Stat, Viz, Quiz is the Opta Analyst football newsletter. This week’s edition looks at Leicester City’s chance concession, Son Heung-min’s latest landmark, and bad goal difference.
We’ve passed the midway point of December, arguably the busiest month in the football calendar and a period that can have a huge impact on outcomes at both ends of the table.
It was a great weekend for Chelsea as the only Premier League side to start the matchday in the top four and win. While Arsenal and Liverpool drew, Manchester City lost yet again, despite leading 1-0 against rivals Manchester United as late as the 88th minute.
Son Heung-min scored for the second weekend running, this time in a 5-0 rout of Southampton at St Mary’s. In this week’s SVQ, we’ll reveal what landmark was reached by the South Korean with that strike.
We kick off with Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City, though, as he suffered his first Premier League defeat in charge of the Foxes at Newcastle United. The Dutchman has work to do at the King Power Stadium to make his side much less porous at the back.
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Leicester City fell to their first Premier League defeat under Ruud van Nistelrooy on Saturday after four points collected in his opening two games in charge of the club. The 4-0 defeat at Newcastle saw them face a barrage of shots from the Magpies, and that doesn’t seem to be an anomaly for this Leicester side under the Dutchman in its early stages.
Over Van Nistelrooy’s three Premier League matches in charge against West Ham, Brighton and Newcastle, Leicester have allowed their opponents 74 shots in total – more than any other team across their last three fixtures in the competition.
Not only have Leicester conceded the most shots in the Premier League since Van Nistelrooy’s appointment, but they have also faced the most shots on target (28).
Leicester may have won their first game under Van Nistelrooy on 3 December against West Ham, but the Hammers’ wastefulness in front of goal played a big part. Their 31 shots at the King Power Stadium was the most by a losing away team in a Premier League game since November 2010 (Chelsea attempted 32 at Birmingham City).
Since then, Leicester allowed Brighton 16 shots in the 2-2 comeback draw at home, before giving up 27 to Newcastle in the defeat at the weekend.
Only one other team has faced as many over a three-game spell in the Premier League this season, with that being Southampton, who faced 75 shots between 24 November and 4 December against Liverpool, Brighton and Chelsea. For Leicester themselves, it’s the most shots faced across three league games since September 2014 (78 vs Stoke, Chelsea and Arsenal in the Premier League).
Across their last three league games, Leicester have attempted just 22 shots themselves, meaning they have a shot differential of -52, again the worst in the division over that timeframe, while their xG total (2.74) is 5.26 less than their xG faced (8.43).
Next up for the Foxes is a home game against relegation-threatened Wolves on Sunday, before tough encounters with Liverpool and Manchester City to end 2024. Van Nistelrooy will have to shore up his defence to maximise their chances of securing much-needed points ahead of 2025.
VIZ – Nice One, Son
Son Heung-min got himself among the goals for Tottenham this weekend, but then again, who didn’t? Another thrashing for Southampton, this time 5-0 at home, saw the end of Russell Martin’s tenure at Saints.
Son’s goal was one of five in the first half as a rampant Spurs destroyed Southampton in front of their own fans. For the South Korean, it was his fifth goal of the season and 125th across his Premier League career, but more importantly – for landmark purposes, at least – it was the 100th different Premier League match that he’d scored in.
He became just the 20th player in Premier League history to score in 100 or more matches, but Son is unlikely to match the output of current record holder Alan Shearer, who scored in 193 overall.
Shearer is followed by a host of greats in the rankings: Wayne Rooney (159), Harry Kane (157), Andrew Cole (149), Frank Lampard (149) and Jermain Defoe (137), while the most by a current Premier League player is Mohamed Salah on 135 games.
Son reached his landmark tally in his 316th appearance, which was quicker than six of the other 19 to score in 100+ different Premier League games, but some way off the record set by Shearer (193 apps) back in September 1998. Sergio Agüero got the closest to surpassing Shearer but fell eight games short (201).
Son’s next target will be to move above Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Nicolas Anelka and Robbie Keane in the rankings, with that trio all scoring in 103 different Premier League games.
QUIZ – Bruno’s Penalties, Flying Forest, and Isak’s Landmark
It’s time for some football trivia questions. How many can you get right? Answers at the bottom of the page.
1. Son Heung-min assisted two of Spurs’ goals in their 5-0 win over Southampton on Sunday, taking his all-time Premier League tally to 68. Which player’s total has he now equalled as the joint-leading assist provider in the Premier League for Tottenham?
2. Bruno Fernandes has scored 21 penalties in the Premier League for Man Utd, more than any other player for the club. ...
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