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Martin Tyler's stats: Second-half surges and the most shots without scoring

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Martin Tyler brings you his latest teaser from Wembley.

This week Martin Tyler's stats and facts column looks at those teams who have enjoyed the best second half to a Premier League season, which side has had the most efforts on goal without finding the back of the net, and a whole lot more...

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Martin’s Starting Stats

I was at Wembley on Sunday for the fifth League Cup meeting between Chelsea and Tottenham. They have now met in two finals, two semi-finals and one quarter final. Chelsea now lead by three successes to two.

Tottenham had won the two previous League Cup encounters; the final in 2008 and the semi-final in 2002. Chelsea’s last win was in a 1991 quarter-final.

In the last 60 games between Spurs and Chelsea, Chelsea have won 34 and Tottenham have won just six.

Chelsea continued their run of scoring first in all their League Cup games this season and they got only their second clean sheet – they came in the semi-final second leg and the final. Good times to do them!

Chelsea weren’t hit by the curse of scoring first. Six of the last nine teams to concede first, prior to Sunday, went on to lift the trophy. That included Spurs’ win in the 2008 final when they conceded first. Chelsea conceded first in both of Jose Mourinho’s previous victories in 2005 (3-2 v Liverpool) and 2007 (2-1 v Arsenal). This one went against that pattern.

John Terry was Man of the Match and won the Alan Hardaker trophy 10 years after he last won it, equalling the record of Ben Foster who won it with two clubs – Manchester United and Birmingham. Terry made his 657th app and scored his 63rd goal, but only his second in the League Cup. He made his Chelsea debut in October 1998 in a League Cup win over Aston Villa. His only other League Cup goal came in October 2005 at home to Charlton in a 1-1 draw – but they lost the penalty-shoot-out.

Second-half surges

Philippe Coutinho goal celeb, Liverpool v Manchester City, Premier League
Image: Liverpool are making a late surge for the Premier League top four with a fine run of form in 2015

Liverpool's surge has given them a chance of the top four, but who has had the best ever second half to a Premier League season? (Mandy, the Wirral)

MARTIN SAYS: In terms of both points and points per game, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal hold both those records after producing a blistering second half to their title-winning campaign of 2001/02.

In that season, Wenger’s side picked up an impressive 51 points from the 19 matches they played in 2002 at a rate of 2.68 points per game.

Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho’s first-ever Premier League title in charge of Chelsea in 2004/05 came on the back of a storming run of form that began with victory at Portsmouth on December 28, with the Blues going on to collect 49 points in their final 19 fixtures at 2.58 points per game.

And that is the same points per game ratio as Manchester United managed under Sir Alex Ferguson in their 2008/09 title-winning campaign, while both Liverpool and United – on two other occasions – registered 2.53 PPG across the final 19 encounters of their 2013/14 and 1999/00 and 2002/03 seasons respectively.

Liverpool have picked up 23 points from a possible 27 in the second half of the season so far – so if they win all of their 10 remaining fixtures they will break the record! One obstacle might be their home clash with Manchester United, which is live on Sky Sports on March 22. Join me for a 1.30pm kick-off!

Points mean prizes

Eden Hazard of Chelsea celebrates scoring his goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Southampton and Chelsea at St Mary's Stadium
Image: Southampton have dropped only two points from a winning position so far this season - against Chelsea in Decemeber

How many points have Southampton dropped from winning positions this season and what is the record?(Adam, Bury)

MARTIN SAYS: Southampton have only dropped two points after taking the lead this season and that came against Chelsea at St Mary's on December 28 when they took the lead and drew 1-1.

The record for the fewest points dropped from winning positions in an entire campaign is two. However, Ronald Koeman’s men still have 10 more matches left to play this campaign, so will need to avoid dropping any more points after taking the lead to match it.

Crystal Palace (1994/95), Aston Villa (1998/99), Chelsea (2004/05), Manchester City and Portsmouth (2007/08) all dropped only two points from winning positions throughout an entire season – which means they won all but one match in which they took the lead.

And Sheffield Wednesday (1998/99), Charlton Athletic (2005/06), Liverpool (2006/07) and Manchester United (2008/10) allowed three points to slip from winning positions.

