The long rangers
Thursday 17 December 2009 15:36, UK
The longest range goals, the own goal table and the men who open the scoring. Martin Tyler is here...
Test your knowledge with Tyler's teaser...
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 here and he will do his best to help.Tyler's starting stat - Arsenal's Anfield fightback
I was at Anfield on Sunday where Liverpool scored first and still lost. The last time that happened in a home Premier League game was all the way back in October 2003... and would you believe that Arsenal were the opponents on that day as well! In the intervening period, Liverpool have enjoyed 69 wins and 10 draws after going 1-0 up at home. Sunday was Arsenal's fourth Premier League win at Anfield. The first one in August 1992 actually heralded Arsenal's first Premier League points when Anders Limpar and Ian Wright scored for the Gunners in a 2-0 win. The last three victories have all been 2-1 in December 2001, October 2003 and of course December 2009. The result took Arsenal to 22 league wins at Anfield equalling Manchester United. Only Everton, with 23, have won more. Liverpool did however set a Premier League record after scoring for the 19th home game in a row - and that rose to 20 against Wigan on Wednesday night. West Ham's Robert Green was the last visiting goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet at Anfield in a 0-0 draw a year ago.A LONG SHOT
Can you tell me if Manyor Figueroa's goal against Stoke is the longest range goal in Premier League history? I can't remember any from further out, except maybe David Beckham's. Chris Thornton MARTIN SAYS: Opta do have some data on shot length, but obviously all distances are approximate. However, according to the statistics Figueroa's is the third longest range goal in Premier League history at 60.59 yards. The longest range goal ever was by a goalkeeper. Paul Robinson's 84.74-yard free-kick for Tottenham against Watford in 2007 is by far the longest range goal ever in the Premier League. The biggest shot from open play was Xabi Alonso's 60.64-yard effort for Liverpool against Newcastle in 2006. David Beckham's 58.24-yard effort against Wimbledon in 1996 is thought to be the fourth biggest in history. Figueroa has beaten this season's previous best by more than 15 yards. Stephen Hunt's goal for Hull City against Tottenham was calculated at 45.64 yards - just ahead of Sebastian Larsson's 39.39-yard effort for Birmingham City against Wigan earlier this month.
THE WRONG END
Hello Martin, Love the column. Following the City game against Chelsea, I've noticed there have been a lot of own goals this season with Arsenal possibly at the raw end of it (particularly in big games). Can you tell me what the table would look like if the own goals this season had never been? Thanks, Amit, London. MARTIN SAYS: We received this question last week, but it is even more pertinent after two high-profile own goals at the weekend from Petr Cech and Glen Johnson. There have been 24 own goals this season, but relatively few would have changed the result of games. Every Premier League team apart from Portsmouth has either scored or conceded at least one own goal this year, but if these were taken away from the final score then only 11 sides would have different points tallies. The biggest beneficiaries are Manchester United. Own goals in their favour from Abou Diaby, Anton Ferdinand and Zat Knight have seen them pick up an extra five points this year. If own goals were taken away then United would currently be 10 points behind Chelsea. Arsenal, Everton and Stoke City would also have fewer points if own goals were discounted, while Bolton, Chelsea, Liverpool, Sunderland, West Ham and Wolves would have more. The Premier League would be in this order if own goals were removed: (as of 17/12/09)
| Team | Own goals for | Own goals against | Actual points | Revised points |
| Chelsea | 3 | 1 | 40 | 42 |
| Man Utd | 3 | 0 | 37 | 32 |
| Aston Villa | 3 | 0 | 32 | 32 |
| Arsenal | 3 | 3 | 32 | 31 |
| Tottenham | 1 | 0 | 30 | 30 |
| Liverpool | 1 | 2 | 27 | 28 |
| Birmingham | 0 | 1 | 27 | 27 |
| Man City | 0 | 1 | 26 | 26 |
| Fulham | 0 | 1 | 23 | 23 |
| Sunderland | 3 | 2 | 21 | 23 |
| Stoke | 1 | 0 | 21 | 20 |
| Blackburn | 1 | 1 | 19 | 19 |
| Burnley | 0 | 1 | 19 | 19 |
| Wolves | 1 | 3 | 16 | 18 |
| Wigan | 0 | 1 | 18 | 18 |
| Bolton | 0 | 3 | 16 | 17 |
| Everton | 2 | 2 | 17 | 16 |
| West Ham | 1 | 1 | 14 | 16 |
| Hull City | 1 | 2 | 17 | 16 |
| Portsmouth | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11 |
PENALTY POSER
