Like a lot, we've been playing about with the Stats Zone app and we've been wondering what might happen this weekend. Here's some thoughtsâ¦
Can Man City â and Michel Vorm â keep it up?
Against Swansea on Monday night, Manchester City registered an astonishing 15 shots on target â more than any team managed in any game last season, and more than the combined 13 managed last weekend by the traditional Big Four (Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool). Tip of the hat, then, to the Jacks' new goalkeeper Michel Vorm â but also a word of warning to the rest of the league.
Sergio Aguero may have grabbed the headlines but it was City's previous acquisition from la Liga, David Silva, who pulled the strings â look at his pass map to see how he roamed far and wide (remember, in Stats Zone the team always attacks towards the right). Meanwhile, Yaya Toure â another la Liga emigré â had more shots (10) than any other player this weekend. Bolton beware.
Meet Arsenal's key man⦠Bacary Sagna?!
While public attention dwells on how (or if) Arsneal can replace Cesc Fabregas and possibly Samir Nasri, their key man for the visit of Liverpool might be a humble right-back. At Anfield last Saturday Liverpool focused much of their play down the left flank â see the blue arrows on the crosses map.
Sunderland dealt well with the threat, with 15 successful tackles out of 16, heavily weighted towards their own right-back area. For his part, Downing was only successful in one of his three "take-ons" and later switched to the right flank⦠another worry for Arsenal, whose left-back department is understaffed after the sale of Gael Clichy and injury to Kieran Gibbs.
Has Harry found a way to thwart Man U?
Harry Redknapp has been guiding teams to victory against Manchester United for almost three decades, from Bournemouth's shock FA Cup defeat of the holders back in 1984 through the "waving Barthez" Old Trafford win with West Ham. He's yet to register a similarly iconic win over Alex Ferguson with Spurs, but the signs are that they might frustrate the champions on Monday night.
We've already noted how United only registered one shot on target last weekend, despite their 2-1 win. Last time they met Spurs, in January, they managed just seven shots in total â their second-lowest of the season â and completed just 58% of their passes in the attacking third, their worst success rate of the campaign. Of course, this may mean they now romp to a 6-0 win â but if not, don't say the stats didn't warn youâ¦
Stats Zone is brought to you by FourFourTwo and powered by data from Opta. It's free to download and play with last season's stats; there's an entirely reasonable ã2.49 charge for live stats from this season, updated in-game.More info on Stats Zone here
