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Tyler's stats and facts column: Which player played for the most teams?

Can you answer Tyler's Teaser on London goalscorers?

Martin Tyler's stats and facts column is back. Read on to find out which player has played for more Premier League clubs than any other and which nation gets the most goals and assists...

Tyler's Teaser

Every week, Martin will set you a question of his own to get your grey matter working. Click above for this week's Tyler's Teaser - which tests your knowledge of players from London clubs.

Send your questions to Martin

1: Email your posers to skysportsclub@bskyb.com

2. Use the feedback form at the bottom of this page.

3. Tweet @SkyFootball using the hashtag #TylersTeasers

Martin’s Starting Stat

I was at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to see Manchester City draw 1-1 with Chelsea. Frank Lampard had scored more goals (seven) than any other player in Premier League matches between those teams – and of course extended it to eight goals by scoring against Chelsea for the first time.

He has now scored against 39 different clubs in the Premier League, overtaking the 38 clubs that Andrew Cole scored against. There are five Premier League sides that he has faced and not scored against including Burnley and QPR, who he could yet score against this season. The others are Cardiff, Ipswich and Watford.

This was his first Premier League goal against Chelsea in his 11th appearance against them, having played 10 times against them for West Ham.

Lampard has now moved on to 172 Premier League goals and is fifth on the all-time list. His next target is the 175 goals scored by Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henry, who are currently joint third.

Joe Hart made his 200th Premier League appearance for Man City, while Andre Schurrle has now played twice against City and scored on both occasions. He also scored the first in a 2-1 home win in October 2013.

This is the first time in more than 18 months that City have failed to win three consecutive league games and it’s only the third time since November 2010. The last occasion was January-February 2013.

City have now only failed to score in two of their last 72 home league games. One was against Stoke earlier this season and the other was against Chelsea in February. That leads us on to our first question…

City zeroes

Mame Biram Diouf of Stoke City scores the winning goal
Image: Stoke: beat Man City 1-0 at the Etihad earlier this season

Hi Martin. My friend and I are Premier League fans from Australia. He's a City supporter and we have twice gone to England to watch them. In this time he has seen City play three times at the Etihad for zero wins and even worse zero goals. (City 0 Spurs 1 - May 2010,  City 0 Arsenal 3 - October 2010, City 0 Stoke 1 - September 2014). My question is how many times have City been scoreless in this period? Somehow for all our travels we are yet to see them score! Regards, Issa

MARTIN SAYS: I can tell you that in that period, Manchester City have failed to score in just 33 Premier League games. Since the start of the 2010/11 season they have played 157 games – which means you would have had 124 Manchester City games to choose from in which they have scored!

There have been 12 ever-present Premier League teams in that time and only three of those sides have scored in more games than City. Chelsea have failed to score in just 31 of the last 155 games, Arsenal failed to score in 29 and Manchester United have only gone goalless 27 times in that period.

In contrast, Stoke have failed to score in 71 of the 155 Premier League games they’ve played in that time, more than any other side, and yet you managed to see them score the only goal on your most recent visit!

Failed to score in Premier League games since start of 2010/11 season (ever-present sides only):

Stoke City (71 games)

Aston Villa (62 games)

Sunderland (62 games)

Newcastle United (47 games)

West Brom (45 games)

Liverpool (43 games)

Everton (41 games)

Tottenham (39 games)

Manchester City (33 games)

Chelsea (31 games)

Arsenal (29 games)

Manchester United (27 games)

League of nations

Nathan Dyer celebrates scoring Swansea's third goal to make it 3-0
Image: Nathan Dyer: joint top-scoring Englishman in the Premier League this season

What is the percentage of goals and assists from British players so far in the Premier League? #TylersTeasers Charlie Worsley

MARTIN SAYS: We have seen 143 goals in the Premier League so far this season, although five of those were own goals and so Opta would not include them in their data for this question.

Of the 138 goals scored at the right end in the Premier League this season, 42 have been scored by Englishmen, five by Scots and three by Welshmen. 37% of Premier League goals have been scored by British players, which is far higher than any other nationality.

Two of the five Premier League own goals this season have been scored by Englishmen (Harry Kane and John Terry), so if those are included then the figure remains at around 37%.

Thanks to Opta, this is how this season’s Premier League goals have been divided up by nationality:

42 GOALS: England

13 GOALS: Argentina, Spain

8 GOALS: Belgium, Senegal

7 GOALS: France     

5 GOALS: Scotland

4 GOALS: Croatia

3 GOALS: Germany, Italy, Serbia, Wales

2 GOALS: Austria, Chile, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland

1 GOAL: Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Congo DR, Denmark, Ecuador, Iceland, Kenya, Morocco, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Togo, Uruguay

As for assists, Opta have awarded 99 so far this season (as penalties, free-kicks and goals where the scorer has won possession of the ball himself rather than receive it from a team-mate do not receive one). It’s a rather complicated situation, but we shall go with their figures.