Dear Martin. I was interested to see your stats on penalty conversions last week. It got me thinking, which team has been awarded the most penalties over the last five-and-a-bit seasons and which team has the best conversion rate over a sustained period? Darren MARTIN SAYS: Opta have given us the stats for the 12 teams who have been ever-present in the top flight since the start of the 2004/05 season. As you can see from the table below, Arsenal and Aston Villa have been awarded the most penalties in that period, while Manchester City (who have not yet been awarded a penalty this season) have been awarded the fewest. However, even though Aston Villa have been awarded the most penalties, they have the lowest conversion rate, failing to score with more than one third of their spot kicks. The best converters are Chelsea, who have only failed to score with three of the 27 penalties they have been given in the last five-and-a-half years. Shay Given's save from Frank Lampard a few weeks ago was a rare sight indeed. Penalties awarded since start of 2004/05 season:
| Team | Penalties awarded | Penalties scored | Conversion rate |
| Arsenal | 35 | 27 | 77.1% |
| Aston Villa | 35 | 23 | 65.7% |
| Blackburn | 30 | 21 | 70.0% |
| Bolton | 22 | 15 | 68.1% |
| Chelsea | 28 | 25 | 89.3% |
| Everton | 23 | 19 | 82.6% |
| Fulham | 22 | 19 | 86.3% |
| Liverpool | 31 | 25 | 80.6% |
| Man City | 21 | 16 | 76.2% |
| Man Utd | 30 | 24 | 80.0% |
| Portsmouth | 26 | 18 | 69.2% |
| Tottenham | 26 | 19 | 73.1% |
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Great column Martin. Keep up the good work. Darren Bent seems to score the opening goal every time I see him. I know he's not the top scorer this season, but I'd like to see how many times he scores the first goal in a game compared to the other top scorers in the Premier League. MARTIN SAYS: We have analysed all of the players to have scored five or more goals in the Premier League this season and when it comes to opening the scoring, Darren Bent has indeed done it more than anybody else. He has opened the scoring in seven of the 17 games he has played this season. Nobody else comes close to that, but Bobby Zamora does have an impressive record when it comes to opening the scoring. Every single one of his five Premier League goals for Fulham so far this season have been the opening goal of the game.
| Player | Opening goals | Total goals | % goals that open game |
| Darren Bent | 7 | 10 | 70% |
| Bobby Zamora | 5 | 5 | 100% |
| Gabriel Agbonlahor | 5 | 8 | 63% |
| Wayne Rooney | 5 | 12 | 42% |
| Robin Van Persie | 4 | 6 | 67% |
| Fernando Torres | 4 | 11 | 36% |
| Nicolas Anelka | 3 | 5 | 60% |
| Lee Bowyer | 3 | 5 | 60% |
| Hugo Rodallega | 3 | 5 | 60% |
| Emmanuel Adebayor | 3 | 6 | 50% |
| Louis Saha | 3 | 10 | 30% |
| Jermain Defoe | 3 | 13 | 23% |
| Didier Drogba | 3 | 13 | 23% |
RAFA'S RECORD
There has been a lot of talk on Merseyside about whether or not Rafael Benitez is doing a good job for Liverpool. I am of the opinion that results are on a downward slide. Can you tell me how Liverpool's record for this season compares to his other seasons. I fear we are not on course to finish in the top four. Gail Andrews. MARTIN SAYS: Wednesday night's win over Wigan has seen Liverpool move onto 27 points, which is their lowest tally after 17 games since Rafael Benitez's first season in charge. They are 11 points shy of last season's record high of 38 points from 17 games, but two points clear of his lowest tally of 25 points in 2004/05. To answer your question about league position, Liverpool have always been in the top six after 17 games under Benitez. However, the last time they were in sixth place at this stage was in the 2004/05 season - when they did not go on to finish in the top four. Liverpool under Benitez after 17 games: 2009/10: 6th, 27pts
2008/09: 1st, 38pts
2007/08: 5th, 30pts
2006/07: 5th, 28pts
2005/06: 3rd, 37pts
2004/05: 6th, 25 points
BIG FOUR DONE FOR
Hi Martin, Having watched Villa beat United at the weekend, we've now beaten three of the big four already this season. I know it's a bit early because we haven't played Arsenal yet, but I was just wondering if anyone had beaten those four teams in the same Premier League season before? Cheers. Adrian (Villa fan) MARTIN SAYS: I regard the Big Four as forming shortly after Roman Abramovich came to Chelsea and since then, no one team has beaten Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United in the same Premier League season. But in Premier League history it has been done twice. The last occasion was in 1994/95 when Leeds United beat Arsenal home and away, beat Manchester United 2-1 at Elland Road, won 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and 1-0 at Anfield. The only other team to do it? That was Aston Villa themselves. In the very first season they beat United 1-0 at Villa Park, Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge and did the double over both Arsenal and Liverpool. Martin O'Neill's men have beaten Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United already this season and you can see if they can complete the set by beating Arsenal live on Sky Sports on December 27. I am looking forward to commentating on that one.
