Friday 4 November 2016 21:00, UK
This week Martin Tyler's stats and facts column looks at players with the most headed Premier League goals, teams who win the most points from losing positions and the record for the most yellow cards in consecutive games.
Send your questions to Martin
1. Use the feedback form at the bottom of this page.
2. Tweet @SkyFootball using the hashtag #TylersTeasers
Martin’s Starting Stats
Branislav Ivanovic has now scored three goals in his last five games in all competitions and his goal against PSG was his seventh in the competition since 2009, more than any other defender.
Chelsea’s opener was the fourth Champions League goal this season to be both scored and assisted by a defender and the second for an English side (Kieran Gibbs’ goal for Arsenal v Anderlecht was assisted by Calum Chambers).
Eden Hazard was fouled nine times in this match; the most by a player in a Champions League game this season.
PSG have only lost one of their last nine Champions League knockout games (W4 D4), but that was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in April 2014. They are unbeaten in their last 33 home games in European competition (W22 D11), the longest ever run for a French club.
Jose Mourinho has only lost one of his 16 Champions League games against French clubs (W11 D4) – and remember you can see the second leg of this Champions League match live on Sky Sports.
Bouncing back
I went to Crystal Palace’s game with Newcastle last night and it occurred to me we always seem to go behind, but often come back and get points. Has any other team got more points from losing positions than we do this season? (Richard, London)
MARTIN SAYS: Crystal Palace’s second-half equaliser in their 1-1 draw against Newcastle at Selhurst Park on Wednesday was the 15th point they have earned from a losing position so far this campaign.
The other games Palace rescued points from after trailing in games this season were in the corresponding fixture with Newcastle (a 3-3 draw), the 3-2 win at Everton (a), the 3-1 win over Liverpool (h), the 1-1 draw with Swansea (a), the 2-1 win over Tottenham (h) and the 3-2 win at Burnley (a).
No other Premier League team has earned more points from losing positions this season. However, Tottenham have ALSO earned 15 points from losing positions. Those came in the 2-1 win over Aston Villa (a), the 2-1 win at Hull (a), the 2-1 win over Everton (h), the famous 5-3 success over Chelsea (h) and of course the 2-1 north London derby win over Arsenal (h).
Champions Manchester City have managed to recover 11 points from losing situations. Meanwhile, both Chelsea and Newcastle have accumulated 10 points after being behind in the Premier League in 2014/15.
I will never forget Palace’s 3-3 draw with Liverpool at the end of last season; one of the greatest comebacks we’ve ever seen on Sky Sports. The spirit of that famous night has carried over to this season.
Heads I win
Has anyone scored more Premier League headers than Peter Crouch? #TylersTeasers (Minimillso)
MARTIN SAYS: According to our friends at Opta, only one player has score more Premier League headers than Peter Crouch. Alan Shearer actually tops the charts at present with 46 headed goals in his Premier League career.
Crouch’s header against Man City last week took him to 45 headed goals, level with former Coventry and Aston Villa striker Dion Dublin. That means Crouch needs just one more Premier League header to match the record and two to break it.
Completing the top 10 are six more forwards and a midfielder: Les Ferdinand (40), Dwight Yorke (38), Duncan Ferguson (36), Teddy Sheringham (36), Tim Cahill (31), Robbie Fowler (28) and Andrew Cole (27).
I recall that before our live game on New Year’s Day, Crouch was interviewed by Geoff Shreeves and spoke of his desire to get 100 Premier League goals. He is on 94 and is clearly ticking them off in his head – in fact his next non-header will be his 50th without his head, which shows he is not a one-dimensional player. I do the introductions for the Sky Sports show The 100 Club – and I’m looking forward to getting the words ready for our programme on Peter’s century!
Rock bottom
Leicester have been bottom of the league since the last week of November, but has a team ever been bottom for a longer run and still avoided the drop come the end of the season? (Sam, Leicester)
MARTIN SAYS: Nigel Pearson’s side fell to the foot of the Premier League standings on November 29 and regardless of upcoming results (and the fact they do not play on the weekend of February 28/March 1), Leicester will still hold that position on March 4.
That will be 95 consecutive days on the bottom of the Premier League. They could move off the bottom on March 4 if they pick up results away at Everton and Manchester City and other results go their way.
Ominously for Leicester, however, no side has ever spent 100 consecutive days bottom of the Premier League and survived.
However, there is hope for all you Leicester fans out there – and it comes from the West Bromwich Albion side of 2004/05.
That team slipped to the bottom of the Premier League on 27 November 2004. However by March 6 2005, some 99 days later, manager Bryan Robson - who had replaced Gary Megson in the Hawthorns dugout the previous November - had managed to steer the club away from the bottom of the table.
And West Brom went on to finish the season in 17th place after beating Portsmouth 2-0 in their final match to avoid relegation by one point.
It was all yellow…
Joey Barton was booked for the seventh straight game. Is that a record (Ken, Manchester)
MARTIN SAYS: Barton’s yellow card at Sunderland last week, his seventh in a row for Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League, was indeed a new - and rather unwanted - record. According to Opta, no other player has been booked in seven consecutive Premier League appearances before.
Two other players have been booked in SIX straight games. Those players are Newcastle’s Cheick Tiote (across two seasons 2010/11 – 2011/12) and Aston Villa’s Ciaran Clark (2010/11).
Villa flat up front
After Villa’s latest failure to score at Hull I see they have now managed just 12 goals in their 25 league games this season – is that a record for this stage of a campaign? (Burt, Surrey)
MARTIN SAYS: We are revisiting this run because we get a lot of questions about Aston Villa’s poor form – and I apologise to fans for returning to the subject. Commiserations to Paul Lambert, who could not have tried harder to sort the problem out, and good luck to Tim Sherwood in his quest for improvement.
But yes Villa do now hold the record for the fewest number of goals after 25 matches of a Premier League season, one less than Derby had at the same stage seven years ago.
Other low-scoring teams after 25 games of a Premier League campaign are Watford, who managed just 14 goals in 2006/07, and the likes of Sunderland, Bradford and Manchester City, who all netted only 16 times in 2002/03, 2000/01 and 1995/96 respectively.
And finally both Portsmouth - in the 2005/06 campaign - and Leicester – in the 2001/02 season - had scored a measly 17 goals after 25 fixtures.
