What records can Lampard break? Which team's top scorer got just three goals? Ask Martin Tyler...
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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 skysportsclub@bskyb.com and he will do his best to help.Tyler's Starting Stat - Unhappily in Napoli
Chelsea have scored first in all seven of their Champions League games this season and in all four of their away games they've failed to win despite scoring first.
Ezequiel Lavezzi scored his first two Champions League goals in his seventh game in the competition and Edinson Cavani took his tally to four in three games against Premier League teams in Europe this season, having scored three goals in two matches against Man City. His record is now 23 goals in 32 games in all competitions this season.
Juan Mata scored his first away goal from open play for Chelsea, his only previous away goal being a penalty at QPR, while Frank Lampard made his 100th European appearance (90 for Chelsea and 10 for West Ham).
Despite the pressure on AVB it was only Chelsea's third defeat in their last 17, of which they have won seven and drawn seven. The other defeats were at home to Aston Villa and away to Everton.
Napoli remain unbeaten at home in European Cup/Champions League - but they've only played seven games, winning four and drawing three.
NINE TENS FOR FRANK
Hi Martin, love your column. I'm a real 'statto' as my friends say but an interesting thing I noticed was that if Frank Lampard gets one more goal in the Premier League this season that will make it nine incredible seasons in a row that he has scored at least 10 goals. Phenomenal considering he's a midfield player! I was wondering if any player has done something similar or even bettered that record (probably Big Al!) and also who has the record for amount of campaigns with 10 or more goals; consecutive/non-consecutive. Tom Corbett (Aston Villa fan).
MARTIN SAYS: If Frank Lampard scores one more goal this season then he will become only the third player in Premier League history to score 10 goals in nine separate seasons - and the first midfielder.
The record is, perhaps unsurprisingly, held by Alan Shearer, who scored at least 10 goals in 11 different Premier League seasons between 1992/93 and 2005/06. However, these were not consecutive seasons as in three campaigns he failed to reach double figures (2 in 1997/98, 5 in 2000/01 and 7 in 2004/05).
The other man to have achieved this feat is Andrew Cole, who hit double figures in nine separate seasons between 1993/94 and 2004/05. Again, these were not consecutive seasons as he only managed 7 in 1996/97, 8 in 2000/01 and 7 in 2002/03. He also fell agonisingly short of hitting 10 in a 10th season when he scored nine for Man City in 2005/06.
So if Lampard scores once more this season he will become the FIRST player to hit double figures in nine consecutive seasons.
He has currently done it in eight consecutive seasons, a record he shares with Thierry Henry and Wayne Rooney (this is the eighth season of Rooney's streak, so he will be looking for a ninth next term).
Thanks to Opta, here are the players with 10+ goals in at least eight Premier League seasons:
Alan Shearer (11)
Andrew Cole (9)
Thierry Henry (8)*
Robbie Keane (8)
Michael Owen (8)
Frank Lampard (8)*
Wayne Rooney (8)*
*Consecutive seasons
BOTTOM OF THE TOP SCORERS
Hi Martin. As an avid Everton fan I was wondering who holds the record for being the lowest top Premier League scorer for their team at the end of a season. I only ask as we are half way through February and Bainsey, Anichebe and Osman are the top goal-scorers with three each and I can't see anyone going on a run right now. Cheers. Dan Cocker (Everton fan)
MARTIN SAYS: You can add Apostolos Vellios to your list of Everton players with three Premier League goals this season. I can tell you that if no Everton player reaches four goals this year then they will match the record for the team with the lowest top individual scorer in a Premier League season.
That record currently belongs to the Sunderland side of 2005/06, when none of their players managed more than three Premier League goals. Dean Whitehead, Tommy Miller, Anthony Le Tallec and Liam Lawrence finished as joint top scorers with three - and they were made to pay for their lack of goals as they finished bottom of the table with just 15 points.
Our friends at Opta have told us that there are 13 teams in Premier League history who have finished the season without one of their players scoring at least six league goals. We have listed those below. Aside from Everton, we can tell you that Wigan are the only other side capable of joining that list this year as their top scorers - Jordi Gomez and Franco Di Santo are currently on four goals.
