Part 2 Special Feature: English Premier League statistics and figures
Chelsea is the fourth place team in the English Premier League at the moment. The men in blue started the season in sparkling form as they gained a five point lead over Manchester United in October, 2010.
After taking the lead, Chelsea fell into complacency mode as they gave up their lead and now they find themselves 10 points behind their title rivals, Manchester United. Chelsea won their last league match against Bolton Wanderers as they showcased the “Chelsea
of old” as Drogba netted a brilliant goal to lead http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 to a 3-0 win over Owen Coyle’s men.
Carlo Ancelotti remains insistent that Chelsea are still in the title race but if they are to retain their Premier League crown, the Blues will have to display uncharacteristically consistent form for the remainder of the league season.
One thing that can work in Chelsea’s favour for the rest of the season is their water tight defense. Despite being behind on points tally when compared to the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United, Ancelotti’s team have only conceded 19
goals in 23 games.
However, a statistic which might surprise some people is that Chelsea’s last two wins against Blackburn http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rovers-c40385 and then Bolton Wanderers were their first back to back title wins since October of 2010. In their latest league match against Bolton, Drogba and
Anelka both netted a goal each, regardless it was for the first time since May of 2010 that both the strikers had scored in a single match for the English league champions, a fact that is quite mind boggling in its own right.
In the fifth place spot, Tottenham are closing in on Chelsea’s heels as Harry Redknapp’s men gave up their fourth place spot to their London rivals just two weeks ago. Redknapp has been active in the January transfer window as speculation swirled around
White Hart Lane due links between the club and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Beckham-c10432.
At first it was thought that Beckham would be brought in on a loan deal to Tottenham but as things have planned out, he is only set to train with the Tottenham squad. Out of the last 38 league matches that Tottenham have played under Harry Redknapp, Spurs’
strikers have only scored 19 goals. Interestingly enough, 10 out of those 19 goals have been scored by the Russian striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roman-Pavlyuchenko-c31639.
Tottenham’s main strength this season has been their ability to bounce back from deficit. In the 2010-2011 season, Spurs have accumulated an amazing 17 points from losing positions this season, a position in which they conceded the first goal in the match.
However a point of utmost importance for Harry Redknapp is that Tottenham have also conceded eight league goals to defenders in their opponent’s lineup this season. A rate of concession that is higher than any other team in the English Premier League.
Tottenham are followed up by Steve Bruce’s Sunderland in the 6th place spot in the Premier League rankings.
Sunderland recently parted ways with their star striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Darren-Bent-c10358 but that hasn’t had an adverse effect on their performances. In their last league match, Sunderland defeated Blackpool by two goals to one in doing so Sunderland confirmed the fact that
they have only once conceded a first half goal in their last 10 league matches in the Premier League.
Another factor of importance is that, Sunderland has not lost a game from a winning position in the 2010-2011 season. Lastly, if Sunderland’s last eight games are seen in isolation, they rank 4th in the Premier League form table, a commendable
feat indeed.
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