Martin Tyler's stats and facts: Manchester derby omens

Martin Tyler's stats and facts column is back. Read on to find out more about omens from the Manchester derby and which team has used the most players in the Premier League era...

Tyler's Teaser

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

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Martin’s Starting Stat

This is now Manchester United’s worst start since 1986 - and the last time that happened Ron Atkinson was sacked and Alex Ferguson was summoned down from the north. It’s amazing and it’s true, despite the perception Manchester United are doing well at the moment.

I was at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, expecting to see Aleksandar Kolarov make his 150th appearance for Manchester City – only to see him lose his place in the team when he was injured in the warm-up.

The 1-0 win made it City’s fourth league derby win in a row – the first time they’ve done that since 1970. Sunday’s game was one day short of the 120th anniversary of the first Manchester league derby. Man City were at home, but lost 5-2 to a team called Newton Heath who became Manchester United.

It was the 151st  league derby. City have won 43, there have been 49 draws and United have won 59.

Overall there have been 168 derbies in all competitions. This was City’s 49th win with 50 draws and 69 wins for United.

This was the 35th Premier League derby and City’s 11th win with 6 draws and 18 wins for United. Although it was a close game, there has only been one draw in the last 23 Manchester derbies in all competitions (0-0 at the Etihad in November 2010).

Manchester derby omens

When was the last time one of the Manchester clubs lost the 1st Derby of the season and finished above the other in the league? @opzun

MARTIN SAYS: There have only been two occasions in the history of the Premier League when a side has won the first Manchester derby of the season and not finished higher.

The last time it happened was 2007/08 when Manchester City won the first derby of the season at the Etihad. Geovanni scored the only goal that day, but City only managed a ninth-placed finish while United went on to claim the title.

The other occasion was 2002/03 when City won 3-1 at Maine Road (Nicolas Anelka and a Shaun Goater brace) live on Sky Sports, and again they went on to finish ninth, while United took the title.

On both occasions City won the title, they won the first derby of the season and in their 17 meetings there have only been those two occasions when the winner of the first derby did not finish higher. In the Premier League years, on the only two occasions that City have finished above Manchester United they had to win title to do so.

06/12/1992: Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City – United finished higher

07/11/1993: Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United – United finished higher

10/11/1994: Manchester United 5-0 Manchester City – United finished higher

14/10/1995: Manchester United 1-0 Manchester City – United finished higher

18/11/2000: Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United – United finished higher

09/11/2002: Manchester City 3-1 Manchester United – United finished higher

13/12/2003: Manchester United 3-1 Manchester City – United finished higher

07/11/2004: Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City – United finished higher

10/09/2005: Manchester United 1-1 Manchester City – United finished higher

09/12/2006: Manchester United 3-1 Manchester City – United finished higher

19/08/2007: Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United – United finished higher

30/11/2008: Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United – United finished higher

20/09/2009: Manchester United 4-3 Manchester City – United finished higher

10/11/2010: Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United – United finished higher

23/10/2011: Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City – City finished higher

09/12/2012: Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United – United finished higher

22/09/2013: Manchester City  4-1 Manchester United – City finished higher

Saints start

Hi. Southampton currently have 22 points from 10 games. Has any team ever started a season this well and not gone on to finish in the top four? If so, what is the lowest any Premier League team has finished after amassing this many points 10 games into the season?  Thanks, Matt

MARTIN SAYS: With the help of Opta, I can tell you that Southampton are the 13th team in Premier League history to record exactly 22 points from their first 10 matches and nine of those teams went on to finish inside the top four.

All of those teams finished inside the top half of the table with the lowest finish coming from Wigan Athletic in 2005/06. They had a flying start to the season, picking up 22 points from their first 10 games and then only picking up a further 29 points in the rest of their campaign.

The other teams to pick up 22 points in their first 10 games and not finish inside the top four are Aston Villa (finished sixth in 1998/99), Newcastle (finished fifth in 2011/12) and Manchester City – see above - (finished ninth in 2007/08).

