The Premier League weekend in numbers

After an arduous three-month layoff, the Premier League made a welcome return last week, and following a smattering of catch-up fixtures on Wednesday, England’s top-flight moved through the gears with a nine-match programme over the weekend.

In total, the net bulged 20 times across Friday, Saturday and Sunday’s contests – goals that sparked several positional reshuffles in the table.

Brighton and Newcastle’s surprise wins over Arsenal and Sheffield United respectively were the stand out results over the course of play, while Crystal Palace were the biggest movers when they shot into the top 10 following their win at Bournemouth.

Let’s take a look back at the latest round of fixtures in our special retrospective feature: The Premier League Weekend in Numbers.

Remember – there is a full set of mid-week top-flight contests to enjoy on Tuesday and Wednesday – check out our analyst’s match previews of the action on our Premier League predictions page.

Premier League weekend in numbers

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Jose Mourinho

2 – Crystal Palace hit the target with just two of their seven shots against Bournemouth on Saturday. Both of their on-the-mark attempts came inside the first 23 minutes, and both efforts led to goals in a 2-0 Eagles win.

3 – The number of mistakes made by David de Gea that have led to goals this season after the Spaniard’s latest clanger against Spurs. Only Newcastle stopper Martin Dubravka (four) has made a mess of things more often this term.

5 – The number of Premier League clean sheets Wolves now have from their last six top-flight tussles following their 2-0 win at West Ham. Wanderers had kept just one blank in 16 attempts before that. On Wednesday, Wolves take on Bournemouth in another eminently winnable looking fixture.

8 – The desperately low number of passes attempted by Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn in his first game back from injury against Chelsea. The usually influential Scottish international was bizarrely ineffectual against the Blues before he was withdrawn in the 87th minute.

14 – The headache inducing number of aerial duels contested by Watford’s Troy Deeney in the Hornets’ 1-1 draw with Leicester City at Vicarage Road. Deeney fought for the ball in the air more than all of his other Watford teammates combined.

22 – The remarkably high number of attempts on goal racked up by Southampton in their resounding 3-0 win at Norwich. No Premier League team had more shots on goal than the Saints between Friday and Sunday.

25 – Much-maligned Brazilian striker Joelinton touched the ball just 25 times for Newcastle in their shock 3-0 win over Sheffield United on Sunday. The centre-forward touched the ball less often than all the other 21 players that started at St. James’ Park – though one of his sparse touches provided the Magpies’ third goal. The 23-year-old will hope to repeat the trick when Newcastle entertain Aston Villa later this week.

50 – The percentage of the last six Merseyside Derbies that have finished 0-0. Often billed as one of the Premier League’s biggest games, this local feud regularly fails to deliver on its pre-match promise. Sunday’s latest stalemate was the local rivals third 0-0 stalemate in six meetings, while another two of those clashes saw just one goal scored.

94:26 – The official time of Neal Maupay’s late winning goal for Brighton against Arsenal. While the goal was a Gunners gut-wrencher, the strike was also the latest effort ever registered by the Seagulls in the Premier League.

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