The week in numbers: w/e 16/1/11

3 – Barcelona players occupied the top three positions in the voting for the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or award for the best player in world football. Lionel Messi won ahead of his Spanish teammates Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández.

8 – England defeated Australia in Wednesday’s first Twenty20 international to set a new world record of eight consecutive wins in the format. The streak ended when Australia won the second match in the series on Friday.

Watson hit a career-best ODI score of 161 not out

161 – Shane Watson hit an unbeaten 161 from 150 balls – his highest ever one-day international score – as Australia won the first of seven ODIs against England by six wickets yesterday.

0 – Ipswich Town have never reached the final of the League Cup before, but they will take a 1-0 advantage to the Emirates Stadium after beating Arsenal in the first leg of their semi-final.

5 – Marco Fu won five frames in a row to recover from 4-1 down to beat Mark Allen 6-4 in their Masters snooker semi-final. However, he was beaten 10-4 in yesterday’s final by Ding Junhui.

2 – With one round of rugby union’s Heineken Cup pool stage remaining, only two teams – Northampton and Toulouse – remain unbeaten.

5 – Number of games lost by defending Australian Open champion Roger Federer, who won his first round match against Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-1 6-1 6-3.

29 – Age of midfielder Richard Butcher of League Two side Macclesfield Town, who died in his sleep last week.

85 – Age of Nat Lofthouse, the former Bolton and England striker, who died in his sleep at the weekend. He scored 30 goals in just 33 international appearances, and scored both goals in Bolton’s 1958 FA Cup final win over a post-Munich Manchester United.

The Premier League week in numbers

6 – Number of points Blackpool have gained against Liverpool this season. They completed the double over Kenny Dalglish‘s side with a 2-1 comeback win on Wednesday night. It is the first time they have achieved this feat since the 1946/47 season.

Van Persie was Arsenal's fifth penalty taker this season (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

5 – All five penalties Arsenal have been awarded this season in the Premier League have been taken by different players. Robin van Persie took (and scored) the latest in the 3-0 win at West Ham.

3 – Arsenal’s win marked the first time they have kept clean sheets in three consecutive league matches since February 2009.

5 – Bolton’s 2-0 defeat at Stoke means they have now lost their last five away league matches.

12 – In Chelsea’s 2-0 win, Nicolas Anelka scored his 12th goal in 16 career league appearances against Blackburn.

250 – Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel played in his 250th consecutive Premier League match in the 1-1 draw at Birmingham – the first player to reach this milestone.

Gyan's late goal earned Sunderland a point

3 – Asamoah Gyan‘s 94th-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle was the third time this season Sunderland have grabbed a result in the 90th minute or later (1-0 versus Manchester City, 1-1 versus Arsenal).

22 – Number of matches since Sunderland last kept a clean sheet against Newcastle.

25 – After their 0-0 draw at Tottenham, Manchester United are now unbeaten in their last 25 league matches.

The NFL divisional playoffs in numbers

15 – In beating Baltimore 31-24, the Pittsburgh Steelers advanced to their 15th AFC Championship Game, passing Dallas (14) for the most trips to a Conference final since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

Harrison had three sacks against the Ravens (image courtesy of steelers.com)

11 – There were 11 sacks in the Pittsburgh-Baltimore game as defenses dominated. Pittsburgh’s James Harrison and Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs had three apiece.

9 – This was Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger‘s ninth postseason victory. He is 9-2 in the playoffs and ranks second all-time among quarterbacks in postseason winning percentage. (Green Bay‘s Bart Starr was 9-1.)

6 – Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco is 0-6 against the Steelers when Roethlisberger has started.

102 – Atlanta‘s Eric Weems scored on a 102-yard kickoff return in the Falcons’ 48-21 defeat to Green Bay. It was the longest kick return touchdown in NFL postseason history.

1 – Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers had 366 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. This was the seventh time in NFL playoff history that a player has had 300-plus passing yards, at least three touchdown passes and at least one rushing touchdown – but Rodgers is the only person to do it twice.

