On another fascinating weekend of Premier League football, the stats tell their own story. Here is the story they've chosen to tell.
Goodbye Invincibles 2.0
Manchester United's famous 26 match unbeaten run came to an unfortunate end yesterday. Where has it got Mourinho and the lads? It turns out they have only gained a single point on archrivals Liverpool over that six month span.
At the start of Uniteds magnificent unbeaten run they were 6pts behind Liverpool. 26 matches and a Liverpool collapse later, gap closed to 5
— Royston (@KopBlock205) May 7, 2017
All hail Arsene
It took 14 games but Wenger has finally reached the mountaintop. He has, at long last, beaten his archnemesis Jose Mourinho, though one wonders if it is all part of some sordid plan to keep Wenger in the league.
Arsene Wenger has beaten a team managed by Jose Mourinho in the Premier League for the first time in his career.
Finally. pic.twitter.com/BzZsEpypEt— Squawka (@Squawka) May 7, 2017
Deja Brendan for Liverpool
For Liverpool, it was both depressing and depressingly predictable. Another game against suboptimal opposition and two more points dropped. A win today at Anfield would have set Liverpool up perfectly for their final two fixtures against West Ham and Boro. But it was not to be.
For Liverpool fans unsure of their club's progress under Jurgen Klopp, the result today created a worrying symmetry with Klopp's often-maligned predecessor. 65 league games into his stewardship of Liverpool, Klopp and Rodgers have the exact same record.
65 - Jurgen Klopp has an identical record to Brendan Rodgers in his first 65 PL games at Liverpool: W33 D18 L14 (117 points). Pattern.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 7, 2017
Stoke's 10 hours of futility has ended
You might have forgot Stoke City existed. But every Saturday at 3pm, Mark Hughes sends 11 men out to play in that candystriped jersey. After a rocky start to the season, Stoke found enough form to assure themselves another season of midtable irrelevance. Stoke have been particularly insipid away from home this season. They hadn't scored away from the Britannia since a 3-1 thrashing of Sunderland in bleedin' January. They finally broke their duck away from home yesterday. Fittingly it was a Bournemouth own goal that broke the streak.
Stoke have now played 10 hours of football away from home in the Premier league without scoring a goal.
😳 pic.twitter.com/hRM4WThtZs— Squawka (@Squawka) May 6, 2017
Shakespeare in love
We have chronicled the greatness of Craig Shakespeare in this stats column many times now. Yesterday, we received final proof that he is the best manager in England this year. Leicester's win over woeful Watford meant that Shakespeare has outperformed Claudio Ranieri for the season. Which begs the question: what if Leicester had sacked Ranieri during the summer and given his job to the Shakey One?
Leicester! Up to ninth now. Taken 22 of a possible 30 points in the league since Claudio Ranieri’s firing. Sad but tough to argue.
— James Tyler (@JamesTylerESPN) May 6, 2017
OFFICIAL: Blackburn @Rovers are the first ever Premier League champions to be relegated to the third tier of English football. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/1SlMvhfGQR
— SPORF (@Sporf) May 7, 2017
#EPL points since Craig Shakespeare took charge of @LCFC
Leicester - 22
Chelsea - 21
Liverpool - 19
Man Utd - 17
Man City - 17
Arsenal - 10 pic.twitter.com/lMklPtczHZ— NOW Sport (@NOWSport) May 6, 2017
A depressing first for a former Premier League champion
This is not technically a Premier League stat but we thought we'd still pass it on. Woeful Blackburn were relegated to League One today. This once-proud club, who won the league 22 years ago, has been disassembled by the brutal Venky's regime. Who knows if we'll ever see them in Championship again, let alone the Prem.
OFFICIAL: Blackburn @Rovers are the first ever Premier League champions to be relegated to the third tier of English football. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/1SlMvhfGQR
— SPORF (@Sporf) May 7, 2017
All great streaks come to an end
Two legitimately great streaks ended this weekend. We have covered them both in the column. Up until yesterday, Marco Silva hadn't lose a home match since 2014. Up until today, James Milner hadn't missed a penalty in 9 years. Sadly for both men and the clubs that employ them, their gilded streaks were broken this weekend, which could have disastrous consequences for their respective clubs.
Milner last missed a penalty in November 2009. 🙈
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) May 7, 2017
Marco Silva's three-year, 41-game unbeaten home run is over
FULL TIME#HCAFC 0#SAFC 2https://t.co/DtkRAkLe5V pic.twitter.com/TBp969Bylk— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) May 6, 2017
