Premier League data dive: Relentless Man City march on, Villa fight back against Man Utd

Against
no
side
has
De
Bruyne
scored
more
Premier
League
goals
than
he
has
against
the
Blues
(five),
with
this
total
the
most
against
Chelsea
by
any
player
who
has
previously
played
for
them
in
the
competition.

Elsewhere,
Manchester
United
threw
away
a
two-goal
lead
at
Aston
Villa
to
draw
2-2,
with
Philippe
Coutinho
sealing
a
point
on
his
debut
following
his
loan
move
from
Barcelona.

Results
|

Fixtures

Wolves
beat
Southampton
3-1
and
Norwich
City
piled
the
pressure
on
Rafael
Benitez
with
a
2-1
win
over
Everton,
while
strugglers
Newcastle
United
and
Watford
played
out
a
1-1
draw.

Here,
Stats
Perform
unpacks
the
pick
of
the
Opta
data
from
another
eventful
day
in
the
Premier
League.

Making
an
impact
????#AVLMUN
|

@AVFCOfficial
pic.twitter.com/fmw9vR7L5p

—
Premier
League
(@premierleague)

January
15,
2022

Manchester
City
1-0
Chelsea:
De
Bruyne
edges
Guardiola’s
men
closer
to
the
title

City’s
seemingly
unstoppable
march
towards
the
Premier
League
title
continued
with
a
12th
straight
top-flight
win.

It
marked
the
ninth
run
of
12
or
more
victories
in
the
competition’s
history,
with
Pep
Guardiola’s
side
now
responsible
for
four
of
those.

The
decisive
goal
came
from
Kevin
De
Bruyne,
the
Belgium
international
superbly
whipping
into
the
bottom-right
corner
from
distance
with
20
minutes
remaining.

De
Bruyne
has
scored
21
Premier
League
goals
from
outside
the
penalty
area
–
the
most
of
any
player
since
his
first
season
with
City
(2015-16),
and
the
joint-most
of
any
Citizens
player
in
the
competition’s
history
(level
with
Sergio
Aguero).

Chelsea
scarcely
landed
a
blow
on
their
hosts,
failing
to
register
a
single
shot
in
the
first
half.
Indeed,
they
had
just
seven
touches
in
City’s
penalty
area
–
their
fewest
in
a
single
Premier
League
match
since
January
2015
(also
seven
vs
Man
City).

Aston
Villa
2-2
Manchester
United:
Red
Devils
squander
two-goal
lead

A
stirring
late
fight
back
from
Villa
meant
United
failed
to
win
a
Premier
League
away
game
in
which
they
led
by
2+
goals
for
the
first
time
since
January
2016
against
Newcastle
(3-3).

Bruno
Fernandes’ opener
was
the
first
Premier
League
goal
United
have
scored
from
a
set
piece
situation
this
season
(excluding
penalties),
before
the
Portugal
international
doubled
their
advantage
in
the
second
period.

Since
making
his
United
debut
in
February
2020,
only
Mohamed
Salah
(45)
and
Harry
Kane
(34)
have
scored
more
Premier
League
goals
than
Fernandes
(33),
while
only
James
Ward-Prowse
(seven)
has
scored
more
goals
from
outside
the
box
in
the
competition
during
this
period
than
the
Portuguese
(six).

Jacob
Ramsey
inspired
a
memorable
comeback,
though,
the
20-year-old
becoming
the
first
Villa
player
to
both
score
and
assist
against
United
in
a
single
Premier
League
game
since
John
Carew
in
April
2009,
and
the
third-youngest
player
to
do
it
against
the
Red
Devils
in
the
Premier
League
overall
after
Kelechi
Iheanacho
in
September
2016
and
Harry
Kewell
in
November
1998.

Coutinho
ensured
the
points
were
shared
in
what
was
his
first
Premier
League
appearance
in
1477
days
(for
Liverpool
vs
Leicester
City
in
December
2017).

77’:

@JacobRamsey28
scores
82’:

@JacobRamsey28
assists

Starboy.
pic.twitter.com/Hj9U7L3tdp

—
Aston
Villa
(@AVFCOfficial)

January
15,
2022

Norwich
City
2-1
Everton:
Idah
gets
off
the
mark
to
put
Benitez
on
the
brink

The
Canaries
kick-started
their
bid
for
survival
with
a
second
win
in
six
Premier
League
home
games
under
Dean
Smith
–
as
many
as
they
managed
in
their
final
21
home
games
in
the
competition
under
previous
manager
Daniel
Farke.

There
were
just
92
seconds
between
Michael
Keane’s
own
goal
and
Adam
Idah’s
first
Premier
League
strike,
the
hosts
scoring
as
many
times
inside
the
opening
18
minutes
as
they
had
in
their
previous
eight
top-flight
matches
combined
(one).

Idah’s
goal
was
his
first
in
27
Premier
League
appearances,
while
it
was
his
first
league
goal
since
May
2021,
when
he
scored
in
Norwich’s
final
game
of
the
Championship
season.

The
result
meant
Everton,
who
pulled
one
back
through
Richarlison,
have
won
just
19
points
from
their
19
league
games
this
season.
Only
twice
previously
have
they
had
fewer
at
this
stage
of
a
Premier
League
campaign
(17
in
1997-98
and
2005-06)
and
it
looks
as
though
Benitez’s
time
may
be
up.

THE
RETURN
OF
THAT
WINNING
FEELING!
????????#NCFC
|

#NOREVE
pic.twitter.com/oVRDENXUxB

—
Norwich
City
FC
(@NorwichCityFC)

January
15,
2022

Wolves
3-1
Southampton:
Traore
off
the
mark
as
hosts’
fine
season
continues

Wolves
completed
a
top-flight
double
over
Southampton
for
the
first
time
since
1971-72,
as
well
as
winning
three
in
a
row
against
Saints
in
the
top
tier
for
the
first
time
since
October
1970.

Raul
Jimenez
and
Conor
Coady
put
them
2-0
up
before
the
hour
mark,
with
the
latter’s
three
Premier
League
goals
coming
from
just
four
shots
on
target
in
134
appearances.

Saints
captain
James
Ward-Prowse
scored
his
12th
direct
free-kick
goal
in
the
Premier
League
to
reduce
the
deficit
–
a
haul
bettered
only
by
David
Beckham
(18).

However,
Adama
Traore’s
first
goal
in
22
top-flight
appearances
ensured
Wolves
picked
up
31
points
from
their
first
20
games
of
the
season
–
their
best
return
at
this
stage
of
a
top-flight
campaign
since
1979-80
(also
31
points)
when
they
finished
in
sixth
place.