Premier League lovers were able to watch just four fixtures this weekend as the FA Cup’s quarter-finals took place, though there was some excellent viewing including an entertaining 3-3 derby draw between West Ham and Arsenal.
Elsewhere Newcastle’s relegation fears became worse as the Magpies were thrashed by fellow relegation strugglers Brighton, whilst Leeds won at Fulham and Tottenham returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory at Villa Park.
It’s that time of the week again where we bring you some interesting stats from the weekend’s action with the help of Opta data.
• 4 – Tottenham have won four of their last five Premier League games (L1), as many as their previous 15 league matches beforehand (W4 D4 L7). Recovery.
• 1 – Aston Villa have won just one of their six Premier League games in which Jack Grealish has not featured this season (17% – D2 L3), compared to a 50% win rate in their 22 league matches with him in the side this term (W11 D3 L8).
• 30 – Harry Kane has been directly involved in 30 goals in the Premier League this season (17 goals, 13 assists), while only Robert Lewandowski (41) has scored or assisted more across the top five European leagues in 2020-21.
• 3 – This was the third Premier League game this season in which a team has led by 3+ goals and failed to win (also West Brom 3-3 Chelsea and Tottenham 3-3 West Ham); the only other Premier League campaign to see three such instances is 2010-11.
• 11 – Alexandre Lacazette has scored his 11th league goal of the last season, one more than he netted in the entirety of 2019-20.
• 2019 – Craig Dawson is the first player to score an own goal in consecutive Premier League appearances since Conor Coady in January 2019, and the first to do so for West Ham.
• 1998 – Tomas Soucek is the first player to score both a goal and an own goal in the same home Premier League game for West Ham since Frank Lampard v Leicester at Upton Park in November 1998.
• 5 – Jesse Lingard has scored his fifth goal against Arsenal in all competitions, the most he has netted against any opponent in his professional career.
• 2 – Brighton have scored two goals from outside the box in a Premier League game for the first time, last doing so in league competition in April 2017 against QPR.
• 7 – Newcastle have faced Brighton without ever winning more often than other opponent in the Premier League (D4 L3), with the Magpies netting just one goal in these seven games.
• 10 – Fulham have lost 10 league games at Craven Cottage this season, with only Sheffield United (11) losing more home games in the Premier League this season. The last campaign in which Fulham lost more home league games was 2013-14 (11).
• 7 – This was Leeds United’s seventh away win in the Premier League this season, the most by a newly-promoted side since 2005-06, when Wigan Athletic won eight and West Ham won seven.
• 13 – No player has been directly involved in more away goals in this season’s Premier League than Patrick Bamford (13 – 9 goals, 4 assists; level with Bruno Fernandes).
• 11 – Leeds United have conceded 11 Premier League goals from corner situations this season, at least three more than any other side.
• 16 – Leeds are winless in their last 16 away games against London sides in all competitions since a 3-1 win at QPR in December 2017 (D2 L14). The Whites have lost all five of their games in the capital this season, conceding 16 goals along the way.