Manchester City’s winning run came to an end following a disappointing derby defeat this weekend where goals from Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw guided the Red side to a 2-nil victory, whilst Liverpool’s fortunes went from bad to worse following a staggering sixth consecutive loss on home soil.
Elsewhere Granit Xhaka gifted Burnley a point with a moment of madness at Turf Moor, whilst Gareth Bale’s renaissance continued with a new-look forward line offering huge promise for Jose Mourinho and Tottenham.
Meanwhile, with the help of OPTA stats, we have gathered some mouthwatering stats from this round of matches.
• 3 – West Ham have won three consecutive home Premier League matches for the first time since March 2019, while David Moyes has registered three victories in a row at home in the competition for the first time since winning his last six with Everton in 2013.
• 4 – Jesse Lingard has scored four goals in six Premier League appearances for West Ham, as many as he netted in his previous 38 games in the competition for Man Utd.
• 7 – Since Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge of Chelsea (27th Jan 2021), no goalkeeper playing for a top five European league side has kept more clean sheets in all competitions than Edouard Mendy (7).
• 53 – Everton have scored 53 own goals in the Premier League, seven more than any other side in the competition’s history.
• 5 – Fulham’s 1-0 win at Anfield was only the fifth time in Premier League history a newly-promoted side has beaten the reigning champions away from home, with Fulham the first side to do so since Bournemouth beat Chelsea 1-0 back in December 2015.
• 100 – Harry Kane’s second goal of the evening was Tottenham’s 100th goal in all competitions this season, becoming the second club in Europe’s big-five leagues to reach that tally in 2020-21, after Bayern Munich (106).
• 13 – Tottenham’s Harry Kane has assisted 13 Premier League goals this season, more than any other player. Indeed, only Christian Eriksen (15 in 2016-17) and Darren Anderton (14 in 1994-95) have ever provided more in a season in the competition for Spurs.
• 28 – Manchester City were beaten for the first time since November 2020 (0-2 v Spurs), ending a run of 28 games without defeat across all competitions for Pep Guardiola’s side.
• 1 – Among the 67 managers Pep Guardiola has faced more than three times across all competitions as a top-flight boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjær is the only one to have beaten the Spaniard (4) more often than he has lost to Guardiola (3).
• 20 – This is the first time in 20 Premier League games that Manchester City have fallen behind at any stage, having last done so in their 2-0 defeat to Tottenham in November.
• 6 – Liverpool have lost each of their last six home games in the Premier League – the first season they’ve suffered six home league defeats since 1953-54 (6) when they finished bottom, and also the last campaign in which they were relegated.
• 13 – West Brom manager Sam Allardyce has won 13 Premier League matches against Newcastle United (D4 L7), two more than he has against any other opponent
• 2 – Conor Coady has had a shot on target in his last two Premier League games, after not registering a single one in his first 102 appearances in the competition.
• 32 – Adam Lallana’s strike was his first goal in 32 Premier League appearances, since netting against Manchester United for Liverpool in October 2019.
• 7 – James Ward-Prowse has scored seven goals in all competitions this season, his joint-best return in a single campaign for Southampton. Six of these seven goals have come from dead-ball situations (5 direct free-kicks, 1 penalty).