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" Murray, who had back surgery in September,
This week Martin Tylers stats and facts column looks at those teams who have enjoyed the best second half to a Premier League season, which side has had the most efforts on goal without finding the back of the net, and a whole lot more. Lance Alworth Jersey ... Send your questions to MartinTweet @SkyFootball using the hashtag #TylersTeasers Martin’s Starting StatsI was at Wembley on Sunday for the fifth League Cup meeting between Chelsea and Tottenham. They have now met in two finals, two semi-finals and one quarter final. Chelsea now lead by three successes to two.Tottenham had won the two previous League Cup encounters; the final in 2008 and the semi-final in 2002. Chelsea’s last win was in a 1991 quarter-final.In the last 60 games between Spurs and Chelsea, Chelsea have won 34 and Tottenham have won just six.Chelsea continued their run of scoring first in all their League Cup games this season and they got only their second clean sheet – they came in the semi-final second leg and the final. Good times to do them!Chelsea weren’t hit by the curse of scoring first. Six of the last nine teams to concede first, prior to Sunday, went on to lift the trophy. That included Spurs’ win in the 2008 final when they conceded first. Chelsea conceded first in both of Jose Mourinho’s previous victories in 2005 (3-2 v Liverpool) and 2007 (2-1 v Arsenal). This one went against that pattern.John Terry was Man of the Match and won the Alan Hardaker trophy 10 years after he last won it, equalling the record of Ben Foster who won it with two clubs – Manchester United and Birmingham. Terry made his 657th app and scored his 63rd goal, but only his second in the League Cup. He made his Chelsea debut in October 1998 in a League Cup win over Aston Villa. His only other League Cup goal came in October 2005 at home to Charlton in a 1-1 draw – but they lost the penalty-shoot-out.Second-half surges Liverpool are making a late surge for the Premier League top four with a fine run of form in 2015 Liverpools surge has given them a chance of the top four, but who has had the best ever second half to a Premier League season? (Mandy, the Wirral)MARTIN SAYS: In terms of both points and points per game, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal hold both those records after producing a blistering second half to their title-winning campaign of 2001/02.In that season, Wenger’s side picked up an impressive 51 points from the 19 matches they played in 2002 at a rate of 2.68 points per game.Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho’s first-ever Premier League title in charge of Chelsea in 2004/05 came on the back of a storming run of form that began with victory at Portsmouth on December 28, with the Blues going on to collect 49 points in their final 19 fixtures at 2.58 points per game.And that is the same points per game ratio as Manchester United managed under Sir Alex Ferguson in their 2008/09 title-winning campaign, while both Liverpool and United – on two other occasions – registered 2.53 PPG across the final 19 encounters of their 2013/14 and 1999/00 and 2002/03 seasons respectively.Liverpool have picked up 23 points from a possible 27 in the second half of the season so far – so if they win all of their 10 remaining fixtures they will break the record! One obstacle might be their home clash with Manchester United, which is live on Sky Sports on March 22. Join me for a 1.30pm kick-off!Points mean prizes Southampton have dropped only two points from a winning position so far this season - against Chelsea in Decemeber How many points have Southampton dropped from winning positions this season and what is the record?(Adam, Bury)MARTIN SAYS: Southampton have only dropped two points after taking the lead this season and that came against Chelsea at St Marys on December 28 when they took the lead and drew 1-1.The record for the fewest points dropped from winning positions in an entire campaign is two. However, Ronald Koeman’s men still have 10 more matches left to play this campaign, so will need to avoid dropping any more points after taking the lead to match it.Crystal Palace (1994/95), Aston Villa (1998/99), Chelsea (2004/05), Manchester City and Portsmouth (2007/08) all dropped only two points from winning positions throughout an entire season – which means they won all but one match in which they took the lead.And Sheffield Wednesday (1998/99), Charlton Athletic (2005/06), Liverpool (2006/07) and Manchester United (2008/10) allowed three points to slip from winning positions.Netting on the road Edin Dzekos goal at Anfield on Sunday was the 20th away game in a row that City have scored Manchester City have scored in each of their last 20 away league games, is this the record? (Mark, Leeds)MARTIN SAYS: It’s not quite the record, which is held by Arsenal, who scored in 27 successive away matches, which came to a halt when they lost 2-0 at Manchester United on December 7, 2002.The streak stretched back a year and a half from the penultimate league match of the 2000/01 season when they were held to a goalless draw by Newcastle.United also racked up an impressive run around the same time as they scored in 24 away league matches in a row between March 31, 2001 and September 14, 2002. