Liverpool: Is Brendan Rodgers better than Jurgen Klopp?
- Published
- comments
Do Norwegian players have the upper hand over Brazilians in the Premier League? Where does Ryan Shawcross rank in the own-goals table? And is Brendan Rodgers actually better than Jurgen Klopp?
We try to answer those questions and take a look at some of the other interesting stats from the weekend.
Norway? No way!
Argentine Premier League players past and present had something to chirp about when Nicolas Otamendi scored for Manchester City in Saturday's 5-0 win over Crystal Palace.
The 29-year-old scored the 400th goal by an Argentine in the competition. By contrast, Brazilians have only supplied 322. If only Diego Costa had not chosen Spain, eh?
But where do Argentina rank in the 'Table of nations to have scored goals in the Premier League, not including UK and Ireland'?
Eighth. A lowly eighth.
Here are your top five:
Yes, Norwegians have scored more goals (507) in the English top flight than Argentines, Brazilians, Italians (407) and Belgians (434).
Forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer weighed in with a hefty 92 goals during his time with Manchester United. Ex-Chelsea striker Tore Andre Flo, John Carew (Aston Villa and Stoke) and Bournemouth striker Joshua King have added to the tally, and are among the 36 Norwegians to have scored since the competition began in the 1992-93 season.
'You're not yet bad enough for this club, Ryan'
He is a Stoke City stalwart. He has put his body on the line for the club he has captained for more than nine years. Ryan Shawcross is a true braveheart of a defender.
So what do we do? We see where he ranks in the all-time Premier League own-goals charts. Harsh, but necessary for this piece.
The 29-year-old scored an 81st-minute own goal and Bournemouth's second in Saturday's 2-2 draw to join a group of players who have found their own net on five occasions in the Premier League. That list includes former England internationals Phil Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Neil Ruddock.
He will need to ramp up the mishaps to dislodge the king of the own goals.
Premier League all-time own-goal kings | |
---|---|
Richard Dunne (Everton, Man City & Aston Villa) | 10 |
Martin Skrtel (Liverpool) | 7 |
Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) | 7 |
Frank Sinclair (Chelsea & Leicester) | 6 |
Wes Brown (Man Utd & Sunderland) | 6 |
Phil Jagielka (Sheff Utd & Everton) | 6 |
West Brom remember how to score
Salomon Wrong-don? Hal Robson-Kan-u-score?
The Baggies must have been wondering when their goal drought was going to end. They arrived at Turf Moor having gone five league games without finding the net.
But after 530 minutes of not hearing the sound of synthetic leather against their opponents' polypropylene nets, Salomon Rondon ended the barren run in the second half of Saturday's 2-2 draw against Burnley.
But the pain felt by Baggies fans is nothing compared to what the supporters of these clubs experienced:
Team | Games without a goal |
---|---|
Crystal Palace (1994-95 season) | 9 |
Derby County (2007-08) | 7 |
Ipswich Town (1994-95) | 7 |
Sunderland (2016-17) | 7 |
Everton fans have on two occasions seen their side go six league games without a goal (1994-95 and 2005-06).
Home discomforts
It appears it will be all's well that ends well having avoided a comedy of errors for Craig Shakespeare since he took the hot seat at Leicester. Apologies.
On Saturday, he became only the fourth manager to win his first five home Premier League games as the Foxes beat Watford 3-0. The champions had the ignominy of being labelled 'relegation-threatened' until the former assistant came in and changed their fortunes.
However, he lags behind home-win expert Manuel Pellegrini, who won his first 11 games at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium.
But which managers have the worst record?
Step forward, or back, Chris Ramsey (QPR, 2014-15), Mick McCarthy (Sunderland, 2002-03) and Terry Connor (Wolves, 2011-12) - all three failed to win a single point in their first five home games. Their sides were relegated that season - which was more costly than a pound of flesh.
And finally...
Before Sunday's game against Southampton, current Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and ex-boss Brendan Rodgers had identical Premier League records after their first 65 games in charge of the Reds: W33 D18 L14 (117 points).
We know Klopp drew his 66th game against Southampton.
How did Brendan do?
He won his.