The latest round of Premier League action proved a weekend of both upsets and first victories, with Thomas Tuchel securing his maiden win as Chelsea’s new head coach and Brighton finally securing a home victory by beating Tottenham.
Liverpool and Leeds secured impressive away wins at West Ham and Leicester respectively, whilst league leaders Manchester City strengthened their title challenge with an eighth consecutive league victory and yet another clean sheet.
In the meantime, we have we’ve got enough time to quickly reflect on some of the most eye-catching stats from the weekend’s action via OPTA stats.
• 3 – José Mourinho has lost all three of his away league games against Brighton at the Amex Stadium, the first time he has ever lost three consecutive away league visits to an opponent in his managerial career.
• 1 – This is the 11th time a side managed by José Mourinho has had one shot or fewer in the first half of a Premier League game, with six of those occasions coming while in charge of Spurs.
• 18 – The only Germans with more Premier League assists than Pascal Groß (18) are Mesut Özil (54), Leroy Sané (28) and Dietmar Hamann (22).
• 4 – All four of Liverpool’s away wins in the Premier League this season have been over London clubs (Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Spurs, West Ham); they are the first side in English top-flight history to pick up their first four away league wins in a season all in London.
• 29 – In Mohamed Salah’s 21 Premier League starts for Liverpool without teammate Sadio Mané, he has been directly involved in 29 goals (20 goals & nine assists).
• 15 – Patrick Bamford has been directly involved in 15 goals in his 20 Premier League games for Leeds United (11 goals, 4 assists) – only Tony Yeboah (17) has had a hand in more goals in their first 20 PL appearances for the club.
• 2 – Thomas Tuchel is the first Chelsea manager to keep a clean sheet in each of his first two Premier League games in charge since Rafael Benitez in November 2012.
• 9 – Only Harry Kane (11) and Kevin De Bruyne (10) have more Premier League assists than Jack Grealish this season (9).
• 18 – Manchester United are now unbeaten in 18 Premier League away games (W13 D5), the longest run without defeat on the road in their top-flight history.
• 1 – Martin Ødegaard is the first Norwegian to appear for Arsenal since Pal Lydersen against Tottenham in May 1993.
• 37 – Only James Milner (54) and Darius Vassell (46) have scored in more Premier League games without ending on the losing side than Man City forward Gabriel Jesus (37 – W35 D2).
• 5 – Matheus Pereira has had a direct hand in five of West Brom’s seven Premier League goals under Sam Allardyce (4 goals, 1 assist).
• 1 – After a run of 22 goals conceded without reply, West Brom have netted their very first home goal in the Premier League under Sam Allardyce, ending a run of 466 minutes without finding the back of the net on home soil in the competition.
• 3 – Crystal Palace have lost their last three matches against Wolves in all competitions, failing to score in each defeat – the Eagles have never lost four in a row against Wolves.
• 11 – Newcastle’s 2-0 victory at Everton ended a run of 11 consecutive games in all competitions without a victory (D2 L9), since beating West Bromwich Albion 2-1 in December