EPL

Premier League data dive: De Bruyne and Son become centurions as top-four race hots up

By Sports Desk April 08, 2023

Manchester City put pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal ahead of their trip to Liverpool on Sunday with an emphatic 4-1 victory at Southampton.

Erling Haaland's double took him to 30 Premier League goals in 27 games, just 70 shy of Son Heung-min's career total in his eighth season in England after the South Korea international made history on Saturday.

The race for the other top-four places behind Arsenal and City saw Manchester United and Newcastle United both win, while Tottenham remain three points back after riding their luck against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Stats Perform looks at some of the more notable Opta numbers to come out of the pick of Saturday's Premier League action.

Manchester United 2-0 Everton: Wasteful Red Devils still win comfortably

After goals from Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial either side of half-time, United have won 39 Premier League games against Everton, the joint-most one side have against another in the competition's history (also 39 wins for United against Spurs).

Erik ten Hag's men have won 23 of their 28 home games in all competitions this season (D3 L2), their highest total of wins in a single campaign at Old Trafford since 2010-11 (26).

As they continue to fight relegation, Everton have won just one of their last 17 away Premier League games (D7 L9) and remain winless on the road since a 2-1 victory at Southampton in October (11 games since).

McTominay's strike was his fifth in five games for club and country, as many as in his previous 106 appearances for United and Scotland combined.

Ten Hag bemoaned his side's wastefulness as United failed to convert seven big chances – six of which came in the first half – their joint-highest total on record (since 2010-11) in a league match (also seven vs Sunderland in December 2012).

 

Brentford 1-2 Newcastle United: Bees stung by Magpies

Brentford started well in this one but ultimately failed to win a Premier League game in which they had opened the scoring for the first time (P26 W19 D6 L1), while Newcastle have lost just one of their last five away league games in which they have conceded first (W2 D2), winning the last two.

Eddie Howe has won exactly 100 Premier League points as Newcastle boss (P56 W28 D16 L12), with only fan favourite Kevin Keegan needing fewer games (51) to reach that milestone.

Ivan Toney became just the fourth player to score home and away against Newcastle in a Premier League campaign having previously played for them in the competition, following Louis Saha (2001-02), Craig Bellamy (2008-09) and Abdoulaye Faye (2008-09).

Before netting from the spot, though, Toney failed to score a penalty for the first time since October 2018 for Peterborough United against Barnsley when he saw his first effort saved by Nick Pope, having scored 24 successive penalties before Saturday (excluding shoot-outs).

A David Raya own goal drew Newcastle level, then Alexander Isak scored his eighth Premier League goal to take the points. Seven of those have either drawn Newcastle level (two) or given them the lead (five).

Tottenham 2-1 Brighton and Hove Albion: Son reaches landmark while Seagulls are left to fume

Brighton suffered their first defeat in eight Premier League games on the road (W4 D3) since a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City in October, although they will be tempted to lay a lot of the blame at the door of the officials.

Seagulls boss Roberto Di Zerbi was furious with two goals being ruled out for alleged handballs, while Kaoru Mitoma was also denied what looked like a very good shout for a penalty. The Italian then became the first manager to be sent off twice in the Premier League this season. Cristian Stellini was also dismissed.

For Son, though, it was a landmark day as his terrific opener made him the first Asian player to score 100 Premier League goals, while he is just the 10th player in the league's history to score 100 goals and register 50 assists for one team – and the first to do so for Spurs.

Lewis Dunk equalised in his 200th Premier League appearance, with each of the last four players to mark that milestone in such a way now having been centre-backs  (also Kurt Zouma, Virgil van Dijk and Ben Mee).

But after the controversy at the other end, Harry Kane won it for Tottenham with his 10th goal in 12 appearances for the club against Brighton in all competitions. The Seagulls are the ninth team he has reached double-figures against in his career, along with Leicester City, Everton, Arsenal, Southampton, West Ham, Burnley, Crystal Palace and Stoke City.

 

Southampton 1-4 Manchester City

Kevin De Bruyne was back to his sensational best at St Mary's, registering his 100th Premier League assist, making him the fifth player to reach that mark and doing so in fewer appearances (237) than any of the previous four.

Haaland's brace, including an outrageous bicycle kick, meant he has scored 44 goals in all competitions for City this season – the joint-most ever by a Premier League player in a single campaign, level with Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002-03) and Mohamed Salah (2017-18).

De Bruyne laid on the opener and has assisted seven Premier League goals for Haaland this season, the most one City player has ever assisted for another in a single campaign.

Jack Grealish teed up the other Haaland goal and also got on the scoresheet. He has now been involved in 10 goals in 15 league games since the World Cup (four goals, six assists). Only Haaland (14) has been involved in more for Pep Guardiola's team in that time, while it is three more than Grealish managed in his first 34 appearances for City (four goals, three assists).

Julian Alvarez replaced Haaland and dispatched a second-half penalty, becoming the fifth different City player to score as a substitute in the Premier League this season, with only United and Wolves (six) having more.

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  • 'Call it a day' – Casemiro told to quit Man Utd after hapless Palace display 'Call it a day' – Casemiro told to quit Man Utd after hapless Palace display

    Casemiro has been told to quit Manchester United after producing a dire display in Monday's 4-0 loss at Crystal Palace, with Jamie Carragher saying the Brazilian can no longer cut it at the top level.