0 – The Packers did not punt at all during the game, becoming only the sixth team in NFL playoff history to do so.

2 – Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler became only the second quarterback in NFL playoff history to have two or more TDs both rushing and passing in the Bears’ 35-24 win over Seattle. (Otto Graham did it twice.)

22 – Cutler completed 15 of 28 passes for 274 yards and two TDs for a 111.3 passer rating. He is 22-0 during his career when he has a 100-plus passer rating.

Sanchez has already won four road playoff games (image courtesy of newyorkjets.com)

8 – The Seahawks have now lost eight straight road playoff games and are 1-8 all-time on the road in the postseason.

5 – The New York Jets‘ Rex Ryan became only the fifth head coach in the Super Bowl era to reach a Conference Championship in each of first two seasons, as the Jets upset the New England Patriots 28-21.

2 – The Jets’ Mark Sanchez joined Ben Roethlisberger as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to reach a Conference Championship in each of their first two seasons.

4 – Sanchez improved his postseason record to 4-1. All four wins have come on the road.

3 – The Patriots have now lost three straight playoff games, dating back to their Super Bowl XLII defeat.

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, The Times, @InfostradaLive, @StatManJon and NFL.com.)

The week in numbers: w/e 14/11/10

David Haye successfully defended his WBA heavyweight crown (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

7:53 – In their all-British WBA heavyweight title fight, defending champion David Haye stopped Audley Harrison after 1:53 of the third round. In total, the fight lasted just seven minutes and 53 seconds.

0 – Neither boxer landed a single punch in what can only be described as a cagey first round (if you’re being charitable) – or a crap one (if you’re not).

1 – Harrison threw 32 punches but landed just one, in a contest which was as one-sided as it was short.

8 – Manny Pacquiao beat Antonio Margarito to win the WBC light-middleweight title after a unanimous and overwhelming points decision. He is the only boxer to have ever won world titles in eight different weight categories.

18 – 18-year old Sam Twiston-Davies rode Little Josh to victory at the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham, earning his trainer father Nigel his third win in the race.

4 – Barcelona‘s Xavi Hernández is the only player in La Liga to have completed more than 100 passes in a single game – he has now managed this feat four times this season.

2010 F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

256 – Final points total of Sebastian Vettel, who won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the Formula 1 drivers’ title. At the end of a 19-race season, he beat runner-up Fernando Alonso by just four points.

23 – At 23 years and four months, Vettel beat Lewis Hamilton‘s mark as the youngest ever F1 world champion.

0 – Vettel had not led the drivers’ championship at any point before yesterday’s race.

1 – Price in pounds paid in 2005 by Red Bull for the old Jaguar team. In just their sixth season, Red Bull have won both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles.

46 – Inter Milan‘s unbeaten 46-match streak at home ended last night after their 0-1 loss in the derby against AC Milan.

25 – Points scored by England‘s Toby Flood in their 35-18 win over Australia at Twickenham.

17 – England’s 17-point margin of victory equalled their biggest ever win over the Wallabies.

46 – Scotland succumbed to a record 46-point defeat at Murrayfield, losing 49-3 to New Zealand.

The Premier League week in numbers

Robert Huth - drought-breaker

697 – Robert Huth‘s opening goal in Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Birmingham broke Stoke‘s run of 697 minutes without a goal against the Blues.

15 – Michael Essien scored the only goal in Chelsea‘s 1-0 win over Fulham on Wednesday night. Chelsea are undefeated in the 15 league games in which Essien has scored.

4 – Bolton‘s 1-1 draw at Everton on Wednesday made them the first team in Premier League history to draw four consecutive games 1-1.

10 – Number of changes to Blackpool’s starting XI made by manager Ian Holloway for the midweek trip to Aston Villa. Blackpool lost 3-2.

92:26 – In Arsenal‘s 2-0 win at Wolves on Wednesday, Marouane Chamakh posted the longest time between two goals by the same player in the same Premier League match.

37 – Time (in seconds) of Chamakh’s first goal, the fastest in the Premier League this season and the quickest ever by Arsenal in the Premier League era.