As with goals, the list is dominated by English players. To date, 35 assists have been awarded to Englishmen, which is far more than any other nation.

Thanks to Opta, this is how this season’s Premier League assists have been divided up by nationality:

35 ASSISTS: England

11 ASSISTS: Spain   

5 ASSISTS: Argentina, Republic of Ireland

4 ASSISTS: Brazil, Iceland, Serbia

3 ASSISTS: Belgium, France, Netherlands

2 ASSISTS: Ivory Coast, Egypt, Nigeria, Sweden

1 ASSIST: Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, Colombia, Congo DR, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Northern Ireland, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Wales

Men of many clubs

¿Le Sulk¿ began his career at PSG, before moving to Arsenal for £500,000 in 1997. They re-signed him from Real Madrid three years later for £22m.
Image: Nicolas Anelka: has played for six Premier League clubs

Hi Martin, I look forward to your article every week. My question comes with Nicolas Anelka joining Mumbai City FC. First I was going to ask is there a Premier League team that Anelka has not played for? Then I realised listing all the clubs is impossible even for the guys at Opta, so my question to you instead is: What is the most number of Premier League teams that one footballer has played for? Anelka must be up there. Duncan, South Africa.

MARTIN SAYS: Nicolas Anelka has represented six teams in the Premier League, having played for Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City, Bolton, Chelsea and West Brom since 1996.

However, there are FIVE players to have played for more Premier League clubs than Anelka – including one who has played for EIGHT different teams.

CRAIG BELLAMY (7 TEAMS) – The former Wales striker played for Coventry, Newcastle, Blackburn, Liverpool, West Ham, Man City and Cardiff in the Premier League.

ANDREW COLE (7 TEAMS) – The former England striker played for Newcastle, Manchester United, Blackburn, Fulham, Man City, Portsmouth and Sunderland.

WAYNE ROUTLEDGE (7 TEAMS) – The current Swansea winger has previously played for Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Portsmouth, Fulham, Aston Villa and Newcastle.

TAL BEN HAIM (7 TEAMS) – The Israel centre-half has played for Bolton, Chelsea, Manchester City, Sunderland, Portsmouth, West Ham and QPR.

MARCUS BENT (8 TEAMS) – The player that has played for more Premier League clubs than any other is Marcus Bent. He has represented Crystal Palace, Blackburn, Ipswich, Leicester, Everton, Charlton, Wigan, Birmingham and Wolves.

Starter for 20

Image: Kevin Phillips: Quickest player to 20 Premier League goals

Hi Martin. Love the column, it’s definitely a weekly must-read. Diego Costa became the fastest person to score seven goals in the Premiership. What I want to know is, what are the quickest amount of games taken to score 10/20/30 goals? Thanks, Jack Scarlett (Chelsea fan)

MARTIN SAYS: Readers of last week’s column will already know the answer to the first question. Mick Quinn needed only six appearances after making his Premier League debut in 1992 to reach 10 goals – although he had played in the English top flight before. Mark Viduka and Papiss Cisse needed just nine games each to reach 10 Premier League goals.

In terms of reaching 20 goals, the record belongs to Kevin Phillips who needed just 21 appearances for Sunderland to reach that landmark.

Players reaching 20 Premier League goals in the fewest appearances from debut:

Kevin Phillips (21 games)

Andrew Cole (23 games)*

Ruud van Nistelrooy (26 games)

Anthony Yeboah (26 games)

Fernando Torres (27 games)

Mick Quinn (27 games)*

Uwe Rösler (28 games)

Demba Ba (28 games)

Alan Shearer (29 games)*

Sergio Agüero (30 games)

*Had played in the English top flight before making Premier League debut

The quickest player to 30 Premier League goals is Andrew Cole, who reached that tally in his first 32 Premier League appearances. He had also made one English top-flight appearance as a substitute for Arsenal before the Premier League was formed.

Players reaching 30 Premier League goals in the fewest appearances from debut:

Andrew Cole (32 games)*

Kevin Phillips (35 games)

Alan Shearer (38 games)*

Ruud van Nistelrooy (45 games)

Fernando Torres (46 games)

Teddy Sheringham (49 games)*

Thierry Henry (50 games)

Robbie Fowler (50 games)

Sergio Agüero (51 games)

Les Ferdinand (55 games)*

Demba Ba (55 games)

*Had played in the English top flight before making Premier League debut

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