    United produced arguably their worst performance of the season on Monday, with Michael Olise scoring twice as Palace hammered Erik ten Hag's injury-hit side at Selhurst Park.

    With Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof all sidelined, Casemiro played as a makeshift centre-back alongside Jonny Evans and endured a nightmare outing. 

    The Brazilian was beaten all too easily by Olise for Palace's opener, then was outmuscled by Daniel Munoz for Olise's second goal just after the hour mark.

    Carragher believes the time has come for the five-time Champions League winner to step away from the top level, saying a move to MLS or the Saudi Pro League should be on the cards. 

    "I think Casemiro should know himself, as an experienced player, that he should only have three games left at a top level," Carragher said in his role as Sky Sports pundit. 

    "Then he should say, 'I'm going to head to MLS or Saudi'. His agent or the team around him need to tell him. We're watching one of the greats of the modern time.

    "But I always remember something when I retired, a saying I'll always remember, 'leave the football before the football leaves you'. 

    "The football's left him at this top level. He needs to call it a day at this level of football and move."

    Casemiro has struggled throughout his second season at Old Trafford. Last campaign, the former Real Madrid star won possession 8.68 times per 90 minutes, on average, in the Premier League, also managing 1.44 interceptions per game.

    Both of those figures are down this term, with Casemiro only winning possession back 6.14 times and making 0.84 interceptions per 90 minutes. 

    Since the turn of the year, meanwhile, United have faced a Premier League-high 317 shots, while only West Ham (36.35), Luton Town (35.78), Burnley (31.88) and Sheffield United (31.6) have allowed opponents to generate more expected goals (xG) than their 31.47.

    Ten Hag, however, refused to single out Casemiro for criticism after Monday's match, saying: "You can't put this down to one player, it's a team performance."

    Casemiro has been dribbled past on 52 occasions in the Premier League this season, with only eight players being beaten by opponents more often in the competition.

  • Eriksen says Man Utd players must take blame for Selhurst Park rout Eriksen says Man Utd players must take blame for Selhurst Park rout

    Christian Eriksen believes Manchester United's players must take the blame after their miserable season hit a new low with Monday's 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

    Erik ten Hag's injury-hit Red Devils were torn apart by Palace as Michael Olise scored a wonderful brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell.

    United's 13th loss of the Premier League season – their most in a league campaign since 1989-90 (16) – leaves them eighth in the table and facing an uphill battle to qualify for Europe.

    They have now conceded 81 goals across all competitions this season, their most in a single campaign since they shipped the same number in 1976-77.

    While the manner of the defeat will only raise further questions about Ten Hag's future at Old Trafford, Eriksen says the players are primarily responsible.  

    "It's a big disappointment. We just had an off-day, and we weren't in it," the midfielder told BBC Sport.

    "It is what it is. We can't really change the injury things. We have to do what we can on the pitch to change it. Today it didn't matter who we played, everyone could have done better.

    "I don't know what the conclusion is for how it went. We weren't good enough. We tried to do what we could but we were not good enough. We'll take the blame as players."

    Since the start of last season, only Nottingham Forest (five) have lost more away Premier League games by a margin of four or more goals than United (three), with the Red Devils also going down 4-0 at Brentford and 7-0 at Liverpool last term.

    They now trail sixth-placed Newcastle United by two points and are behind seventh-placed Chelsea on goal difference, with fixtures against Arsenal, Brighton and Hove Albion and Newcastle to come this season. 

  • 'I will keep fighting' - Ten Hag adamant he is the right manager for Man Utd 'I will keep fighting' - Ten Hag adamant he is the right manager for Man Utd

    Erik ten Hag insists that he is the right man for the job at Manchester United despite their 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Crystal Palace on Monday.

    Michael Olise netted twice against a sorry United team at Selhurst Park, with Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell also getting on the scoresheet.

    It is the first time that Palace have done the double over the Red Devils in the Premier League, as United extended their winless run on the road to five games.

    There has been a lot of speculation over Ten Hag’s future following a disappointing second campaign in charge, with just one year left on his contract.

    Asked if he was the right manager for United, he told Sky Sports: "Absolutely. If the right players are there and available, we have a good squad, but are missing the whole backline – we had problems.

    "I will keep fighting. I prepared the team in the best way I could do. It was not good enough, by far – I have to take responsibility for that. But I will find energy and prepare them for Sunday’s game.

    "At the end of the day, I have to do it with the players who are available. All season, we have huge [injury] problems. Many times we have sorted it out. Today we didn’t."

    United have struggled with injury problems all season, with Harry Maguire and club captain Bruno Fernandes joining the lengthy list of players missing against Palace.

    Ten Hag highlighted the lack of defensive options at his disposal but did not make excuses for the poor performance, adding: "It’s clear and obvious – this is underperforming. It’s not good enough. We are very disappointed in this. Our fans were behind us all the way – we should have kept fighting like the fans did.

    "There are always reasons. Everyone sees our backline, we have huge problems, but at the end of the day we have to deal with it – we should have done better than we did.

    "We know [how damaging it could be], but we have nine points to play, so we have to fight for the nine points."

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