2 – Wolves have now conceded a goal in the first minute of their last two games, against Arsenal on Wednesday and against Bolton on Saturday.

10 – Wolves continued their streak of never having won a Premier League game in November, having drawn two and lost eight of their ten matches.

Johan Elmander - away-day specialist

6 – Bolton’s Johan Elmander has now scored six league goals this season, all away from home.

7 – Saturday’s 4-2 win over Blackburn was Rafael van der Vaart‘s seventh Premier League game at White Hart Lane, and the first in which he has failed to score, having scored seven in his previous six. He is yet to score away from home.

25 – Fulham achieved a creditable 0-0 draw at Newcastle, but have nonetheless gone 25 consecutive away games without a win.

0 – In failing to find the target in their goalless draw with Birmingham, Manchester City remain the only Premier League team without a headed goal.

47 – Even though they drew 0-0, West Ham and Blackpool attempted 47 shots (including blocked efforts) between them, the most by both teams in a single game this season.

4 – In recovering from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Aston Villa, Manchester United became the fourth Premier League team to remain unbeaten in their first 13 games. Only the Arsenal 2003/04 ‘Invincibles’ went the entire season unbeaten, however.

39 – Nedum Onuoha‘s opening goal in Sunderland’s surprise 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge broke Chelsea’s run of 39 straight league goals at home without reply.

The NFL week in numbers

3 – Number of San Francisco touchdowns negated by penalty in the 49ers‘ game against the St Louis Rams. The Niners also had an interception chalked off due to a defensive penalty, but still rallied to win 23-20 in overtime.

0 – There are now no winless teams in the NFL after the Buffalo Bills beat the Detroit Lions 14-12.

25 – In losing at Buffalo, Detroit set a new NFL record by losing their 25th straight road game – a streak dating back to 2007. The previous record of 24 straight road losses was also set by the Lions, between 2001-03.

David Garrard completed a 50-yard Hail Mary pass as time expired (image courtesy of jaguars.com)

50 – Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard threw a 50-yard, game-winning touchdown pass to Mike Thomas on the final play of regulation to give the Jaguars a 31-24 win over the Houston Texans.

16 – Seconds remaining in overtime when Santonio Holmes scored the game-winning touchdown to give the New York Jets a 26-20 victory over the Cleveland Browns. It was the third latest touchdown in regular season overtime history. (In 1996, Michael Jackson scored with 10 seconds left as the Ravens defeated the Rams, and in 1978 John Jefferson scored as time expired in overtime for the Chargers against the Chiefs.)

2 – The Jets, who won 23-20 in overtime at Detroit last week, are the first team in NFL history to win road games in overtime in consecutive weeks.

3 – Denver quarterback Tim Tebow’s first NFL pass went for a three-yard touchdown to running back Spencer Larsen, making him only the third rookie quarterback since 1991 to register a touchdown on their first career pass attempt (also Atlanta‘s Matt Ryan and Pittsburgh‘s Kordell Stewart) (Denver 49 Kansas City 29).

1 – The Broncos led 35-0 in the second quarter, and are the first team since at least 1950 to have a first half lead of 35-plus points and a first half deficit of at least 35 points in two games in the same season. (The Broncos trailed 38-0 in the first half against the Oakland Raiders in week seven.)

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, @StatManJon and NFL.com.)

The week in numbers: w/e 7/11/10

Édgar Rentería, 2010 World Series MVP (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

56 – The San Francisco Giants‘ 4-1 win over the Texas Rangers gave them their first World Series triumph since 1954 (a gap of 56 years), and their first since relocating from New York in 1957.

4 – Short-stop Édgar Rentería hit the three-run homer which gave the Giants their 3-1 victory to clinch the World Series. He is only the fourth man to have struck the winning hit in a World Series-clinching game (having previously done the same for the Florida Marlins in 1997), joining an exclusive club comprising three of baseball’s biggest legends: Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra. Rentería was also voted the World Series MVP, the first Colombian player to receive that accolade.

