15 2GG Monday July 27 2020 | the times
Trio entwined
Bournemouth, Watford and
Norwich City were promoted to the
Premier League in 2015 and
relegated in 2020. In each season
Bournemouth finished the highest
of the three, followed by Watford
and then Norwich; both times
Callum Wilson was Bournemouth’s
leading scorer and Troy Deeney
top-scored for Watford.Out-gunned
The 16 champions since Arsenal’s
Invincibles triumphed in 2003-04
have averaged the same points tallyas Arsenal’s that season, 90, but with
a better goal difference. Kieran
Tierney’s strike for Arsenal against
Watford was the first league goal by
an Isle of Man-born player. Watford,
under Hayden Mullins, played four
league games this season and
managed one point and two goals;
they did exactly the same under Javi
Gracia.Lonely City
Manchester City, 18 points below
the champions Liverpool and 15
above third-placed Manchester
United, finished as by far the most
isolated team in top-flight history(excluding clubs who were top or
bottom). Every other team have
finished within nine points of
another club (points for wins rose
from two to three in 1981). City are
the first team since Leicester City in
1957-58 to go an entire top-division
campaign without a 0-0 or 1-1 draw.Rooke remembered
Last week Manchester City beat
Watford 4-0 to complete the highest
aggregate of wins over one
opponent (12-0) in a top-flight
season since Arsenal beat Grimsby
Town 4-0 and 8-0 in 1947-48.
Yesterday Leicester’s Jamie Vardy,33, became the oldest top-flight
leading goalscorer since Ronnie
Rooke, 36, confirmed his feat with
four goals — in Arsenal’s 8-0 win
over Grimsby in 1948. Manchester
City have recorded eight wins by at
least a five-goal margin in all
competitions since Liverpool last
managed one. City’s 15 goal-
difference advantage over Liverpool
in the league this season is the
biggest for any team over the title-
winners since 1960.Orderly finish
The top three in the final Premier
League table (Liverpool first,
Manchester City second,
Manchester United third) also
appear consecutively when all the
division’s clubs are listed
alphabetically — that had not
happened since 1927-28 (top three:
Everton, Huddersfield Town,Leicester). The worst of
United’s final seven
league campaigns
under Sir Alex
Ferguson: one point
below the
champions (2009-
10); the best of
their seven post-
Ferguson seasons:
15 points below the
champions (2015-
16).Founders
flounderIt is 25 years since any of
the 12 original Football
League clubs finished in the
top three (Blackburn Rovers
were 1995 champions); the previous
longest run without a top-three
finish for a founding club was only
three seasons (1981-82 to 1983-84).
July 2020 featured top-flight
football on 21 different days – the
most in any month in league
history. This was also the ninth
Premier League season in
succession without a match
postponed because of ice or
snow.Giroud unstoppable
Olivier Giroud has scored in at least
the third minute of first-half
stoppage time in each of Chelsea’s
past four games. For the 11th season
in a row the final-day fixtures
averaged more goals than the rest of
the season. Roy Hodgson has
managed players born in the 2000s
(Crystal Palace’s 2001-born Brandon
Pierrick this season) and the 1940s
(Bristol City’s 1949-born Chris
Garland in 1982).Germans and Austrians are the
most common foreign
nationality in each other’s top
flights, while Brazil supplies theBrazillians
Spanish
AustriansSlovakians
French
GermansMontenegrins
Swedes
BosniansKEY
Most common foreign player nationality in top
flights of Europe’s top 20 leagues this season*FranceRussiaUkraineTurkeyGreece CyprusDenmarkEnglandNetherlandsBelgiumGermany
Czech
RepublicCroatiaAustriaSwitzerlandSerbiaScotland**SpainItaly28
26
(^2114)
12
(^610)
10
11
20
19
23
23
32
31
19
19
18
SPAIN REIGNS IN PREMIER LEAGUE
most foreign players in six of
Europe’s 20 top-ranked leagues.
Spanish edge out French 28 to
27 in the Premier League
*Players who are currently in that league and who have appeared this season
**Scotland excludes other British Isles – there are 30 English
(^11420)
Portugal
F
Eng
Belgium
Sco
1141414
Portuggal gal l
David Silva is one of 28 Spanish players to
feature in the Premier League this season
Game in
numbers
Bill Edgar on Manchester City’s
‘isolation’ and Giroud’s timing
thegame
Premier League
HOME AWAY
P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
W 1 Liverpool (C).......................................... 38 18 1 0 52 16 14 2 3 33 17 52 99
W 2 Man City 38 15 2 2 57 13 11 1 7 45 22 67 81
W 3 Man United............................................. 38 10 7 2 40 17 8 5 6 26 19 30 66
W 4 Chelsea.................................................... 38 11 3 5 30 16 9 3 7 39 38 15 66
W 5 Leicester.................................................. 38 11 4 4 35 17 7 4 8 32 24 26 62
Y 6 Tottenham.............................................. 38 12 3 4 36 17 4 8 7 25 30 14 59
Z 7 Wolves...................................................... 38874271977524211159
