Match of the Day
Sunday games rule; as Arsenal consign Koeman to the dustbin and Klopp may start to worry
Managers Out
There have already been three dismissals with less than a quarter of the season gone
- Crystal Palace: de Boer - not matching playing styles to player skills
- Leicester City: Shakespeare - board were reluctant in first place
- Everton: Koeman - poor results after big summer spending spree
Given that all the promoted clubs have performed well, several others will be nervous
- Stoke - Mark Hughes’s team are 17th and have conceded most in the division
- West Ham - Bilic’s team look disorganized. Defeat at Palace next time out could be it
- WBA - Pulis team have 2 wins in 18 EPL games, both 1-0
- Liverpool - Klopp’s team are no better off than when Rodger’s was sacked two years ago and glaring defensive deficiencies have not been addressed
How do the dismissals compare with previous seasons
So higher than average but not exceptional. The most recent time when four had received their marching orders was in 2004/5. Houllier (Liverpool) and Ranieiri (Chelsea) were big names to go in the summer break and Sturrock (Southampton), Robson (Newcastle), Souness (Blackburn) and Adams (Leicester) were also out by this time of the season
The cull did not end there, as Megson (WBA), Jones (Wolves), Santini (Spurs), Redknapp( Portsmouth) and Wigley (Southampton again) were also out by Christmas. Fully half the division had new managers
It has been well-documented that Everton’s summer spending was high on No 10’s (Sigurdsson, Rooney and Klaassen) and low on goal-scorers - Lukaku and Barkley were their 1-2 scorers in each of the past two seasons
However, the age distribution of players is also out of whack
NB This data will change as the season progressesThey are a mix of promising youngsters and ageing veterans with only Keane - of outfield regulars (top 11 in minutes played) - in the sweet 24-27 age range
They also lead the division in regulars who have turned 32, at the time of writing
Rooney of the Rovers
If Rooney fails to create a goal in the first 8 minutes of his next league game, he will record his longest ever stretch without an assist, 1455 minutes, going back to pre-Christmas 2016
On the other hand, he did score with a cracking shot from outside the area - reminiscent of his first ever-strike - also against Arsenal
It was his only goal against the soon-to-be-retired Seaman, but he has scored against a further 77 goalkeepers
Hover points for details
Totally Football and Guardian Weekly Review Podcasts
Results and Table
Final Factoid
Manchester City already have six players with seven or more points (goals+assists). Eleven teams have none
Plenty more NEW data at the premiersoccerstats site
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