25 – Number of points deducted from Scottish First Division club Dundee, after they went into administration for the second time in seven years. This left them on minus-11 points, 20 points adrift at the bottom of the division.

7 – Marseille‘s 7-0 away win at Slovakian champions MŠK Žilina was the largest ever victory by a visiting side since the European Cup adopted the Champions League format.

14 – Arsenal‘s 2-1 defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk marked the 14th successive Champions League away game in which they have failed to keep a clean sheet.

8 – Celtic beat Aberdeen 9-0 on Saturday, despite only having eight shots on target.

Brazilian GP winner Sebastian Vettel (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

4 – Number of drivers who can still win the Formula 1 drivers’ title with just the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to come. Sebastian Vettel led a Red Bull one-two in Brazil to cut Fernando Alonso‘s advantage over the German’s teammate Mark Webber to just eight points. Lewis Hamilton is a rank outsider, 24 points behind Alonso. (25 points are available for a win.)

2 – If Alonso finishes second in Abu Dhabi, he will guarantee winning his third drivers’ title.

1 – Although the drivers’ title remains in doubt, Red Bull claimed their first constructors’ world championship, in only their sixth season.

4 – Britain enjoyed their most successful ever World Rowing Championships, winning four gold medals in Olympic-class events (and five in total).

The Premier League week in numbers

61 – Number of minutes for which West Bromwich Albion played with nine men at Blackpool on Monday night. Although they lost the match 2-1, the score during the 61 minutes for which they had a two-man disadvantage was 1-1.

29 – After their 2-2 draw with Everton, Blackpool have now scored in 29 consecutive home matches, last failing to score at home on 18th October 2009.

Owen Hargreaves - crocked again

777 – Owen Hargreaves started Manchester United‘s game against Wolves, 777 days after his previous Premier League start.

5 – Hargreaves lasted for just five minutes before leaving the field injured. (United won 2-1.)

8 – Liverpool‘s 2-0 win against Chelsea ended their run of eight consecutive league wins against the other members of the ‘Big Four’ (Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal).

27 – Cesc Fàbregas misplaced 27 passes in Arsenal’s 1-0 home defeat to Newcastle, his worst ever tally in a Premier League game.

2 – Arsenal are the first ‘Big Four’ side to lose at home to two different newly promoted teams in a Premier League season.

2 – Mario Balotelli became the first player to score twice and be sent off in the same Premier League match since Robbie Keane against Birmingham in December 2007.

The NFL week in numbers

3 – There were three overtime games this weekend, the most in the NFL since week two of the 2006 season.

13 – The Atlanta Falcons have won 13 straight home games under quarterback Matt Ryan, whose overall home record as a starter is now 17-1 (Atlanta 27 Tampa Bay 21).

Philip Rivers (image courtesy of chargers.com)

22 – Philip Rivers had his 22nd straight game with at least one passing touchdown (the longest active streak in the NFL) as San Diego beat Houston 29-23. He now has 2,944 passing yards this season, putting him on pace for an NFL-record 5,234 yards.

7 – The New York Jets picked up their seventh straight road win – a franchise record – as they defeated Detroit 23-20 in overtime.

1 – Detroit rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh missed an extra point attempt standing in for injured kicker Jason Hanson. He is the first defensive tackle since at least 1970 to attempt a kick in a game.

3 – The Oakland Raiders have won three straight games for first time since their 2002 Super Bowl season, and their five wins is already tied for their most since the same season. (Oakland 23 Kansas City 20 (OT)).

12 – The Philadelphia Eagles improved to 12-0 in games following a bye week under coach Andy Reid, the longest such streak in the NFL. (Philadelphia 26 Indianapolis 24).

13 – Indianapolis‘s loss ended the Colts’ streak of 13 straight wins in games played in November.

(Some statistics courtesy of @OptaJoe, @optajim, @OptaJean and NFL.com.)