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side scored in every away game during the 2001/02 season, but saw the run come to an end with a 1-0 defeat at Leeds.The last team to stop this current Manchester City team scoring away from home was Norwich City as they drew 0-0 at Carrow Road on February 8, 2014. When they’ve failed to score this season it has been in home games (they have failed to score in home matches against Arsenal and Stoke).Chelsea managed a 19-game streak that ended with a 1-0 defeat at United on November 6, 2005, while Liverpool racked up 18 in a row before losing 1-0 at Newcastle earlier this season.Manchester United and Chelsea have also secured 18-game runs.Drawing a blank Stoke midfielder Charlie Adam reacts after seeing one of his sides 17 shots fail to find the back of the net against Hull on Saturday Stoke battered Hull on Saturday – 17 shots to one – but only scored the one goal they needed to win. Which team has had the most amount of shots in a game WITHOUT scoring? (Cate, Greenwich)MARTIN SAYS: You might be surprised to hear that the 17 shots by Stoke is nowhere near the record.Opta have only been keeping data on this from the 2003/04 season onwards and the record in that period was achieved on January 29, 2014 when Chelsea had a remarkable 39 shots without scoring in their 0-0 draw with West Ham – prompting Jose Mourinho to accuse his opposition of playing “19th Century football”.Prior to that, Manchester United were leading the way as they managed 36 shots without finding the net in their goalless draw with Sunderland on April 14, 2006.Arsenal paid the price for not scoring with any of their 35 shots against West Ham on April 7, 2007 as they were beaten 1-0, while Tottenham drew 0-0 with Aston Villa on February 2, 2010 after failing to score with any of their 34 efforts.It also finished goalless between Chelsea and Newcastle on November 22, 2008 despite the Blues having 33 efforts on goal.Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea also drew blanks against Bolton Wanderers and Birmingham City in 2006 and 2010 respectively after both having 32 shots.* These stats are only from the 2003/04 season onwardsTrying ones luck from distance Jordan Henderson became the first player to score from outside the box against City this season in Liverpools 2-1 win at Anfield on Sunday I read that Manchester City conceded their first goals outside the box in the Premier League this season at Liverpool. Who has conceded the least from outside the box in a whole Premier League season? (David, Canterbury)MARTIN SAYS: No team has ever gone through an entire Premier League campaign without conceding a goal from outside the box, but five sides have let in just one.Tottenham Hotspur were the first to do it in 1993/94, followed by Newcastle United in 1995/96 and then Arsenal the following season.Manchester United managed it on their way to winning the title in 2007/08 and Chelsea achieved the feat the next year as they finished third.A number of teams have also conceded just two goals from outside the box in a Premier League season, with Manchester City, Arsenal and West Ham all on course to do it this year.Derby County and United both pulled it off it in 1997/98 and Chelsea and Liverpool also did it in 2009/10 – one of four Premier League seasons that Liverpool have conceded just two goals from outside the area.Least number of goals conceded from outside the box in a Premier League season:One – Tottenham Hotspur (1993/94), Newcastle (1995/96), Arsenal (1996/97), Manchester United (2007/08), Chelsea (2008/09).Two – Liverpool (1994/95, 2001/02, 2009/10, 2011/12), Manchester United (1995/96, 1997/98), Derby County (1997/98), Leeds United (1998/99), Chelsea (2007/08, 2009/10, 2013/14), Manchester City (2010/11), Tottenham Hotspur (2012/13). Derwin James Jersey . Portuguese sides Benfica and Porto also advanced to the last eight while Basel overcame an early red card to win 2-1 at Salzburg and progress from a last-16 second leg that was briefly suspended because of crowd trouble. Lyon, Valencia and AZ Alkmaar will also be in Fridays draw in Nyon, Switzerland, where the team to avoid will be Juventus -- even though the Italian champions made heavy work of their all-Italian last-16 match against Fiorentina. Virgil Green Jersey .Balotelli uploaded on Instagram a picture of the video-game character Super Mario, with whom the Italy international shares a nickname, with text around the image including jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew.SAN DIEGO -- It was a rally that truly came out of left field. James Ward won 10 of the last 11 games to take a stunning five-set victory against Sam Querrey and give Britain a 2-0 lead against the United States in the first round of the Davis Cup on a temporary red clay court in the outfield of Petco Park, the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Ward, ranked 175th in the world, was two games from losing the match when he began his rally that gave him