Stat, Viz, Quiz is the Opta Analyst football newsletter. This week’s edition looks at Tottenham’s record against Manchester United, Manchester City’s Champions League mountain, and early hat-tricks.
As Erling Haaland stroked home his penalty to put Manchester City 2-1 up against Real Madrid last Tuesday, Pep Guardiola’s side looked on course to be taking a lead into their UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off second leg.
Twelve minutes later, City were staring into the abyss of elimination.
After their late comeback, Madrid will have a 3-2 advantage when they host City at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday, and in this week’s SVQ we’ll see if the Premier League side can have any hope of turning things around.
City did win at the weekend, though, as did Tottenham, who beat Manchester United 1-0 to record their first home victory in the league since early November. It was the third time Spurs have gotten the better of United this season, and we’ll look at other examples of one-sided head-to-heads over a single campaign.
We also have an Ask Opta question about hat-tricks, and a quiz to test your ball knowledge (that’s still what the kids call it, right?)
Let’s kick things off at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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It has been a troubling season for Tottenham, to say the least.
Ange Postecoglou has struggled with poor form and an even poorer injury record from his squad to find themselves looking down at the relegation zone more often than up at the European spots.
They came into their game with Manchester United having not won any of their last seven home matches in the Premier League (D2 L5), but if the harsh nickname of ‘Dr Tottenham’ has haunted the north London side throughout this campaign – due to their knack of losing to other out-of-form teams – they must be looking at United as the finest medical professional they could hope for.
Spurs have faced Man Utd three times this season and have won all three meetings. A 3-0 win at Old Trafford in the league was followed by a 4-3 home victory in the EFL Cup quarter-finals. Sunday’s 1-0 success thanks to James Maddison’s early goal made it a hat-trick of wins over them, which meant Spurs became the first side to win three separate games against Man Utd in a single season in all competitions since Chelsea in 2012-13.
It was also the first time Spurs have completed a league double over United since 1989-90 under Terry Venables, a season in which they also beat them three times, having dumped the Red Devils out of the EFL Cup at the third-round stage.
It got us thinking; what is the most often a team has beaten another in a single season?
In total, there have been 22 examples of English top-flight teams beating the same opponent on four occasions in a single season.
That includes Tottenham again, who beat Manchester City four times in one campaign, though it was in 1992-93, so not quite as impressive as if they’d done so recently.
The first example was Ipswich Town beating Wolves four times in 1972-73, while no-one else did so until Arsenal’s quadruple success over Brighton in 1979-80.
Tottenham were not the biggest fans of Merseyside in 1985-86, when they lost four times each to Everton AND Liverpool, half in the league and half in the Screen Sport Super Cup.
In recent years, Chelsea beat Spurs four times in 2021-22 and Liverpool did the same to Norwich City, while the last three examples all came in 2022-23; Man City vs Chelsea, Man Utd vs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle vs Southampton.
Spurs could be the next to do it if they play Man Utd in this season’s Europa League final.
In a season of disappointment, Tottenham can take solace in knowing there is at least one team who likely fears that potential matchup.
VIZ – Last-Chance Champions League
It has been one of those seasons for Manchester City. Just as you think they’re over their crisis, something else goes wrong, especially in recent times.
Their convincing 6-0 win at Ipswich Town last month was followed by a 4-2 humbling at Paris Saint-Germain, before back-to-back wins over Chelsea and Club Brugge preceded a 5-1 thrashing at Arsenal, and then a Jekyll-and-Hyde moment even happened within one game.
After keeping Real Madrid at bay following early pressure, City had the better of things for large parts of their Champions League play-off first leg last week. They led 2-1 after Erling Haaland’s second goal of the night when he converted a penalty following Kylian Mbappé’s equaliser, but as usual in the Champions League, Madrid weren’t done yet.
Former City man Brahim Díaz equalised six minutes later, before Jude Bellingham prodded in a stoppage-time winner to put Carlo Ancelotti’s men in control ahead of the return fixture.
City have it all to do if they are to remain in the competition, but can they recover?
Real Madrid may have a stranglehold on the Champions League, but they have not been impressive in this season’s competition. Only 11 of the other 35 teams in the league phase allowed more than their 115 shots faced, while only six had a higher expected goals (xG) against total than Madrid’s 15.1.
