OptaJoe has studied another weekend of Premier League action and hunts down the nuggets of wisdom.
Opta's man in the know, OptaJoe, has studied another weekend of Premier League action and hunts down the nuggets of truth and destiny.
Goals Galore
Following this weekend's action, 159 goals have now been scored in the Premier League this term - an average of 2.84 per game.
If this average is to continue then we will have the highest scoring Premier League season of all-time come May - with the previous highest average being the 2.79 goals a game set in 1999/00.
Last season saw the joint-second lowest average goal tally ever seen in the competition (2.48), with the goal-dry 2006/07 (2.45) being the lowest scoring season in terms of goals per game.
The Winner Takes it All
Matt Taylor's late goal for Bolton in their match against Stoke City this weekend ensured that the game ended 1-1 - only the fourth draw played out in the Premier League so far this season.
This all means that only 7% of the 56 games played in the top-flight so far this term have ended level.
Since the introduction of the Premier League in 1992, no fewer than 20% of the games in a league season have ended in a draw - with 2005/06 (80%) being the campaign with the highest percentage of games being won or lost.
In both 1996/97 and 1993/94, 31% of games ended in a draw, which is the highest percentage, whilst last season, 97 of the 380 matches ended all-square (26%).
Penalty King
Graham Alexander scored his first-ever Premier League goal in Burnley's impressive 3-1 victory over Sunderland at Turf Moor on Saturday from the penalty spot, becoming the seventh oldest player to find the net in Premier League history.
Alexander is something of a spot-kick expert in league competition. The Scot has now scored 16 successive penalty kicks in league competition since 2005/06, including an impressive nine last term in Burnley's promotion campaign.
Four-get It Spurs
Spurs continued their dreadful form against the 'big four' sides away from home with their 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Their defeat means that Harry Redknapp's side have won only two of their 69 away games against the "Big Four" and none of the last 64 since defeating Liverpool in August 1993.
If Spurs have any aspirations of qualifying for the Champions League, this run will need to end in their away game against their rivals Arsenal on October 31st at the Emirates.
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