Lowest top scorers in a Premier League season:
| Season |
Team |
Top scorer goals |
Top scorer |
| 2005/2006 |
Sunderland |
3 |
Dean Whitehead, Tommy Miller, Anthony Le Tallec, Liam Lawrence, |
| 2011/2012 |
Everton |
3 (so far) |
Leon Osman, Apostolos Vellios, Victor Anichebe, Leighton Baines |
| 1996/1997 |
Sunderland |
4 |
Paul Stewart, Craig Russell |
| 1997/1998 |
Wimbledon |
4 |
Efan Ekoku, Carl Leaburn, Michael Hughes, Jason Euell, Carl Cort |
| 2007/2008 |
Derby |
4 |
Kenny Miller |
| 2011/2012 |
Wigan |
4 (so far) |
Jordi Gómez, Franco Di Santo |
| 1994/1995 |
Ipswich |
5 |
Claus Thomsen |
| 1996/1997 |
Leeds |
5 |
Brian Deane, Lee Sharpe |
| 1998/1999 |
Blackburn |
5 |
Kevin Gallacher, Ashley Ward |
| 2000/2001 |
Bradford |
5 |
Benito Carbone |
| 2002/2003 |
West Brom |
5 |
Scott Dobie, Danny Dichio |
| 2005/2006 |
Birmingham |
5 |
Jirí Jarosik |
| 2005/2006 |
West Brom |
5 |
Nathan Ellington, Kanu |
| 2009/2010 |
Stoke |
5 |
Matthew Etherington |
| 2010/2011 |
Blackburn |
5 |
Nikola Kalinic, David Hoilett, Jason Roberts |
Of these sides, only Wimbledon, Leeds, Stoke and Blackburn (last season) didn't go down, but I can't imagine Everton will end up being relegated!
THE SHIPPING FORECAST
Hi Martin, Being an exiled Newcastle fan I was pretty annoyed to see us ship another five goals this season, after what was such a tight first few games for us defensively. It got me to thinking - there have been quite a few drubbings of top teams this season. My question is this - What is the record number of goals shipped collectively by the top six teams in the Premier League? We must be on for some kind of record this year! Tom - NYC
MARTIN SAYS: The current top six - Man City, Man Utd, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle - have conceded a total of 171 goals so far this season in a combined 150 games. That's a ratio of 1.14 goals conceded per game. If they continue to concede goals at that rate then they will finish the season with a combined 260 in the "goals against" column, which would be a record for a 38-game season. The previous high was 246 in 2002/03.
However, the top six conceded more goals on average in the very first Premier League season. Back in 1992/93, the top six - Man Utd, Aston Villa, Norwich, Blackburn, QPR and Liverpool - conceded 292 goals, which was an average of 1.16 goals per game.
The boffins at Opta have broken it down for us as follows:
| Season |
Final top six |
Games |
Conceded |
Conceded/Game |
| 1992/93 |
Man U, A Villa, Norwich, Blackburn, QPR, Liverpool |
252 |
292 |
1.16 |
| 2011/12 (so far) |
Man City, Man U, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle |
150 |
171 |
1.14 |
| 2002/03 |
Man U, Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea, Liverpool, Blackburn |
228 |
246 |
1.08 |
| 1996/97 |
Man U, Newcastle, Arsenal, Liverpool, A Villa, Chelsea |
228 |
242 |
1.06 |
| 1997/98 |
Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Leeds, Blackburn |
228 |
242 |
1.06 |
| 2000/01 |
Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Leeds, Ipswich, Chelsea |
228 |
238 |
1.04 |
| 2001/02 |
Arsenal, Liverpool, Man U, Newcastle, Leeds, Chelsea |
228 |
238 |
1.04 |
| 2010/11 |
Man U, Chelsea, Man C, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool |
228 |
236 |
1.04 |
| 1999/00 |
Man U, Arsenal, Leeds, Liverpool, Chelsea, A Villa |
228 |
230 |
1.01 |
| 2009/10 |
Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal, Tottenham, Man City, A Villa |
228 |
226 |
0.99 |
| 1995/96 |
Man U, Newcastle, Liverpool, A Villa, Arsenal, Everton |
228 |
217 |
0.95 |
| 1998/99 |
Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds, West Ham, A Villa |
228 |
217 |
0.95 |
| 1993/94 |
Man U, Blackburn, Newcastle, Arsenal, Leeds, Wimbledon |
252 |
235 |
0.93 |
| 2003/04 |
Arsenal, Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool, Newcastle, A Villa |
228 |
212 |
0.93 |
| 1994/95 |
Blackburn, Man U, N Forest, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle |
252 |
232 |
0.92 |
| 2004/05 |
Chelsea, Arsenal, Man U, Everton, Liverpool, Bolton |
228 |
208 |
0.91 |
| 2006/07 |
Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Everton |
228 |
203 |
0.89 |
| 2008/09 |
Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, A Villa |
228 |
197 |
0.86 |
| 2005/06 |
Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Blackburn |
228 |
192 |
0.84 |
| 2007/08 |
Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton, A Villa |
228 |
191 |
0.84 |
WHAT POSSESSED YOU?
