The Premier League happily sauntered back into our lives at the weekend in its own, and while it brought its usual mix of defensive calamity, outrageous goals and Marouane Fellaini, it also brought some great stats to satiate the appetite of the cerebral among football's heaving masses.
Here's the pick of them.
Premier League Stats
Arsenal v Liverpool
Arsenal failed to win on the opening day for the sixth time in seven seasons, as Phil Coutinho was the only player to score who had not previously played with Southampton: (Theo Walcott, Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain, Calum Chambers; Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane).
Arsenal's new signing Granit Xhaka started on the bench, playing the final 24 minutes. He endured a nightmare: committing four fouls in the game, more than any player had ever recorded on the opening day of a Premier League season.
Simon Mignolet saved a Premier League penalty for the fifth time in eleven attempts, but in a turn of events typical of his calamitous Liverpool career: he saved an important penalty and nobody really said anything. It may be a good omen for Liverpool, though: the last time Mignolet saved a penalty on the opening day was in 2013, a season which saw Liverpool record their highest Premier League points total since 2008/09.
5 - Simon Mignolet has saved five of the 11 penalties he's faced in the Premier League at Liverpool. Stopper.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 14, 2016
Overall, Liverpool covered a massive 117.6km in the game, more than any Liverpool side had run in Premier League history. Although it's not the highest in Premier League history:
Apologies but I can't read Si's tweets correctly. 117.6km is a new high for #LFC in the #EPL . Highest EPL recorded figure is 121.2km
— Dan Kennett (@DanKennett) August 14, 2016
This is still a little short of the 120km Klopp's Dortmund ran at the beginning of his reign, for which he rewarded them with an extended holiday.
Bournemouth v Manchester United
Jose Mourinho won on the first day of a Premier League season for the seventh time in eight attempts, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic added to his remarkable record of scoring on debuts: he has now netted in his first game in the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Ligue Un and the Champions League.
Also making his debut was Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who became the first Armenian to play in the Premier League, bringing the total number of nations represented in the Premier League to 112.
The game was also notable for the chink of hope offered by Marouane Fellaini, who's pass completion rate was an uncharacteristically high 98.7%. This is offset/explained by the fact that only 34% of these went forward.
Marouane Fellaini misplaced just 1 of the 76 passes he attempted vs. Bournemouth - 98.7% completion rate. pic.twitter.com/wW5XSBYlwf
— Squawka (@Squawka) August 14, 2016
Remarkably, the game also saw Juan Mata score his first Premier League goal under Jose Mourinho.
The game also witnessed Man United fans chant "you scouse bastard" at ex-Liverpool attacker Jordon Ibe, presumably unaware that Ibe is from London. United fans did not direct the same chant at their Liverpool-born captain Wayne Rooney.
Man City v Sunderland
Pep Guardiola's arrival on the Premier League scene unsurprisingly featured very high possession stats for Manchester City: 77%. This is further proof that Pep will attempt to win the league in a far different manner than Leicester City, who recorded an average possession of 42% last season.
City's set-up was interesting, with full-backs Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna tucking into midfield when City had the ball, and Fernandinho dropping back as an auxiliary centre-back.
Fantasy football legend Sergio Aguero continued his crusade against Sunderland, scoring four goals and setting up two in his last four games against the Black Cats:
Sergio Aguero has scored before the 20th minute in 3 of the previous 4 meetings between Man City & Sunderland. pic.twitter.com/zAHlNE1kGg
— Squawka (@Squawka) August 13, 2016
At the other end, Jermain Defoe's incredible Premier League record continued: his 144th Premier League goal took him level with Robin Van Persie while he became just the third player to score in 16 separate Premier League seasons. Only Giggs (21), Scholes (21) and Lampard (18) have bettered him.
Hull City v Leicester City
This was the first time the champions have lost their opening game of the season since Manchester United beat Arsenal in 1989, and Arsenal's subsequent defeat meant that last season's top two lost on the opening day for the first time in ages:
2 - This is the 1st time in the English top-flight since 1953/54 that the top 2 from the previous season have lost their opening game. Stun.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 14, 2016
Leicester lost just three games in the entirety of last season, with the loss of N'Golo Kanté portrayed as a major cause for concern ahead of their title defence. In his absence, and to facilitate the selection of speedy new signing Ahmed Musa, Ranieri changed from the 4-4-2 formation that suited them so well last season to a 4-3-3:
Leicester also missed the influence of Robert Huth: they've have played four Premier League games without Robert Huth in their starting XI since the start of last season, conceding goals in all of them.
Hull, however, shocked the champions despite the fact they began the game without a permanent manager and just 13 fit senior players.
The first goal of the new season was scored by Adama Diomande, rather than Abel Hernandez.
Other stats include:
Shay Given became the third-oldest man to start a Premier League game on the opening day, and became the first man to be booked under the new 'yellow card for dissent' rule.
Ross Barkley continued his remarkable record of scoring on the opening day of a season: his free-kick against Spurs means he has scored on each of his previous three opening day appearances for Everton.
Alvaro Negredo has now scored with his first attempt on target with both Man City and Middlesborough.
And one for your fantasy team:
Erik Lamela has now scored three goals and assisted a further four in his last seven Premier League games.