Related Articles

• Owen Hargreaves may have had anxiety attack, says United manager (guardian.co.uk)
• ‘Anxiety’ may have led to Owen Hargreaves’ setback, says Alex Ferguson (guardian.co.uk)
• Hargreaves limps out of comeback (news.bbc.co.uk)

The week in numbers: w/e 3/10/10

Fabian Cancellara

4 – Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara won a record fourth rainbow jersey in the men’s time trial at the Road World Championships in Geelong and Melbourne. Britain’s David Millar was second.

1 – Emma Pooley became the first Briton to win the women’s time trial at the World Championships.

3 – Number of male Spanish cyclists who were reported last week as having failed doping controls, including three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and Vuelta a España runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera. In addition, Italy’s Riccardo Riccò had 50 unidentified pills seized from his house last week, barely six months after returning from a two-year ban.

1 – The Ryder Cup resumes this morning after a rain-hit weekend, the first time in its history it will finish on a Monday. Europe lead the USA 9½-6½ and require a minimum of five points from today’s 12 singles matches.

Lee Westwood (image courtesy of rydercup.com)

1999 – After defeating Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker 6&5, Lee Westwood is now unbeaten in Ryder Cup foursomes since 1999.

3 – Number of penalties awarded to Tottenham during their 4-1 Champions League win over FC Twente. They scored from two and missed one.

27 – Steaua Bucharest threw away a three-goal lead against Napoli to set a new record of 27 consecutive matches in Europe without a win.

3 – Hapoel Tel Aviv‘s Vincent Enyeama became only the third goalkeeper to score in a Champions League game (after Hans Jorg Butt and Sinan Bolat), netting a penalty in Hapoel’s 3-1 defeat to Lyon.

Dario Franchitti (image courtesy of indycar.com)

3 – Scotsman Dario Franchitti secured his third IndyCar title on Saturday after overhauling an 11-point deficit to Will Power – you just couldn’t make that name up, could you? – in the final race of the season at Homestead, Florida.

7 – Sébastien Loeb claimed a record seventh consecutive World Rally Championship by winning the Rally of France, securing the title with two races to spare.

71 – Number of countries competing at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, which got under way yesterday.

The Premier League week in numbers:

18 – A 2-0 defeat to Everton snapped Birmingham‘s 18-game undefeated streak at St Andrew’s in the league.

14 – Fulham‘s 1-1 draw at West Ham was manager Mark Hughes‘ 14th draw in his last 18 league matches.

5 – Wolves, who lost 2-0 at Wigan, have now conceded five goals in the last five minutes of their last four league games.

Karl Henry

11 – Wolves’ Karl Henry‘s 11th-minute red card was the earliest dismissal in the Premier League so far this season.

4 – Successive league away draws for Manchester United, after their goalless game at Sunderland.

8 – Carlos Tevez opened the scoring with a penalty in Manchester City‘s 2-1 win over Newcastle. He has scored all eight of his spot-kicks in the Premier League.

2 – After coming on as a 36th-minute substitute, Newcastle defender Sol Campbell became only the second player to play in every Premier League season, along with Ryan Giggs.

Didier Drogba

13 – Didier Drogba scored his 13th goal in his last 11 games against Arsenal, as Chelsea won 2-0.

36 – Consecutive goals scored by Chelsea in league games at Stamford Bridge since they last conceded a goal.

9 – Blackpool‘s league position after their 2-1 at Anfield, which is particularly impressive given that five of their first seven games have been away from home, including trips to Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.

57 – It is 57 years since Liverpool started a top-flight season as poorly as 2010/11 – at the end of the 1953/54 season they were relegated.

The NFL week in numbers:

5 – Baltimore defeated Pittbsurgh 17-14. It was the fifth straight regular season meeting between the teams which has been decided by four points or less.

23 – Detroit suffered their 23rd consecutive road loss, tied for the second-longest streak in NFL history (Green Bay 28 Detroit 26).

222 – Cincinnati‘s Terrell Owens had 10 receptions for 222 yds and a touchdown, becoming the oldest player in NFL history to record a 200-yard receiving game at 36 years, 300 days old. Owens also passed Isaac Bruce to become the all-time number two receiver in yardage terms, behind Jerry Rice. (Cleveland 23 Cincinnati 20).

