Optajoe's Overview

OptaJoe, takes a close look at the roller-coaster ride Premier League action so far in the new season.

Opta's man in the know, OptaJoe, takes a close look at the roller-coaster ride of Premier League action we've seen since the start of the season and unearths some statistical anomalies.

BURNLEY THE BRAVE

Having come up to the top flight through the play-offs, for many pundits Burnley were the obvious choice to go straight back down, yet amazing home wins over last season's first and fifth-placed sides have shocked the critics. However, these wins simply followed the Clarets' trend from last season, in which they did not concede in their last five games (including the play-off semi-final) at Turf Moor. Indeed, as they have found out, one goal is more than enough if you keep a clean sheet - five of their last six competitive home games at home have ended in 1-0 wins.

MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL LONDONERS

Eagle-eyed football fans will have noticed that the top of the Premier League table is dominated by teams from the capital; as Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal all boast a prolific strike rate and a 100 per cent win record - the last time three London sides occupied the top three positions in the Premier League table was on 2nd October 2005, when Chelsea, Spurs and Charlton led the way. Tottenham have now also won six of the last seven Premier League meetings with West Ham, and Aaron Lennon commemorated this by scoring the North Londoners' 200th goal in Premier League derbies. Hardly surprising given that Tottenham's last nine league away matches have produced an average of 3.67 goals. Harry Redknapp's side's three wins also mean that this is their best start to a Premier League campaign in 49 years.

UNITED'S STRIKING COMPARISONS

Wayne Rooney inscribed himself into Manchester United folklore at the weekend by scoring his 100th goal for the club in all competitions and taking his tally for the season to four in four (including community shield). The England international is now 18th in the all-time Manchester United goalscoring charts (101) - only a small matter of 149 more goals to dislodge Bobby Charlton at the top though.... However, whilst the 23-year-old has been on fire, his seasoned strike-partner Michael Owen's goal drought finally came to an end at Wigan. The former Newcastle man had gone 831 minutes without scoring in the Premier League before netting at the DW Stadium, his longest-ever run without scoring in the top flight.

CITIZENS ARRESTED?

By all accounts the new regime at Eastlands is beginning to bear fruit as Manchester City have started the season with two straight wins and now boast a home record that has seen them take 30 points from a possible 33 in their last 11 league games. On top of this, Emmanuel Adebayor is the new man of the moment, scoring in two consecutive league games for the first time in 2009. However it is worth remembering that the only previous time that City won their first two Premier League matches was in 2007/08 under Sven Goran Eriksson, a season that promised so much but saw them finish ninth. More worryingly, the arrival of Joleon Lescott can perhaps not come soon enough, since the Citizens, despite two clean sheets, have actually conceded more shots (24) in Premier League games than they have managed themselves (21) this season.

PORTSMOUTH UNDER PRESSURE

Pompey have not enjoyed the best of starts to the new season, falling to three straight defeats. Since 2002/03, four sides have lost their opening three Premier League matches, and three have gone on to be relegated. Fans of the South Coast side need not prepare for life in the Championship just yet though as the last side to lose their first three matches was Bolton in 2007/08, and the Trotters went on to finish 16th. Indeed, even a defeat to Manchester City this weekend should not cause too much alarm - of five sides to have lost their opening four Premier League fixtures, only two were relegated.

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Category	Player/Team	Total
Top Shooter	Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)	15
Top Passer	John Terry (Chelsea)	206
Top Tackler	Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth)	15
Most Dribbles & Runs	Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City)	16
Most Crosses	Frank Lampard (Chelsea)	27
Most Offsides	Darren Bent (Sunderland)	6
Most Fouls	Kevin Davies (Bolton)	10
Team with most fouls	Hull	59
Team with most shots	Chelsea	57
Goalkeepers	Team	Saves	Saves/shots
Hennessey	Wolves	16	84%
Myhill	Hull	16	70%
Sorensen	Stoke	14	78%
Hart	Birmingham	13	93%
James	Portsmouth	13	68%
Tacklers	Team	Tackles	Success rate
Belhadj	Portsmouth	15	73%
Lucas	Liverpool	14	71%
Queudrue	Birmingham	12	100%
Thomas	Wigan	12	92%
Assou-Ekotto	Tottenham	12	67%
Passers	Team	Passes	Accuracy
Terry	Chelsea	206	92%
Mascherano	Liverpool	181	87%
Essien	Chelsea	173	91%
Ballack	Chelsea	172	87%
Scholes	Man Utd	168	92%
Scorers	Team	Goals	Goal/shots
Defoe	Tottenham	4	40%
Drogba	Chelsea	3	21%
Rooney	Man Utd	3	20%
Gallas	Arsenal	2	100%
Abou Diaby	Arsenal	2	67%
Creators	Team	Assists	Key Passes
van Persie	Arsenal	3	5
Keane	Tottenham Hotspur	2	5
Lennon	Tottenham Hotspur	2	5
Malbranque	Sunderland	2	5
Gerrard	Liverpool	2	3
Team	Goals	Shots	On Target	Shot Accuracy	Succ Passes
Arsenal	10	29	21	72%	912
Aston Villa	0	10	3	30%	165
Birmingham	1	21	9	43%	750
Blackburn	1	30	10	33%	315
Bolton	0	27	8	30%	363
Burnley	2	27	9	33%	627
Chelsea	7	57	20	35%	1484
Everton	1	21	6	29%	603
Fulham	1	15	3	20%	519
Hull	3	25	12	48%	517
Liverpool	5	27	17	63%	827
Man City	3	21	12	57%	633
Man Utd	6	47	25	53%	1298
Portsmouth	1	29	8	28%	941
Stoke	2	29	8	28%	379
Sunderland	4	23	10	43%	467
Tottenham	9	41	21	51%	925
West Ham	3	27	15	56%	583
Wigan	2	39	16	41%	904
Wolves	1	31	9	29%	660
BAD BOYS	Team	Fouls	Yellows	Reds	Points
Hunt	Hull	8	2	0	14
Davis	Bolton	7	2	0	13
Mullins	Portsmouth	6	2	0	12
ASSISTS	Team	Assists
van Persie	Arsenal	3
Fabregas	Arsenal	2
Gerrard	Liverpool	2
Keane	Tottenham Hotspur	2
Lennon	Tottenham Hotspur	2
Malbranque	Sunderland	2