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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

After twenty six games; how are we doing?

As things stand in the title race, United are in second place with 61 points. The leaders, City, have 63. Third placed Spurs have 53 points while both Arsenal and Chelsea are level on 46 points each. But how does this season compare with previous years?
Below is the Premier League table as it was after 26 games in the 2007/08 season; the year United won a league and European cup double; and it is quite similar to today's
(The table is in the format Total p w d l f a, Home p w d l f a, Away p w d l f a, gd pts)



1Arsenal261961541812203187412310+3663
2Manchester United26184450141211325633189+3658
3Chelsea2616733817850238823159+2155
4Everton261457412382324116341712+1847
5Liverpool25111134017561269652148+2344
6Aston Villa261286483482424174622417+1444
7Manchester City261286342993121113551318+544
8Portsmouth261187362637215108152116+1041
9Blackburn Rovers261097323354413135531920-139
10West Ham United251078302355316135251410+737
11Tottenham Hotspur268810484162433222661519+732
12Middlesbrough26781123384451418346920-1529
13Newcastle United267712294755317182291229-1828
14Sunderland267514264573317130211932-1926
15Bolton Wanderers26671326355451712138923-925
16Wigan Athletic266515244252515141310928-1823
17Birmingham City265714253834513142391224-1322
18Reading2664163053616141903101634-2322
19Fulham263101325443551822058722-1919
20Derby County26161913551398240310531-429


The team that year included Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Owen Hargeraves, Paul Scholes, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand. The reds had Edwin Van Der Saar in goal and could call upon the likes of Ryan Giggs, Nani and Anderson too. It was a team good enough to  beat Barcelona and to win the Champions League; and yet at the same stage of that season, United were three points worse off than they are today, while the league leaders, Arsenal at the time, had the same record the City have now.

The next table shows the state of play after 26 games in 2009

1Manchester United26195246111210305742166+3562
2Liverpool261510143187602088412310+2555
3Chelsea2615744515652217922248+3052
4Aston Villa2615654025562181310032212+1551
5Arsenal261295382574218115532014+1345
6Everton261187342845418167331612+641
7Wigan Athletic26989262464313113461313+235
8Fulham258982422831219067313+233
9West Ham United269611323461618173551417-233
10Manchester City269512433580528121571523+832
11Sunderland268711273352615153551218-631
12Bolton Wanderers269314293852613154181623-930
13Hull City257810314633613254541821-1529
14Newcastle United2661010334246319202471422-928
15Portsmouth267712294352618212561122-1428
16Tottenham Hotspur25671226314541192281522-525
17Stoke City266713234264315130310829-1925
18Blackburn Rovers255812284234615212461321-1423
19Middlesbrough26581318363641015229821-1823
20West Bromwich Albion266416244952618241210625-2522

A year on and United are top after 26 games, a point worse off than City are now. Liverpool were second on 55 pts; 2 points ahead of the current 3rd placed team, Spurs. As we know, United won the league by four points that season, with Liverpool runners up.

2009/10

1Chelsea261844612212103986342214+3958
2Manchester United261835622111113687242613+4157
3Arsenal2616466130101236146342516+3152
4Manchester City251294483393030143641819+1545
5Liverpool261358432792231114361216+1644
6Tottenham Hotspur26127745268232884541718+1943
7Aston Villa25119532196521885431411+1342
8Birmingham City25107824266521284261218-237
9Everton25988353665220163361520-135
10Fulham26971030288231981571120+234
11Stoke City25710824286431914165514-431
12Blackburn Rovers26871126437421812139831-1731
13Sunderland256811324255219141391328-1026
14Wigan Athletic256712264935411153281534-2325
15West Ham United255911324044420201571220-824
16Wolverhampton Wndrs256613214243610172371125-2124
17Hull City26591225515531820049731-2624
18Bolton Wanderers255812294635517232371223-1723
19Burnley256514255064217120112838-2523
20Portsmouth254417204232715181210524-2216

Both United and Chelsea had relatively poor records after 26 games in 2009/10. It was the Londoners who were to end the season champions with United a point behind.

Now to last year;
1Manchester United261691572513103993811816+3257
2Arsenal261655562791329127422715+2953
3Manchester City271476432483221106442214+1949
4Tottenham Hotspur261385372875119106341818+947
5Chelsea26136746228222485452214+2445
6Liverpool2711610353284223113281221+339
7Sunderland279108333365318143551519037
8Bolton Wanderers27999383775225172471320+136
9Newcastle United279810423845430195361219+435
10Stoke City2610313313372419143191219-233
11Blackburn Rovers279513344264417113191731-832
12Fulham276138282856317141751114031
13Everton266128333645319182751418-330
14Birmingham City266128253547313152551220-1030
15Aston Villa277911314655318152481331-1530
16Blackpool268513395033619235272027-1129
17West Bromwich Albion277713355255422232291329-1728
18Wigan Athletic2751210274536516262651119-1827
19West Ham United2751012304834614202661628-1825
20Wolverhampton Wndrs2774162746625171912111027-1925

United had an identical points total after 26 games in 2010/11 as they had the year before; 57. They are 4 points better off this season despite a crippling injury list. In fact, since the 2007/08 season, the reds have maintained remarkable consistency. 58, 62, 57, 57 and 61 are the points won after 26 games in each of the past five seasons; a variance of just 5 points. This year is no different.

Finally, here is the current table;

1Manchester City262033671913004067332713+4863
2Manchester United2619436326101237159312611+3761
3Tottenham Hotspur2616555130102129106342220+2153
4Arsenal261448533792229115262426+1646
5Chelsea261376473182330195531712+1646
6Newcastle United261277383874220145351824043
7Liverpool25109629234801486161515+639
8Norwich City26989384354420174451826-535
9Sunderland269611343054420134271417+433
10Everton259610262753514134351214-133
11Fulham2689932366432419256817-433
12Stoke City26961126385441714427924-1233
13West Bromwich Albion269512333532813166342019-232
14Swansea City267910283456218102381024-630
15Aston Villa266119293434614173731517-529
16Wolverhampton Wndrs265714305132817282561323-2122
17Queens Park Rangers265615274524713213281424-1821
18Blackburn Rovers265615375940919261661833-2221
19Bolton Wanderers266218295422915274091427-2520
20Wigan Athletic264814235016611223281228-2720



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