The most interesting stats for every Premier League club in 2016-17
Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool all set or equalled Premier League records of some description in 2016-17 – and they weren’t the only ones.
With the big clubs reasserting themselves after Leicester City’s shock success last season, the final Premier League table has a much more familiar look to it – but it has still been a remarkable campaign for several reasons.
It’s the first time Arsenal have finished outside of the top four under Arsene Wenger for starters, while Manchester United down in sixth is a clear sign of just how competitive it has been in the upper echelons.
So competitive, in fact, that the 15-point gap between Everton in seventh and Southampton in eighth is the largest in Premier League history.
Conversely, the gap between Southampton and Watford in 17th is only six points. Stoke in 13th recorded their second worst ever Premier League points tally yet were only two points off the Saints and their highest ever finish.
Here are the most interesting facts concerning every club…
Arsenal
Arsenal set a new record high of 75 points for the team finishing fifth in the Premier League era.
Both Arsenal and Manchester United have finished outside of the top four of the top-flight for the first time since 1978-79.
Arsenal scored 17 headed goals in the Premier League this season, more than any other side.
This was the second consecutive season that Arsenal inflicted the heaviest Premier League defeat on the eventual Premier League champions. In 2015-16 they defeated Leicester City 5-2 away, and this season they defeated Chelsea 3-0 at home.
Alexis Sanchez scored 15 away goals in the Premier League this season – the most by an Arsenal player in a single league campaign since Ted Drake in 1934-35 (also 15).
Bournemouth
Eleven different English players have made 20+ Premier League appearances for Bournemouth this season. That is the most of any Premier League team since Aston Villa in 2000-01 (also 11 players).
West Ham and Bournemouth lost the most points from winning positions this season in the Premier League (22 points).
Burnley
Sam Vokes (10) is only the second player to reach double figures for goals in a Premier League campaign for Burnley, after Danny Ings in 2014-15 (11).
Tom Heaton made 141 saves in the Premier League season, more than any other player.
Burnley picked up 33 of their 40 points at Turf Moor.
Chelsea
Chelsea are the first side to win 30 games in a single Premier League season.
Their tally of 93 points is the second highest in Premier League in history, behind their own record set in 2004-05.
Chelsea won home and away against 12 different opponents in the Premier League this season, equalling the Premier League record of their 2004-05 side and Manchester United in 2006-07.
Chelsea have now won the league in each of the last four years that there has been a general election in the UK (2005, 2010, 2015 and 2017).
Including Chelsea, seven of the last eight seasons have seen the team top of the league at Christmas go on to win the title.
Chelsea used all three substitutes in every Premier League game this season (114 in total) – they are only the second team to do this in a 38-game Premier League season, after Manchester City in 2014-15.
Cesar Azpilicueta became the fourth outfield player in Premier League history to play every minute of a title-winning season (after Gary Pallister in 1992/93, John Terry in 2014/15 and Wes Morgan in 2015/16).
In May, Cesc Fabregas became the first player to make 10+ assists in six different Premier League seasons. He is also now in second place in the all-time assist charts in the competition behind Ryan Giggs (107 assists).
Thirteen Premier League players have scored 100 goals before turning 30, but only one has recorded 100 assists before turning 30 – Fabregas (107).
John Terry scored in his 17th different Premier League season. Only Ryan Giggs (21 seasons), Paul Scholes (19 seasons) and Frank Lampard (18 seasons) have scored in more.
Diego Costa became the 16th player to score in every month of a Premier League season, and first since Charlie Austin in 2014-15.
Costa became the third player to score 20+ goals in a Premier League season for Chelsea on two occasions (Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in 2000-01 & 2001-02 and Didier Drogba in 2006-07 & 2009-10).
Without Costa’s 20 Premier League goals this season, Chelsea would have been 15 points worse off – his goals were worth more points than any other Premier League player this season.
Antonio Conte became the first manager to record a league double over Pep Guardiola in the Spaniard’s coaching career.
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READ: Where are they now? Chelsea’s first XI under Roman Abramovich
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Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace became the first team to win on three consecutive Premier League trips to Anfield since Chelsea in October 2005.
Everton
Everton won 43 points at Goodison Park in the Premier League this season, their most in a top-flight campaign at home since 1989-90 (45).
With his brace against Hull City in March, Romelu Lukaku became the first Everton player since Gary Lineker in 1985/86 to hit 20 league goals in a season.
Lukaku is also only the fourth player in Premier League history to score 80+ goals in the competition before turning 24 years old (also Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney).
Leighton Baines became the first defender to reach 50 Premier League career assists.