Big fan Martin! Must read every week. My question is who has had the most possession in the Premier League this year? Thank you. George Aldridge (Leeds Utd fan)
MARTIN SAYS: Opta have given us the average possession stats for each of the 20 Premier League sides this year and we can tell you that, on average, Arsenal have more possession than anybody else. They've had the ball for 59.3% of the time this term.
The top six sides in our list are made up of the current top five, plus Brendan Rodgers' Swansea City, who've enjoyed 56.4% of the ball this year. The only other sides to have enjoyed more than 50% of possession are Liverpool and Fulham.
In contrast, Stoke City can boast an average of just 39.4% possession this term, the only side with less than 40%. I suppose that shows us something about how the different teams tend to approach the game.
Average possession of Premier League teams this season:
Arsenal (59.3%)
Man City (58.1%)
Chelsea (57.0%)
Man Utd (56.9%)
Swansea (56.4%)
Tottenham (56.1%)
Liverpool (55.5%)
Fulham (50.1%)
Wolves (48.8%)
Wigan (48.6%)
Newcastle (47.8%)
QPR (46.9%)
Everton (46.4%)
Bolton (45.3%)
Aston Villa (45.1%)
West Brom (44.8%)
Sunderland (44.8%)
Norwich (44.5%)
Blackburn (42.2%)
Stoke (39.4%)
MEN OF MANY FOES
What I wanted to ask was if it is Shearer who holds the record for scoring against most opponents? And is any current player anywhere near him in closing down the gap on him or whoever is holding the record. Aditya Mantri (Manchester Utd fan)
MARTIN SAYS: This is one record that Alan Shearer does not hold. He has scored against 37 opponents, whereas Andrew Cole has scored against 38 opponents. In fact the only two sides he failed to score against that he faced during his Premier League career were Swindon Town and Reading - and he only played against each of them twice in the top division.
Similarly, Shearer only failed to score against two of the 39 teams he played against in the Premier League. He did not net in two games against Watford, nor in five matches against Birmingham City.
To answer your question, there is indeed a current player closing in on Cole's record - and it's that man Frank Lampard! He has scored against 37 Premier League teams in his career and he could match Cole's record of 38 if he scores against QPR on April 28.
The only other current Premier League teams he hasn't scored against are Swansea City (he did not feature in either of Chelsea's games against them this year and actually played and scored for Swansea while on loan in 1995/96) and Chelsea (he failed to score against the Blues in 10 Premier League appearances against them for West Ham). The only other teams he has faced in the Premier League without scoring are Ipswich, Burnley and Watford.
Thanks to Opta, here are the players who have scored against the most teams in the Premier League:
Andrew Cole (38)
Alan Shearer / Frank Lampard (37)
Teddy Sheringham (35)
Ryan Giggs, Thierry Henry (34)
Robbie Keane, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Les Ferdinand, Nicolas Anelka (33)
Emile Heskey (32)
Paul Scholes, Dennis Bergkamp, Gary Speed (31)
Tyler's teaser
Fill in your answers to Martin's teaser using the feedback form below - and keep those questions coming in!
