Friday, December 16, 2011

Premier League Opta Facts – December 17th-18th


Blackburn Rovers v West Bromwich Albion

West Brom have won only one of their last 11 games in league competition against Blackburn (W1 D5 L5).

The Baggies have failed to score in their last three Premier League visits to Ewood Park.

West Brom have lost five and won none of their last eight visits to Ewood Park in all competitions.

Roy Hodgson was manager of Blackburn from 1997 to 1998, winning 35% of his games. He won 34% at Fulham, 35% at Liverpool and has won 32% so far at West Brom.

Since beating West Brom 2-0 at Ewood Park in January, Steve Kean's side have won just three of 14 Premier League home games (W3 D4 L7).

Blackburn have kept just two clean sheets in their last 14 games at Ewood Park and none in the last eight.

Since drawing 0-0 with Blackburn at Ewood Park in May 2009, West Brom have kept just one clean sheet in their last 26 Premier League away games.

West Brom have conceded a penalty in five of their last seven Premier League games.

Only Blackburn (12) have dropped more points from winning positions than West Brom (11).

West Brom have scored the highest percentage of first half goals of any team in the top flight (71%).

Everton v Norwich City

Norwich City have won just one of their last 37 games away from home in the Premier League (W1 D11 L25).

Everton have won the last five successive matches against Norwich in all competitions, though the two sides have not met since February 2005.

Everton have lost and failed to score in three of their last four Premier League matches at Goodison Park.

Everton have not kept a clean sheet in any of their 10 home games this season in all competitions.

Everton lost just five Premier League games at Goodison Park between 2009/10 and 2010/11, but have already lost four this term.

Norwich inflicted Everton's second worst home defeat in Premier League history. The Canaries won 5-1 at Goodison Park in September 1993.

Norwich have scored more headed goals than any other Premier League side (10).

Everton haven't managed a single shot on target for 192 minutes in the Premier League since Apostolos Vellios scored away at Bolton Wanderers.

53% of the goals that Everton have scored have been netted in the final 15 minutes, a divisional high.

Steve Morison has scored in five of his last six Premier League appearances.

Fulham v Bolton Wanderers

Fulham have only won two of their last nine Premier League games at Craven Cottage (W2 D4 L3), though they did win last time out against Liverpool.

Both Fulham and Bolton have failed to score in three of their last four meetings in all competitions.

Fulham have won four and lost none of the last eight Premier League games against Bolton.

Fulham have won eight and lost none of their 10 Premier League home matches against Bolton.

Ivan Klasnic has scored Bolton's last two goals at Craven Cottage, one in the Premier League and one in the FA Cup.

Klasnic has scored seven goals in 10 Premier League starts this season.

Bolton have lost 16 of their last 19 Premier League away games (W2 D1 L16).

The Trotters have kept just one clean sheet in their last 33 Premier League road trips.

Bolton have lost 17 of their last 20 Premier League matches (W3 D0 L17), a run which started with a 0-3 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Bolton have lost 12 of their opening 15 matches, the joint-most defeats after 15 games in a Premier League season along with Sunderland in 2005-06.

Newcastle United v Swansea City

Defeat against Chelsea ended a run of 10 matches without defeat at home for Newcastle (W6 D4).

Swansea have the worst away record in the Premier League, with just two points on the road to date.

Newcastle have won four and lost none of the last five games against Swansea in all competitions.

The Swans have failed to score in their last three visits to Tyneside, losing all three games.

Michel Vorm has kept more clean sheets than any other Premier League goalkeeper (7) this season.

58% of the goals Newcastle have conceded have come from set pieces, a Premier League high.

Swansea have failed to score in more matches this season than any other team in the top flight (7).

Demba Ba has scored 18 goals in just 22 Premier League starts.

Danny Graham has scored five goals in his last eight Premier League appearances.

Newcastle have taken just one point from the last 12 available.

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Stoke City

Stoke have lost just one of the last eight matches in all competitions against Wolves (W3 D4 L1).

Kenwyne Jones has scored four goals in four Premier League appearances against Wolves; more than against any other side in the competition.

Wolves have kept just one clean sheet in their last 12 Premier League games at Molineux.

Wolves have won their last two league games at Molineux - they've never won three home games on the trot in the Premier League.

Stoke City have never won back to back away games in the Premier League.

Stoke have failed to score in 10 of their last 16 Premier League away games and only netted more than once in one of the other six games.

Stoke haven't won an away game where the opposition has scored since September 2010. Since then, they have won four, drawn four and lost 15 of their road trips.

Stephen Fletcher has scored more headed goals (9) since the start of last season than any other player.

Fletcher has netted five goals in his last five league appearances of 45 minutes or more.

14 points after 15 Premier League matches is Wolves' biggest points haul in the Premier League in their four campaigns.