Hull City
Hull City became the 26th different team to top the Premier League (top on August 13, 2016). They also became the eighth side to be top and bottom of the table within the same Premier League season.
Because of their opening day victory against Leicester City, Hull spent one more day on top of the Premier League than Tottenham did in 2016-17 (0).
Hull’s relegation means that 22 of the 25 teams to be bottom of the Premier League at Christmas have ended that season in the relegation zone.
Hull gave away 13 penalties this season, the most of any side in a single Premier League campaign.
Despite making his last appearance for them in the competition on January 14th 2017, Robert Snodgrass ended the season as Hull’s top goalscorer (7) and created more goalscoring chances than any other Tigers player (45).
Leicester City
Leicester won just 44 points in the Premier League this season, the lowest haul (assuming three points for a win) by a reigning English top-flight champion since Liverpool in 1902 (42 points).
Leicester scored first in 12 different Premier League matches this season – in those games, they won 11 times and drew once (losing none).
Craig Shakespeare became the first British manager to win each of his first five Premier League games.
Liverpool
Only Chelsea (457 minutes) were in a losing position in Premier League matches for less time than Liverpool (471 mins) this season.
Liverpool won more points from losing positions (18) than any other team.
In a head-to-head league including just the top six sides, Liverpool won the most points (20 from 10 games).
Thanks to their 4-0 away win at West Ham United in May, Liverpool won a Premier League match at a 52nd Premier League stadium – more than any other side.
Philippe Coutinho has scored 15 goals from outside the area since his Premier League debut, more than any other player.
James Milner now holds the record for the most Premier League games scored in and never lost (47 Games: W37 D10 L0).
Manchester City
Manchester City have now finished in the top four in the Premier League in seven consecutive seasons, the longest active streak of any team in the competition.
City recorded their 12th away win in league competition, their joint-most in a single campaign (also 12 in 2001/02).
Sergio Aguero scored 33 goals in all competitions for Manchester City this term, his best ever return in a single season for the club.
Kevin De Bruyne assisted 18 goals for Manchester City in the Premier League this season, a record by a Man City player in a Premier League campaign.
De Bruyne hit the woodwork nine times this season – the record in the Premier League since Opta began analysing (2006-07) is 10 by Robin van Persie in 2011-12.
Pep Guardiola suffered six league defeats this season, his highest tally in a single league season as a manager.
This is the first time Guardiola has finished outside the top two in a league season as a manager.
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QUIZ: Can you name every goalkeeper to play in the Premier League for Manchester United?
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Manchester United
Manchester United have now finished in each spot from 1st to 7th in a Premier League season, the only team to do this. They never finished lower than 3rd under Sir Alex Ferguson, finishing 7th, 4th, 5th and 6th in the last four seasons.
Manchester United went on a 25-game unbeaten run in the Premier League between September 2016 and May 2017 (W13 D12 L0) – this was their longest-ever unbeaten run within a single top-flight season and the eighth longest by any side in a single top-flight campaign.
Manchester United became the first team to win 600 Premier League matches (P962 W604 D209 L149).
Manchester United also became the first team to win 2000 points in the Premier League, with victory over Watford in February.
Between December 4, 2016 and March 17, 2017, Manchester United spent 104 consecutive days in sixth place in the Premier League.
Both Arsenal and Manchester United have finished outside of the top four of the top-flight for the first time since 1978-79.
This is the first time Jose Mourinho has finished outside the top three in a league season as a manager. 2016/17 also saw him record his lowest points total in a full season (previous lowest was 82 points with Porto in 2003-04, Inter Milan 2009-10 and Chelsea 2013-14).
Mourinho made more changes to his starting XI (120) than any other manager this season.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic became the only Manchester United player to score 20+ goals in a season since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013 (28).
Ibrahimovic also became the second Manchester United player to score in the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Europe and the Community Shield in a season (along with Javier Hernandez, 2010/11).
At 35y 125d old, Zlatan Ibrahimovic became the oldest ever player to reach 15 goals in a Premier League season.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan became the first Armenian to score in the Premier League and in doing so Armenia became the 96th different nation to see a player score in the competition.
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough won just 28 points this season, their worst ever return in a Premier League season.
Middlesbrough were 14th in the Premier League on Christmas Day but have become just the 12th side to be this high in the Premier League table at Christmas and still be relegated.
Harry Kane (29 goals) scored more than Middlesbrough (27 goals) in the Premier League this season. This is only the fifth time that a club has scored fewer goals than a player or players in a Premier League season.
Southampton
Southampton recorded the lowest shot conversion rate in the Premier League, scoring 41 goals from 549 attempts (7.47%).