1,419 – Denver quarterback Kyle Orton passed for 341 yards, giving him 1,419 passing yards so far this season. This is the second-highest total after four games in NFL history, trailing only Kurt Warner, who had 1,557 yards after four games of the 2000 season (Denver 26 Tennessee 20).

59 – Jacksonville‘s Josh Scobee kicked a game-winning 59-yard field goal as time expired, the longest FG in franchise history (Jacksonville 31 Indianapolis 28).

9 – The New York Giants sacked Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler nine times in the first half alone, propelling them to a 17-3 win in the Sunday night game.

(Some statistics courtesy of @OptaJoe, @optajim, @OptaJean and NFL.com.)

Related Articles

• Cancellara in record fourth title (news.bbc.co.uk)
• UCI Road World Championships: Fabian Cancellara wins fourth time trial title (telegraph.co.uk)
• David Millar eclipsed by Fabian Cancellara in world time trial (guardian.co.uk)
• Anti-doping campaigners split as Alberto Contador disputes drugs test (guardian.co.uk)
• Ryder Cup 2010: Lee Westwood climbs to No 2 in world rankings with Tiger Woods in sight (telegraph.co.uk)
• Lee Westwood grits his teeth and puts a smile on Europe’s face (guardian.co.uk)
• Westwood and Donald inflict Woods’s worst Ryder Cup defeat (reuters.com)

The week in numbers: w/e 12/9/10

Kim Clijsters won her third US Open title

14 – Since her return from retirement, Kim Clijsters has won all 14 of her singles matches at the US Open, winning back-to-back titles to add to her 2005 victory. She crushed Vera Zvonereva 6-2 6-1 in Saturday’s final.

3 – Roger Federer‘s new world ranking after his US Open semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic. It is the first time he has been out of the top two since 2003.

89 – Pakistan recorded their lowest ever Twenty20 total in Tuesday’s defeat to England in the second of their two T20 matches.

7 – England’s victory in that game was their seventh consecutive T20 win, equalling the best sequence in T20’s short history, set by both Pakistan and South Africa in 2009.

3.4 – In seconds, the length of time Fernando Alonso‘s Ferrari was stationary during his only pit stop in yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix. Jenson Button had pitted a lap earlier, stopping for 4.2 seconds. The Ferrari pit crew’s speed was enough to leapfrog the Spaniard into a lead he would not relinquish.

24 – Number of points separating Formula 1 championship leader Mark Webber from his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel in fifth after yesterday’s race. There are 25 points available for a race win.

Mark Cavendish (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

2 – Mark Cavendish became only the second British rider (after Robert Millar) to record a stage win in each of cycling’s three Grand Tours by winning stage 12 of the Vuelta a España on Thursday. For good measure, he won the following day too.

967 – Wayne Rooney‘s goal against Switzerland on Tuesday ended an international goal drought of 967 minutes stretching back 12 matches.

10 – Emile Heskey‘s longest run of England starts without a goal. Rooney’s goalless sequence ended at 11.

1 – In his seventh England appearance, Darren Bent registered his first shot on target in international football – and scored from it.

23 – Jermain Defoe has still never played a full 90 minutes for England, after 23 caps.

Stephen McManus spared Scotland's blushes with a 97th-minute winner against Liechtenstein

97 – Scotland did not take the lead against Liechtenstein in Tuesday’s Euro 2012 qualifier until the 97th minute. They won 2-1, with Stephen McManus scoring the crucial late winner.

36,000 – The whole of Liechtenstein’s 36,000 population could fit into Scotland’s Hampden Park – and still leave 16,000 seats empty.

22 – Argentina beat Spain 4-1 in an international friendly in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, despite the losers registering 22 shots to just seven for the home side. It was the first time Spain had conceded four goals in a game since 2000.

10 – The All Blacks have now won their last ten meetings against Australia. They came from 22-9 down with 20 minutes left to win 23-22 in their final Tri-Nations encounter. New Zealand finished the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record.

