This Week in Stats: Marcus Rashford’s double downs Liverpool

Huddersfield set a record against Swansea, Marcus Rashford scored twice in his first league start of the year and Arsenal did what Arsenal do.

A 0-0 draw between two relegation-threatened teams may seem an unusual match to include here. However, as Huddersfield’s match with Swansea could arguably be called the most one-sided since records began, it’s worthy of inclusion.

As the teams have identical results and goals scored records this season, it was likely to be a close match. That all changed in the 11th minute, when Jordan Ayew was sent off for a bad foul. For the rest of the match it was one-way traffic; Huddersfield had 30 attempts at goal, while Swansea didn’t have any.

Tottenham had 19 shots in the one other match in which a side had none, so this game could be considered the most one sided. There have been larger shot differences, but both teams did at least have some goal attempts; Manchester City out shot QPR 44-3 on the final day of 2011-12, for instance.

But for all their shots, Huddersfield only put four on target, and just one was a clear-cut chance. The rearguard action by the 10-man Swans was remarkable, and many of their players posted incredible defensive numbers.

Perhaps the standout stat was goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski winning four aerial duels. That’s as many as Thibaut Courtois or Simon Mignolet have won all season. One aerial duel win every two games is a lot for a goalkeeper, which shines impressive light on Fabianski’s efforts.

Both of these sides look capable of staying up, but if Huddersfield don’t they’ll rue this missed opportunity.

Marcus Rashford’s brace won the day for United

Liverpool don’t usually win at Old Trafford. Sixteen victories in over a century of visits is evidence of that. They didn’t deserve to win this weekend either, and they’ll need to defend better if they want to in future.

And yet the key shot stats were very similar. Both sides had five shots in the box, with one clear-cut chance, and two shots on target. The visitors had a further nine goal attempts from outside the box, but seven were blocked by United.

Too much is made of Jose Mourinho’s reputation for parking the bus, but by scoring first United could then remain compact until full time. They deserve credit for exploiting an area of Liverpool weakness to get ahead, with Marcus Rashford giving them the lead.

The key 60 seconds of the match followed 10 minutes later. Virgil van Dijk put Liverpool’s one clear-cut chance of the match wide, then United went up the other end and Rashford put them two goals to the good.

Van Dijk’s chance came from a corner, and all five of Liverpool’s shots in the box came from set pieces. The narrative states Klopp’s team are abysmal at defending dead ball situations, yet stats show United are worse.

Prior to kickoff, the Red Devils had conceded eight goals from 81 set-piece shots, whereas Liverpool had conceded six from 72. Klopp’s side were likely to fashion opportunities this way, but they will be disappointed they created nothing of note in open play.

Eric Bailly gave the visitors hope with an own goal, but referee Craig Pawson provided the most talking points.

Conspiracy theorists will be keen to learn Pawson has never sent off a United player or awarded a penalty against them. He could easily have shown a red card to Rashford and Antonio Valencia, and Liverpool had several plausible penalty shouts.

United deserved the points, but it wouldn’t have taken much help from the ref for the Merseysiders to head home with a draw.

Next: United trump Liverpool: 3 things we learned

It was no surprise Arsenal beat Watford

Arsenal are permanently staring into an abyss. “Wenger Out” has trended on Twitter after every match they’ve failed to win for years. A recent run of four straight defeats brought fan animosity to previously unseen levels.

Few gave them a hope of winning at AC Milan on Thursday, yet they did, and the arrival at the Emirates of a Watford side with a decent away record would’ve made many fans nervous.

Arsenal had no real issues, though, and won 3-0. Perhaps things might have been different had Troy Deeney converted a penalty, but he didn’t and Petr Cech completed the 200th Premier League clean sheet of his career.

Nobody should’ve been surprised at this result. Beating the lesser teams at home is simply what Arsenal do. The Wenger boys have played 10 home matches against sides outside the top six, and they’ve won every single one.

Watford were at least the first of these teams to match the Gunners on shots, as both sides had 11. But Arsenal kept up their perfect record at dominating on shots on target, clear-cut chances, shots in the box and expected goals.

With just three wins on the road, it’s clear where Arsenal’s issues have lay in 2017-18. They won’t finish in the top four, but three of their next four league games are at home to teams who are currently in the bottom five. You can expect Arsenal to amass plenty of points over the next month.