Netting on the road

Edin Dzeko goal celeb, Liverpool v Manchester City, Premier League
Image: Edin Dzeko's goal at Anfield on Sunday was the 20th away game in a row that City have scored

Manchester City have scored in each of their last 20 away league games, is this the record? (Mark, Leeds)

MARTIN SAYS: It’s not quite the record, which is held by Arsenal, who scored in 27 successive away matches, which came to a halt when they lost 2-0 at Manchester United on December 7, 2002.

The streak stretched back a year and a half from the penultimate league match of the 2000/01 season when they were held to a goalless draw by Newcastle.

United also racked up an impressive run around the same time as they scored in 24 away league matches in a row between March 31, 2001 and September 14, 2002. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side scored in every away game during the 2001/02 season, but saw the run come to an end with a 1-0 defeat at Leeds.

The last team to stop this current Manchester City team scoring away from home was Norwich City as they drew 0-0 at Carrow Road on February 8, 2014. When they’ve failed to score this season it has been in home games (they have failed to score in home matches against Arsenal and Stoke).

Chelsea managed a 19-game streak that ended with a 1-0 defeat at United on November 6, 2005, while Liverpool racked up 18 in a row before losing 1-0 at Newcastle earlier this season.

Manchester United and Chelsea have also secured 18-game runs.

Drawing a blank

Charlie Adam of Stoke City reacts during the Barclays Premier League match between Stoke City and Hull City
Image: Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam reacts after seeing one of his side's 17 shots fail to find the back of the net against Hull on Saturday

Stoke battered Hull on Saturday – 17 shots to one – but only scored the one goal they needed to win. Which team has had the most amount of shots in a game WITHOUT scoring? (Cate, Greenwich)

MARTIN SAYS: You might be surprised to hear that the 17 shots by Stoke is nowhere near the record.

Opta have only been keeping data on this from the 2003/04 season onwards and the record in that period was achieved on January 29, 2014 when Chelsea had a remarkable 39 shots without scoring in their 0-0 draw with West Ham – prompting Jose Mourinho to accuse his opposition of playing “19th Century football”.

Prior to that, Manchester United were leading the way as they managed 36 shots without finding the net in their goalless draw with Sunderland on April 14, 2006.

Arsenal paid the price for not scoring with any of their 35 shots against West Ham on April 7, 2007 as they were beaten 1-0, while Tottenham drew 0-0 with Aston Villa on February 2, 2010 after failing to score with any of their 34 efforts.

It also finished goalless between Chelsea and Newcastle on November 22, 2008 despite the Blues having 33 efforts on goal.

Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea also drew blanks against Bolton Wanderers and Birmingham City in 2006 and 2010 respectively after both having 32 shots.

* These stats are only from the 2003/04 season onwards

Trying one's luck from distance

Jordan Henderson goal celeb, Liverpool v Manchester City, Premier League
Image: Jordan Henderson became the first player to score from outside the box against City this season in Liverpool's 2-1 win at Anfield on Sunday

I read that Manchester City conceded their first goals outside the box in the Premier League this season at Liverpool. Who has conceded the least from outside the box in a whole Premier League season? (David, Canterbury)

MARTIN SAYS: No team has ever gone through an entire Premier League campaign without conceding a goal from outside the box, but five sides have let in just one.

Tottenham Hotspur were the first to do it in 1993/94, followed by Newcastle United in 1995/96 and then Arsenal the following season.

Manchester United managed it on their way to winning the title in 2007/08 and Chelsea achieved the feat the next year as they finished third.

A number of teams have also conceded just two goals from outside the box in a Premier League season, with Manchester CityArsenal and West Ham all on course to do it this year.

Derby County and United both pulled it off it in 1997/98 and Chelsea and Liverpool also did it in 2009/10 – one of four Premier League seasons that Liverpool have conceded just two goals from outside the area.

Least number of goals conceded from outside the box in a Premier League season:

One – Tottenham Hotspur (1993/94), Newcastle (1995/96), Arsenal (1996/97), Manchester United (2007/08), Chelsea (2008/09).

Two – Liverpool (1994/95, 2001/02, 2009/10, 2011/12), Manchester United (1995/96, 1997/98), Derby County (1997/98), Leeds United (1998/99), Chelsea (2007/08, 2009/10, 2013/14), Manchester City (2010/11), Tottenham Hotspur (2012/13).

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