a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory. With dusk approaching and the lights on at the downtown baseball park, Ward won the match with an overhand smash. He leaned back, pumped his fists and hollered as his teammates, watching from one side of the court, jumped to their feet in celebration. "Its great to be around a group of guys you dont really have the support of normally, every week of the year," Ward said "Its certainly a different feeling. Youre not just playing for yourself, youre playing for everyone else." Wards victory in 3 hours, 11 minutes, followed Wimbledon champion Andy Murrays easy straight-set victory against Donald Young, who was making his Davis Cup debut. Murray has won 17 straight Davis Cup singles matches. Britain can clinch the match on Saturday if it wins doubles. Murray and Colin Fleming are scheduled to face Bob and Mike Bryan. Captains have until an hour before the match to make any changes. Murray, who had back surgery in September, said he feels good to go for doubles. Querrey, the United States No. 1 singles player in this tournament and ranked No. 49 in the world, had a 4-2 lead in the fourth set after winning the sixth game at love. But Ward rallied to win the next four games and the set to force a deciding fifth set. He jumped to a 4-0 lead in the fifth set before Querrey broke serve with a bleeder over the net to pull to 4-1. Ward then closed out the match. Ward didnt break Querreys serve until the eighth game of the fourth set to tie it at 4-4. "I thought Sam served really well from the beginning to the first three sets," Ward said. "It wasnt me returning badly. He made a lot of good serves. But in the end I got some chances and it happened." Ward improved to 9-5 in Davis Cup play. "Look, I love playing for my country," he said. "Every time I do it, it obviously brings something out in me thats a bit different, which I didnt see in the first set." He said team captain Leon Smith told him to come out of his shell. "And I did," Ward said. Ward said his parents travelleed to San Diego for the match and are staying with long-time friends. Corey Liuget Jersey. "I came here when I was a kid," he said. "People always said, Where is your favourite place in the world youve been, and I have often said San Diego. Its a great place. I love being here. Again, to play a great match like today was pleasing." Querrey said he was "a little bummed obviously that I couldnt help the team. But its not over. You have to win three points. And if we can bounce back tomorrow and Bob and Mike win the doubles and then I think our side takes two on Sunday. "I thought he played well," Querrey said of Ward. "He came up with some good shots. A few break points that I had earlier, maybe if I had come through on those it could have been different. But he played well throughout the match. I started missing a few first serves when I needed them. But he did a good job of putting returns in later in the match and ended the match." U.S. captain Jim Courier said Ward played the way the Americans thought he would. "He was up, he was down, he was all over the place, but in the end he fought all the way through and the quality he showed shined through." Murray overwhelmed Young 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in 1:38 in the opener of the World Group match. Murray was barely challenged by Young. The two-time Grand Slam winner took leads of 5-0 in the first set and 5-1 in the second set. Young never broke serve but took the sixth game of the third set to four deuces before the British star had an ace and then won when Young netted a backhand. "I played a good match today," Murray said. "I gave him very few opportunities when I was serving. I gave him a couple in the third set which was due to his good play and him playing better and me making some mistakes. But overall it was a good match for me." Murray, who had back surgery in September, said playing a relatively short match on Friday gives him a good chance of playing in the doubles match Saturday. "That obviously helps," he said. "Weekends like this you want to try conserve as much energy as you can when possible. Days can be quite long, and playing three days in a row is challenging so its good to get one three sets so we have options when we play tomorrow." In other World Group matches, France leads Australia 2-0, Kazakhstan leads Belgium 2-0, Germany is up 2-0 against Spain and Switzerland leads Serbia 2-0. The Canada-Japan, Italy-Argentina and Netherlands-Czech Republic matches are tied 1-1. Cheap France Jerseys Authentic Cheap Zambia Soccer Jerseys Cheap Wales Soccer Jerseys Cheap Venezuela Soccer Jerseys Cheap Uruguay Soccer Jerseys Cheap Ukraine Soccer Jerseys Cheap Turkey Soccer Jerseys Cheap Switzerland Soccer Jerseys Cheap Sweden Soccer Jerseys Cheap Spain Soccer Jerseys Cheap South Africa Soccer Jerseys Cheap Slovakia Soccer Jerseys Cheap Singapore Soccer Jerseys Cheap Senegal Soccer JerseysCheap Saudi Arabia Soccer Jerseys Cheap Russia Soccer Jerseys Cheap Romania Soccer Jerseys Cheap Portugal Soccer Jerseys Cheap Poland Soccer Jerseys Cheap Peru Soccer Jerseys ' ' '
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