Weekend football numbers: Ronaldo 50, Haaland 7, Maldini 3.0

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Steve Nicol contends Oleksandr Zinchenko did more for Tottenham in Spurs’ 2-0 win than anyone else.

Steve Nicol says Tottenham were by far the worse side before Zinchenko was sent off for Man City.

Steve Nicol and Gab Marcotti analyse Juve’s win over Fiorentina behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals.

Ale Moreno praises Barcelona for their strong first-half, but is still skeptical of their ability to hold a lead.

Mark Ogden and Alexis Nunes break down the contentious decisions in Tottenham’s victory over Manchester City.

Shaka Hislop says Mo Salah’s unexpected journey to stardom reflects Liverpool’s team identity.

Steve Nicol says Mesut Ozil is Arsenal’s only spark in the midfield despite be subbed off vs. Burnley.

Steve Nicol and Ale Moreno explain why Antonio Conte’s substitutions were the difference in Inter’s win.

Jose Mourinho reflects on Steven Bergwijn’s impactful performance in his debut for Tottenham.

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal failed to adapt to both the pitch conditions and Burnley’s quality in a 0-0 draw.

Quincy Promes scores to give Ajax a 1-0 win over PSV. Watch Eredivisie on ESPN+.

Beside Bruno Fernandes, Shaka Hislop sees one other positive for Manchester United from their draw vs. Wolves.

Craig Burley and Shaka Hislop react to Kylian Mbappe’s scrap with Thomas Tuchel after being subbed off.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer answers questions from young Man United fans to kick start his press conference.

Shaka Hislop sees the ‘”nucleus” of a solid team developing at Real Madrid after their win vs. Atletico.

Shaka Hislop questions how Kepa will react to Frank Lampard benching him for Willy Caballero.

Shaka Hislop can’t help but marvel at Erling Haaland’s goal-scoring frenzy in 3 games with Borussia Dortmund.

Shaka Hislop says Bruno Fernandes’ Manchester United debut vs. Wolves was ‘nothing to write home about’.

Jurgen Klopp admits Southampton posed a tough ask to Liverpool despite their comfortable win.

Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti reacts to his side’s stunning comeback win at Watford.

Another cracking weekend of football, another great set of numbers to crunch. Here are the best.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Chelsea and Leicester City kicked off the weekend’s action with a fun 2-2 draw. Arsenal and Manchester United eked out goalless draws against Burnley and Wolves respectively, while Tottenham Hotspur stunned Manchester City 2-0. But let us start with the steamrolling juggernaut that is Liverpool Football Club.

Thanks to their 4-0 win over Southampton, and City’s loss, Liverpool are 22 points clear of second-placed Manchester City in the PL table. This is the biggest lead any league-leader has ever had in English top-flight history.

Their dominance at home certainly helps. Liverpool have now won their last 20 league matches at Anfield; only once in English top-flight history has a team had a longer winning streak on home soil – Liverpool themselves between January and December 1972, under Bill Shankly.

Now, the rest.

Burnley haven’t led ever in 11 PL games against Arsenal. Portsmouth are the only team to have played more games against an opponent without ever leading – 14 games v Chelsea.

Only Jürgen Klopp (9) has beaten Pep Guardiola more times than José Mourinho (6). No other manager has won more than three matches against him.

117

Tanzania is the 117th nation to be represented in the PL, with their national team captain Mbwana Samatta making his debut (and scoring) for Aston Villa on Saturday.

A stat that sums up just how bizarre this season has been for Arsenal — Only Liverpool (0) have lost fewer games than the Gunners (6) but only Norwich City (4) and Watford (5) have won fewer.

LA LIGA

Real Madrid maintained their lead at the top of the table with a 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid, Barcelona staying in touching distance with a 2-1 win over Levante. The surprise package of the season, meanwhile, have been Getafe. Their 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao means they are now third in the league.

Zinedine Zidane has quietly gone about resurrecting Real Madrid after their poor showing last season. And he’s started from the back. Real Madrid have conceded just 13 goals after 22 league games this season, the fewest they have ever conceded at this stage in the competition’s history.

Bundesliga

Borussia Dortmund routed Union Berlin 5-0, Bayer Leverkusen lost to Hoffenheim 2-1, and RB Leipzig and Borussia Monchengladbach played out an entertaining 2-2 draw. All this means is that normal service has been resumed in Germany — after their 3-1 win over Mainz, Bayern Munich now lead the league by a point.

7/3

But the headlines have been all about one man, a January signing who’s played just 136 minutes of Bundesliga football. Erling Haaland is the first player in the Bundesliga history to score seven goals in his first three appearances. Those seven goals have come from his first seven shots on target in the league.

Serie A

Juventus continue to set the pace in Serie A, a 3-0 win over Fiorentina maintaining their three-point advantage over Inter Milan, who beat Udinese 2-0.

Daniel Maldini is the first player born in the 2000’s to play a Serie A match with AC Milan. He’s the third generation of the Maldinis to play for Milan after father Paolo and grandfather Cesare.

Romelu Lukaku is the first player in the three points per win era (since ’94-’95) to score 11+ goals in his first ever 11 appearances away from home in Serie A.

With his brace in Lazio’s 5-1 triumph over SPAL, Ciro Immobile has now scored 25 league goals this season. At this stage of the season, no player in history had more (Antonio Valentin Angelillo also scored 25 goals, for Inter, in 1959). The Lazio forward is the first player in the top-5 European leagues to hit the 25-goal mark this season.

MESSI-RONALDO WATCH

Cristiano scored two, Lionel assisted two. Age is just a number, eh?

Ronaldo is the first Juve player to score in nine successive Serie A appearances since David Trezeguet in December 2005.

In the 50 Serie A games Ronaldo has played till date, he has had a hand in 50 goals (40 goals, 10 assists). No one has scored more since his arrival in Italy (tied with Ciro Immobile).

With his two assists on Sunday, Messi now has the most assists (8) in La Liga this season. He is also the league’s top scorer (14).

This article was originally published by Espnfc.com. Read the original article here.