Wigan Athletic v Chelsea

Wigan have won just one and lost 10 of the 12 Premier League meetings with Chelsea.

The Londoners have scored 15 goals without reply in the last three matches against the Latics.

Nicolas Anelka has scored six goals in 10 Premier League games against Wigan, Didier Drogba five in 10 and Frank Lampard five in 11 appearances.

Chelsea had been on a run of one clean sheet in just 10 away games, before keeping shut outs in their last two road trips.

Wigan have taken just one point from the last 15 available at the DW Stadium.

Wigan have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 12 Premier League games.

Wigan have scored the joint-fewest headed goals (1 along with Fulham).

43% of the goals Wigan have scored have been netted from outside the box in open play, the highest proportion in the top flight.

Jordi Gómez has scored in three of his last four Premier League appearances.

No side have conceded a higher proportion of goals in the opening 15 minutes of Premier League games this season than Chelsea (22%).

Queens Park Rangers v Manchester United

Manchester United have won eight and lost none of the last 11 meetings with QPR in all competitions.

United have also won four and lost none of their last seven trips to Loftus Road in all competitions.

QPR have won just one of their seven Premier League home matches this season - the joint-fewest in the division.

Man Utd are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League away games (W5 D3), but two of their last three away defeats in the Premier League have been in London.

Man Utd have won just six of their last 21 Premier League away games in London (W6 D7 L8).

Manchester United have lost just one of their last 18 Premier League matches (W13 D4 L1) and won five of the last six (W5 D1).

The champions have scored exactly one goal in each of their last five Premier League away games, winning the last three 1-0.

QPR have won one and lost four of their last six Premier League matches.

Heidar Helguson has scored six goals in his last seven Premier League appearances.

79% of the goals Man Utd have conceded have come in the second half, the highest proportion in the top flight.

Aston Villa v Liverpool

Stewart Downing scored the winning goal in this fixture last season while playing for Villa. This was the last goal that Downing scored in the Premier League.

Steven Gerrard has scored more goals against Aston Villa than versus any other opponents (9).

There have been just five goals scored in the last five Premier League meetings between Villa and Liverpool at Villa Park.

Villa have scored just four goals in their last 12 Premier League home games against Liverpool. Since a 2-4 defeat in November 1998, Aston Villa have failed to score in two games, then netted once before repeating that same run three more times.

Villa have won just one of the last 13 Premier League games at home against Liverpool.

Darren Bent has scored three goals in his last four Premier League games against Liverpool, including one for Sunderland that deflected into the net off a beach ball.

Liverpool have drawn just one of their last 20 Premier League away matches.

Liverpool have hit the woodwork more times than any other team in 2011-12 (15) & three more than the whole of last season.

Aston Villa have conceded the highest % of goals from corners of any team in the Premier League (32%).

Liverpool have converted the lowest percentage of shots into goals this season (9%).

Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland

Sunderland have won just one of their last seven Premier League away matches.

Tottenham have won their last five Premier League games at White Hart Lane.

Three of the last four penalties in this fixtures have been saved - all taken by Sunderland & Darren Bent.

Spurs have won eight and lost just one of the 10 Premier League home matches against Sunderland.

Seb Larsson has scored three goals direct from free kicks this season; more than any other player in the Premier League.

Sunderland's last three games have all ended 2-1 with the side scoring first going on to lose.

Tottenham have fired in more shots on target that any other team in the Premier League (105).

Tottenham have scored the joint-most goals in the first 15 minutes of games (6) while Sunderland have conceded the highest percentage of goals (22%) in this opening period.

This is Tottenham's best ever start to a Premier League season, having accrued five points more after 14 games than 2009-10 and 1999-2000.

Martin O'Neill has won seven and lost just three of 16 matches as a Premier League coach against Tottenham. However, he won just one and lost nine of 16 games as a Premier League boss against Harry Redknapp.

Manchester City v Arsenal

The home team has failed to score in the last four matches in all competitions between City and Arsenal.

Man City have lost at home to Arsenal 10 times in the Premier League and 20 times overall (both a joint-league high with Chelsea).

There were three red cards shown across the two Premier League meetings between Arsenal and City last season.

Arsenal have failed to score in four of their last last five games against City in all competitions, while the Citizens have failed to score in four of the last five league encounters.

Robin van Persie has scored 18 goals in his last 16 Premier League away appearances.

The Dutchman has now netted 33 goals in 32 Premier League games in 2011, only Alan Shearer 36 in 1995 and Thierry Henry 34 in 2004 have outscored him in a calendar year in the Premier League era.

Arsenal have scored in the 88th minute in three of their last four Premier League trips to the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City scored from their only shot on target when they won 1-0 against Arsenal at the Emirates in the Carling Cup last month.

Manchester City have taken 49 from a possible 51 points in their last 16 games at the Etihad Stadium and won the last 12 in a row.

Arsenal have drawn 199 games in Premier League history.