Dig into our favourite selection of @OptaJoe factoids for the Premier League fixtures ahead
1.Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has won just 3 of his 16 meetings with Pep Guardiola (D6 L7) – they came in La Liga and the Copa del Rey with Real Madrid, and in the Champions League with Inter.
2. Pep Guardiola didn’t win all 4 of his opening four league games in charge of Barcelona B, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. The Catalan is the first Manchester City manager to win his first 5 games in charge of the club, while Mourinho is the first manager to win his first 4 games in charge of Manchester United.
3.Arsenal haven’t lost in 21 consecutive home league games against Southampton (W15 D6), last losing back in November 1987 (0-1, thanks to Danny Wallace’s goal).
4. Mesut Ozil scored in Arsenal’s 3-1 win at Watford, but hasn’t netted a league goal at the Emirates since December.
5. Tony Pulis’s West Brom have scored just 7 goals in their last 13 Premier League games.
6. Since the start of 2010/11, Bournemouth loanee Jack Wilshere has played just 33% of the possible Premier League minutes he could have for Arsenal (6,934 from a possible 231 matches) – but he’s scored in his last two Premier League games against WBA.
7. Burnley have won 10 of their last 12 league games against Hull (L2), including winning all 4 Premier League meetings in that time. There hasn't been a draw in the last 16 league meetings between these sides.
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8.Crystal Palace have collected just 12 points from their 22 Premier League games in 2016 (W2 D6 L14).
9.Tottenham's Harry Kane has now gone 5 Premier League games without scoring, his longest wait for a goal since September 2015 (6 games). He’s scored just 1 goal during the months of August and September in his Premier League career, despite playing 16 times overall in these two months.
10.West Ham have won 11 of their last 13 home league meetings with Watford (D1 L1), though that one defeat came in the Premier League in February 2007 (0-1).
11. Michail Antonio has scored a league-high 8 headed goals since the start of last season. No English midfielder has scored more Premier League goals than Antonio since August 2015 (10 – level with Dele Alli).
12.Leicester: no reigning Premier League champions have won a league game at Liverpool's Anfield since Manchester United won 1-0 in December 2007 (D3 L5 since).
13.Chelsea have scored more goals against Swansea than any other Premier League side has (21).
14. In each of their title-winning seasons, the Blues won their opening 4 games of the Premier League campaign (2004/05, 2005/06, 2009/10 and 2014/15).
15.Everton have scored just 12 times in 15 Premier League visits to Sunderland, and never more than twice in a single match.
16. Since the start of last season, 13 of Jermain Defoe’s 17 Premier League goals have been scored away from home (76%).
Joe was the Deputy Editor at FourFourTwo until 2022, having risen through the FFT academy and been on the brand since 2013 in various capacities.
By weekend and frustrating midweek night he is a Leicester City fan, and in 2020 co-wrote the autobiography of former Foxes winger Matt Piper – subsequently listed for both the Telegraph and William Hill Sports Book of the Year awards.