Teams with exactly 22 points after 10 games

1997/98: Arsenal – Went on to finish 1st

1998/99: Aston Villa - Went on to finish 6th

1999/00: Leeds – Went on to finish 3rd

2001/02: Liverpool – Went on to finish 2nd

2003/04: Man Utd – Went on to finish 3rd

2004/05: Everton – Went on to finish 4th

2005/06: Wigan – Went on to finish 10th

2007/08: Man City – Went on to finish 6th

2009/10: Arsenal – Went on to finish 3rd

2009/10: Man Utd – Went on to finish 2nd

2011/12: Newcastle – Went on to finish 5th

2011/12: Tottenham – Went on to finish 4th

2012/13: Man City – Went on to finish 2nd

Fab assists

Hi Martin. Cesc Fabregas has made 9 assists in just 10 apps in the Premier League so far this season. Sure it's a great start from our creator and he can match Thierry Henry's record for most goal assists in a single Premier League season; but who is the player gave the most assists for his team mates in the first 10 games in a single Premier League season all history? Toma (Chelsea Fan From Egypt)

MARTIN SAYS: Good question – and we have a great answer for you. Only once before in the history of the Premier League have Opta credited a player with nine assists in the first 10 games of a Premier League season.

The season in question was 2009/10 and the player in question was… Cesc Fabregas. When he was an Arsenal player he started the season in similar style to this campaign.

No other player has offered that many assists in the first 10 games. Thierry Henry provided eight assists in the 2004/05 season – and that wasn’t even the season when he set the record to which you refer. That record was set in 2002/03 when he provided 23 assists.

There have only been 20 occasions in Premier League history when a single player has produced more than five assists in the first 10 games – and Cesc Fabregas has managed it three times! We’ve also seen four players do it this season – Fabregas, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Leighton Baines and Dusan Tadic.

Players with more than five assists in opening 10 games of a Premier League season:

NINE

Cesc Fàbregas (2014/2015 and 2009/2010)

EIGHT

Thierry Henry (2004/2005)

SEVEN

Ruel Fox (1994/1995)

Gylfi Sigurdsson (2014/2015)

Nolberto Solano (1999/2000)

SIX

Leighton Baines (2014/2015)

Nick Barmby (1995/1996)

Dennis Bergkamp (1997/1998)

Didier Drogba (2010/2011)

Cesc Fàbregas (2007/2008)

David Ginola (1995/1996)

Muzzy Izzet (2003/2004)

Danny Murphy (2005/2006)

Nani (2010/2011)

Samir Nasri (2011/2012)

Alan Shearer (1994/1995)

David Silva (2011/2012)

Dusan Tadic (2014/2015)

Robin van Persie (2009/2010)

Plenty of players

Which team has had the most players play for them in Premier League history? Jordan Eyre

MARTIN SAYS: With the help of Opta I can tell you that the answer to your question is West Ham. This is only their 19th season in the Premier League (seven teams are in their 23rd season) and yet they have used 21 more players than any other side, the most recents being Morgan Amalfitano, Carl Jenkinson and Alex Song.

Four other teams have used more than 200 players – Manchester City, Tottenham, Sunderland and Chelsea – while the next Aston Villa debutant will see them move up to 200 players used.

Remarkably, Arsenal have only used 172 players in their 23 Premier League seasons (Hector Bellerin is the most recent) and Manchester United have used even fewer. They have had just 162 players in the Premier League era (Tom Thorpe’s injury-time debut against West Ham makes him their most recent).

Team that have used the most players in Premier League history:

West Ham United: 233 (Morgan Amalfitano, Carl Jenkinson, Alex Song)

Manchester City: 212 (Willy Caballero)

Tottenham: 211 (Federico Fazio)

Sunderland: 209 (Billy Jones)

Chelsea: 202 (Kurt Zouma)

Aston Villa: 199 (Joe Cole)

Newcastle: 194 (Mehdi Abeid)

Everton: 191 (Tyias Browning)

Liverpool: 188 (Adam Lallana)

Southampton: 180 (Sadio Mané)