A collection of weird and wonderful facts from 2018/19 Premier League season

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  • As the 2018/19 Premier League season draws to a close, Press Association Sport details some weird and wonderful facts from what has occurred over the last nine months.

    1 Liverpool could finish the season on 97 points and still finish empty-handed. If Manchester City win at Brighton on the final day of the season, it will be of scant consolation to Liverpool to know they are, by some distance, the best second-placed team in the history of the competition.

    It seems illogical that a team who have only lost once all season could finish runners-up but that is the situation Jurgen Klopp’s men are faced with as their destiny lies out of their hands.

    2 Barring Sergio Aguero running riot at the Amex Stadium on Sunday, Mohamed Salah will retain the Golden Boot after finding the net 22 times. Unless the Egyptian scores a hat-trick against Wolves, it will be lowest tally since Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov collected the award in 2011 after scoring 20 goals.

    3 Aguero moved level with Alan Shearer’s record of 11 hat-tricks. The Argentinian bagged a treble on three occasions this season, putting Huddersfield, Arsenal and Chelsea to the sword in virtuoso displays.

    Aguero moved level on Premier League hat-tricks with Alan Shearer (11).

    Aguero moved level on Premier League hat-tricks with Alan Shearer (11).

    4 Tottenham became the first club to go the whole season without signing a player in a campaign where they belatedly moved into their new stadium.

    It has largely been all-or-nothing for Spurs this season, who have only drawn once and been beaten on 13 occasions, as they juggle the demands of domestic and European fixtures, but the Champions League finalists remain poised to finish in the top-four.

    5 Manchester United have already set a new benchmark for the most goals they have ever conceded in a Premier League season, with their defence breached on 52 occasions already. Not since the 1978/79 campaign (63 goals) have the Red Devils shipped more goals.

    6 David Silva’s six assists this season moved him on to 81 in total and into the all-time top 10 list. The Spanish playmaker is often at the heart of City’s moves going forward so it is perhaps no surprise to see him up to eighth.

    Liverpool’s James Milner, with 82 assists, is the only active player ahead of him.

    7 Peter Crouch made a surprising return to the top-flight after swapping Championship Stoke for Burnley in the January transfer window. The former Southampton, Aston Villa, Portsmouth, Tottenham and Liverpool target man has now represented seven Premier League clubs.

    Marcus Bent holds the record with eight clubs, having represented Crystal Palace, Blackburn, Ipswich, Leicester, Everton, Charlton, Wigan and Wolves.

    Roy Hodgson, Manager of Crystal Palace

    8 Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson overtook Sir Bobby Robson’s record as the oldest Premier League manager when, aged 71 years and 199 days, he was at the helm for his side’s game against Leicester on February 23.

    Hodgson and Robson are among the four managers to take charge of a Premier League game in their 70s – Sir Alex Ferguson and Cardiff’s Neil Warnock are the others.

    9 Huddersfield equalled Derby’s record for the earliest relegation in terms of fixtures remaining when their return to the Championship was confirmed after a 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace with six matches of the season left.

    Derby, however, were relegated a day earlier in the calendar on March 29, 2008, while their record low of 11 points still stands, with the Terriers on 15 ahead of the final game of the season.

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