1 – Barcelona lost 2-0 at home to newly promoted Hércules, meaning they have already equalled the one defeat they suffered during the whole of their 2009/10 La Liga-winning campaign.

3 – Darren Ferguson‘s Preston North End were leading 3-1 at Burnley on Saturday, but conceded three goals in the last six minutes to lose 4-3.

The Premier League week in numbers

2 – Sir Alex Ferguson‘s Manchester United were leading 3-1 at Everton on Saturday, but conceded two goals in injury time to draw 3-3.

48 – Everton have attempted 48 shots in their last two games (against Aston Villa and Man Utd) – but secured only one point.

8 – Arsenal have now won their last eight Premier League games against Bolton, scoring 21 goals and conceding seven. Bogey team? Not any more.

Alex Song (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

1,000 – In scoring the third goal in their 4-1 win over Bolton, Alex Song registered the 1,000th Premier League goal for Arsenal under Arsène Wenger.

24 – Carlos Vela‘s goal for Arsenal ended a sequence of 24 passes, the most for any Premier League goal so far this season.

10 – Bolton forward Kevin Davies has been booked more times against Arsenal (ten) than any other opponent.

24 – Blackpool‘s 2-0 win at Newcastle ended their hosts’ run of 24 straight home league games without defeat.

4 – Newcastle’s James Perch became only the second player ever to be booked in each of his first four Premier League appearances.

4 – Sunderland have conceded four goals so far this season, all in the last 15 minutes of games. Wigan‘s Antolin Alcaraz scored his side’s goal in Saturday’s 1-1 draw in the 87th minute.

5 – Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole was shown his fifth Premier League red card since the start of the 2008/09 season, more than any other player in that time.

4 – On the three previous occasions that Chelsea have won the Premier League, they have won their opening four games – a sequence they equalled with their 3-1 win at West Ham.

5 – Yesterday’s 0-0 result was the fifth consecutive Premier League draw between Birmingham and Liverpool.

The NFL week in numbers

New Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll

3 – The Seattle Seahawks‘ new head coach Pete Carroll completed a hat-trick of debut wins in his first game with his third NFL team (also New York Jets and New England Patriots). The Seahawks’ 31-6 win over the San Francisco 49ers meant he has won those three games by a combined score of 95-16.

48 – The Green Bay Packers recorded their first win at Philadelphia in 48 years, when Vince Lombardi was in his fourth season as Packers head coach.

12.2% – Percentage of games won by the St Louis Rams since the start of the 2007 season (won six, lost 43). The Rams lost 17-13 to the Arizona Cardinals last night.

9 – By beating Cincinnati 38-24, the New England Patriots raised their record in home openers at Gillette Stadium to 9-0.

Tom Brady (image courtesy of Keith Allison)

21 – New England quarterback Tom Brady has now won his last 21 starts in regular season home games.

5 – The Houston Texans recorded their fifth straight win (dating back to 2009) in outlasting the Indianapolis Colts 34-24, setting a new franchise record for consecutive wins.

31 – Despite losing, the Colts’ Peyton Manning had 40 pass completions, compared to just nine for Matt Schaub. It was the largest differential in completions by opposing quarterbacks who played the entire game since at least 1960.

50 – Rashard Mendenhall’s 50-yard scoring run was the longest overtime rushing TD run since Herschel Walker had a 60-yard score for Dallas in 1987. Final score: Pittsburgh 15 Atlanta 9.

8 – By losing 38-13 to Tennessee, the Oakland Raiders lost their eighth straight season opener, the longest active streak in the NFL.

151 – Matt Forte’s 151 receiving yards in Chicago‘s 17-14 win over Detroit was the second-highest total by a Bears’ running back in franchise history, and the most in nearly 63 years. (George McAfee had 157 receiving yards vs the Rams in December 1947).

(Some statistics courtesy of @OptaJoe, @optajim, @StatManJon and NFL.com.)

There will be no ‘Week in numbers’ next week, as I am on holiday. Normal service will be resumed the following week.