Stoke City
Stoke finished outside of the top half for the first time under Mark Hughes (13th) after three successive ninth-placed finishes prior to this.
Stoke conceded more goals (56) than in any of their previous eight Premier League seasons.
Mark Hughes is now the seventh Premier League manager to make it to 150 wins (Ferguson, Wenger, Redknapp, Moyes, Allardyce and Mourinho).
Peter Crouch scored his 100th Premier League goal in Stoke City’s draw with Everton in February. He was the 26th player to reach this landmark, but the fourth slowest (419 apps).
Crouch scored his 50th headed Premier League goal in their final day match against Southampton – the first and only player to reach this landmark.
Sunderland
2016-17 is the first time ever that one of Sunderland or Newcastle has been promoted and the other relegated.
Sunderland spent 189 days bottom of the Premier League in 2016-17, with 110 of those coming in successive days from February 1st to the end of the season. This means that they spent 67% of the season in last place.
Jack Rodwell broke the Premier League record for longest run of games started without winning, going 39 in a row without ending up on the winning side (two for Man City, 37 for Sunderland) before he started Sunderland’s 4-0 away win over Crystal Palace.
Jermain Defoe became the fourth player to score 10+ goals in 10 different Premier League seasons, after Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard.
Defoe scored 15 goals for Sunderland as they finished bottom of the Premier League – the only player to score more goals for a bottom of the league team in a Premier League season is Charlie Austin for QPR in 2014-15 (18 goals).
Swansea City
Paul Clement’s win percentage of 47% is the best of any Swansea manager in the Premier League.
Fernando Llorente has scored 11 goals at the Liberty Stadium this term; no Swansea player has netted more there in a PL season (also Michu in 2012/13 – 11).
Swansea City conceded 70 goals in the Premier League this season. Only two teams have conceded more in a 38-game PL season and survived relegation – Wigan in 2009-10 (79) & West Bromwich Albion in 2010-11 (71).
Tottenham
Tottenham’s tally of 86 points is their highest ever in the Premier League.
Eleven previous Premier League champions have won the title with a point tally equal to or less than Tottenham’s 86-point tally in 2016-17.
Tottenham’s goal difference of +60 is the highest in Premier League history for a non-title winning side.
Tottenham finished above Arsenal in the Premier League for the first time since 1994/95.
Tottenham were the only club in England’s top four tiers to see as many as three players score 20+ goals for them in all competitions this season (Kane, Alli and Son).
Harry Kane has netted four Premier League hat-tricks this season; only Alan Shearer managed more in a single campaign in the competition (5 in 1995/96).
Kane has scored 17 home league goals this season, the highest number ever recorded by a Spurs player in a single Premier League season.
He now has six Premier League hat-tricks for Spurs, twice as many as any other player for the club (Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe both with 3)
Kane (29 goals) scored more than Middlesbrough (27 goals) in the Premier League this season. This is only the fifth time that a club has scored fewer goals than a player or players in a Premier League season.
Dele Alli was involved in 40 Premier League goals in 63 appearances before he turned 21 in April. Only three English players in the history of the competition have been involved in more before their 21st birthday: Robbie Fowler (76), Michael Owen (73) and Wayne Rooney (66).
21-year-old Alli scored 17 Premier League goals in 2016-17, more than Steven Gerrard (16 in 2008-09) and Paul Scholes ever netted in a single campaign (14 in 2002-03)
Christian Eriksen has provided more assists in a single Premier League season than any other Spurs player (15).
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READ: Then & now – Mauricio Pochettino’s first Tottenham XI compared to now
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Watford
Watford conceded 23 goals from crosses in the Premier League this term, the most of any side.
Troy Deeney scored his 100th league goal for Watford this season, becoming the fifth player to reach this milestone for the club.
West Brom
West Brom have scored 16 goals from corners in the Premier League this term, the most of any team.
West Brom scored a league-high proportion of their goals from set-piece situations this season (48.8%). They also conceded the lowest proportion from set-pieces (21.6%).
Salomón Rondón scored a hat-trick of headers in West Brom’s win over Swansea City at The Hawthorns in December. It was only the second time this had happened in the Premier League, with the first coming via Duncan Ferguson for Everton v Bolton in December 1997.
Tony Pulis made the fewest changes to his starting XI (49) over the course of the whole season.
West Ham
West Ham and Bournemouth both lost the most points from winning positions this season in the Premier League (22 points).
Dimitri Payet created the most goalscoring chances for West Ham in the Premier League this season (74), despite playing his final league game for the Hammers on January 2nd 2017.