Match of the Day
Four teams win away from home by at least three goal margins - surprisingly Huddersfield, West Ham and Crystal Palace join Liverpool
Who is your Talisman
Some players are regarded as more essential to their teams than others - Pogba at Manchester United or Zaha at Crystal Palace spring to mind.
As a crude way of assessing this, we can look at the average points per game the team has secured with their services when they are playing or not
Here is the leading player, by each team this season (with a minimum of 5 starts)
Not an ideal chart, as is, but hover points for more information
Here are leading players, by team. Check back for changes as the season progresses
Clearly it will depend on strength of opposition they have faced but, at the time of writing, Pogba does lead his team whilst Zaha is second on his. The under-utilization of Pedro at Chelsea also seems a bit strange as he formed such an integral part of the champions team last year
Dwight Gayle jointly leads Newcastle United with three goals but has been on the losing side in each of his eight starts
Liverpool equal all-time record
Liverpool may have slipped up in a couple of home games but their away dominance continued. The most recent four away results
- West Ham 4-1
- Stoke 3-0
- Brighton 5-1
- Bournemouth 4-0
equals an all-time English League record for consecutive away wins with goal margins of three or more
Wolves also recorded their victories recently, in League One, 2013/14
- Oldham 3-0
- Brentford 3-0
- Walsall 3-0
- Swindon 4-1
Liverpool’s is a bit more impressive but next up is Arsenal so a continuation of the run is unlikely. Win by 4 and they will be the first ever to achieve a sequence of three such victories
For Palace last week, Sako ended a goal drought of 1262 minutes and Benteke one of 1109. Townsend extended his to 2103
Tweet of the Week
One surprising aspect of #MCFC dominance has been that 3 of top 4 defenders, Stones, Kompany & Mendy do not figure in top 11 for #PremierLeague minutes
— Andrew Clark (@pssGuy) December 19, 2017
And #Rooney matching some top scorers
Latest stats https://t.co/5dQ5BrYsv5 pic.twitter.com/pbRVFyGoxy
Totally Football and Guardian Weekly Review Podcasts
Results and Table
Final Factoid
Including follow-ups, Everton have now scored from seven penalties: as many have they have achieved in a full season since 2006/7 (8)
Plenty more NEW data at the premiersoccerstats site
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or work offers