 and 2004) and also won the FA Cup with Portsmouth last season and with Arsenal in 2002 and 2003. He has also won an Olympic gold medal, the Super Cup, the Dutch title and the Nigerian title, but as you say, the League Cup still eludes him. Furthermore, there are two players who have won the four trophies you mention AND the League Cup. Chelsea duo Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira have won the three domestic trophies with the Blues and the two European trophies with Porto. Got a question for Martin? Use the feedback form below or email in here he will do his best to help.