As for City, despite finishing in a lowly position of 22nd, only two teams had more than their 148 total shots, while five recorded a higher xG for than their 18.5, though one of those was Real Madrid (19.8).
In all competitions this season, Madrid have played 16 games at the Bernabéu, winning 13, drawing one and losing two. However, perhaps Pep Guardiola can take hope from those two losses, which were a 3-1 defeat to Milan in the Champions League – a game in which the Rossoneri recorded 2.45 xG – and a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Guardiola’s former employers Barcelona.
It shows that in big games on home soil, Madrid can be got at. Of course, the La Liga giants will argue that the same is true of City, who have lost nine of their 19 away games in all competitions this season (W7 D3).
It promises to be another fascinating meeting either way, with the significant result of one of Europe’s biggest teams saying goodbye to the Champions League for this season on Wednesday night.
QUIZ – Young Gunners, Slot Success, and United Losses
Five more questions from the Premier League to tantalise the football compartment of your brain. Answers at the bottom of the page.
1. In their 2-0 win at Leicester City, Ethan Nwaneri (17 years, 331 days) became the youngest Arsenal player to assist a Premier League goal since who against Blackburn Rovers in September 2008?
2. Who is the only player to have scored more goals in a Premier League season for Ipswich Town than Liam Delap (10) has in 2024-25?
3. Which Everton player has had recorded 27 shots and 17 chances created in the Premier League this season, the most combined (44) of any player in the competition who is yet to score a goal or register an assist this term?
4. Liverpool have won 60 points in 25 Premier League matches under Arne Slot (W18 D6 L1). Who is the only manager in the competition’s history to win more points through his first 25 matches?
5. Manchester United have now lost 12 Premier League games this season. What is the only campaign in the Premier League era in which they have lost more?
Ask Opta
This week’s question comes from Matthew, who asks: “After Omar Marmoush scored a hat-trick in his third Premier League game, do you know anyone who scored one faster?”
Do you have a stats-based football question you want to Ask Opta? If so, send it to editors@theanalyst.com and we’ll do our best to provide you with the answer in a future edition of SVQ.
Answer:
Indeed, it was quite the afternoon for Marmoush. We wrote about him when he joined Man City last month, and he showed what he is all about as he tore Newcastle to shreds in the first half at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
As Matthew rightly says, the Egyptian bagged a treble in just his third Premier League game, but there are others who have done so in even fewer games.
Fans of the 90s Premier League era may well be screaming a certain Italian name at this newsletter right now, and they would be right to do so. Fabrizio Ravanelli scored a hat-trick for Middlesbrough in a 3-3 draw with Liverpool on his debut in August 1996.
Clive Mendonca scored three times in his second Premier League outing for Charlton Athletic against Southampton in a 5-0 win in August 1998, while Teemu Pukki did the same in his second top-flight game in England for Norwich City vs Newcastle United in a 3-1 victory in August 2019.
There are three more players who, like Marmoush, scored hat-tricks in their third Premier League appearance; those being Pavel Pogrebnyak (for Fulham vs Wolves in March 2012), Callum Wilson (for Bournemouth vs West Ham in August 2015) and Ollie Watkins (for Aston Villa vs Liverpool in October 2020).
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1. In their 2-0 win at Leicester City, Ethan Nwaneri (17 years, 331 days) became the youngest Arsenal player to assist a Premier League goal since who against Blackburn Rovers in September 2008.
Aaron Ramsey (17y 262d)
2. Who is the only player to have scored more goals in a Premier League season for Ipswich Town than Liam Delap (10)?
Marcus Stewart (19 goals in 2000-01)
3. Which Everton player has had 44 combined shots (27) and chances created (17) in the Premier League this season, the most of any player in the competition who is yet to score a goal or register an assist this term?
Jesper Lindstrøm
4. Liverpool have won 60 points in 25 Premier League matches under Arne Slot (W18 D6 L1). Who is the only manager in the competition’s history to win more points through his first 25 matches?
José Mourinho (64)
5. Manchester United have now lost 12 Premier League games this season. What is the only campaign in the Premier League era in which they have lost more?
2023-24 (14 losses)
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