Y 8 Arsenal..................................................... 38 10 6 3 36 24 4 8 7 20 24 8 56
Z 9 Sheffield United................................... 38 10 3 6 24 15 4 9 6 15 24 0 54
Z10 Burnley.................................................... 38 8 4 7 24 23 7 5 7 19 27 -7 54
Y 11 Southampton........................................ 38 6 3 10 21 35 9 4 6 30 25 -9 52
Z12 Everton.................................................... 38 8 7 4 24 21 5 3 11 20 35 -12 49
W 13 Newcastle............................................... 38 6 8 5 20 21 5 3 11 18 37 -20 44
W 14 Crystal Palace....................................... 38 6 5 8 15 20 5 5 9 16 30 -19 43
Y15 Brighton.................................................. 38 5 7 7 20 27 4 7 8 19 27 -15 41
Z16 West Ham...............................................38649303345101929-13 39
W 17 Aston Villa.............................................. 38 7 3 9 22 30 2 5 12 19 37 -26 35
Y18 Bournemouth (R)................................ 38 5 6 8 22 30 4 1 14 18 35 -25 34
Z19 Watford (R).............................................3866 72227 24131437-28 34
W20 Norwich (R)............................................ 38 4 3 12 19 37 1 3 15 7 38 -49 21
TOP SCORERS
23 Vardy, right (Leicester)
22 Aubameyang (Arsenal)
22 Ings (Southampton)
20 Sterling (Manchester City)
19 Salah (Liverpool)
TOP ASSISTS
TOP SAVES
Saturday
National League play-off semi-finals
H’gate Town 1 Boreham Wood 0
Muldoon 65
Notts County^2 Barnet^0
Dennis 37, Roberts 59
National League North play-off semi-
finals
Boston Utd^5 Gateshead^3
Thewlis 34 (pen),
44 (pen)
Rollins 62
Wright 70, 79
O’Donnell 19
Nicholson 51 (pen)
Forbes 84
York City 0 Altrincham 2
Hancock 8
Peers 76
National League South play-off semi-
finals
Havant & W 1 Dartford 2
Ayunga 14
Sent off: Taylor
McQueen 56, 65
(pen)
Weymouth^3 Dorking W^2
McQuoid 3 (pen)
Anthony 11
Odubade 90+5
McShane 73
Buchanan 84
Sunday
Championship play-offs semi-final,
first leg
Swansea 1 Brentford 0
Ayew 82 Sent off: Henry 66
Italian league
Bologna^3 Lecce^2
Palacio 2
Soriano 5
Barrow 90+3
Mancosu 45+2
Falco 66
Brescia 1 Parma 2
Dessena 62 Darmian 59
Kulusevski 81
Cagliari 0 Udinese 1
Okaka 3
Genoa 0 Inter Milan 3
Lukaku 34, 90+3
Sánchez 82
Juventus (^2) Sampdoria 0
Ronaldo 45+7
Bernardeschi 67
Napoli 2 Sassuolo 0
Hysaj 8
M Loureiro 90+3
Roma 2 Fiorentina 1
Veretout (pen) 45,
(pen) 87
Milenkovic 54
SPAL 1 Torino 1
D’Alessandro 80 Verdi 57
Verona^1 Lazio^5
Amrabat (pen) 38 Immobile (pen) 45+6,
84, (pen) 90+4
Milinkovic-Savic 56
Correa 63
Top of table P WDLFA GD Pts
Juventus............36 26 5 5 75 38 37 83
Inter Milan.........36 22 10 4 77 36 41 76
Atalanta.............36 22 9 5 96 45 51 75
Lazio....................36 23 6 7 76 39 37 75
*Does not include late result from
Juventus v Sampdoria
RESULTS
Results
Today
Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final,
first leg Cardiff City v Fulham (7.45) (Sky
Sports)
Wednesday
Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final,
second leg Brentford v Swansea City (7.45)
(Sky Sports)
Thursday
Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final,
second leg
Fulham v Cardiff City (7.45) (Sky Sports)
Tuesday, August 4
Sky Bet Championship play-off final
(Wembley) (7.45) (Sky Sports)
Wednesday, August 5
Europa League round of 16, second leg
(6.55 unless stated)
Copenhagen v Istanbul Basaksehir (0-1 on
aggregate); Shakhtar Donetsk v Wolfsburg
(2-1); Manchester United v LASK (5-0),
(8.0); Inter Milan v Getafe (single-leg
fixture), (8.0)
Thursday, August 6
Europa League round of 16, second leg
(6.55 unless stated)
Bayer Leverkusen v Rangers (3-1); Seville v
Roma (single-leg fixture); Basle v Eintracht
Frankfurt (3-0); Wolverhampton
Wanderers v Olympiacos (1-1)
Friday, August 7
Champions League round of 16, second leg
(All 8.0) Juventus v Lyons (0-1); Manchester
City v Real Madrid (2-1)
Saturday, August 8
Champions League round of 16, second leg
(All 8.0) Bayern Munich v Chelsea (3-0);
Barcelona v Napoli (1-1)
Fixtures
Leicester 0 Man United 2
Sent off: Evans
90+4
Fernandes 71 (pen)
Lingard 90+8
Man City 5 Norwich 0
Jesus 11
De Bruyne 45+1, 90
Sterling 79
Mahrez 83
Newcastle 1 Liverpool 3
Gayle 1 Van Dijk 38
Origi 59
Mané 89
Southampton^3 Sheff United^1
Adams 50, 71
Ings 84 (pen)
Lundstram 26
West Ham^1 Aston Villa^1
Yarmolenko 85 Grealish 84
Premier League
Arsenal 3 Watford 2
Aubameyang 5
(pen), 33
Tierney 24
Deeney 43 (pen)
Welbeck 66
Burnley^1 Brighton^2
Wood 44 Bissouma 20
Connolly 50
Chelsea^2 Wolves^0
Mount 45+1
Giroud 45+4
Crystal Palace 1 Tottenham 1
Schlupp 53 Kane 13
Everton^1 Bournemouth^3
Kean 41 King 13 (pen)
Solanke 45+1
Stanislas 80
20 De Bruyne (Man City)
13 Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
12 Robertson (Liverpool)
10 Salah (Liverpool)
10 David Silva (Man City)
140 Dubravka (Newcastle)
132 Krul (Norwich)
129 Ramsdale (Bournemouth)
120 Pope (Burnley)
117 Ryan (Brighton & Hove Albion)
117 Foster (Watford)
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