Fewer players, more space? That might have been the case elsewhere in the Premier League, but two dismissals at Craven Cottage didn’t matter a whole lot in the grand scheme of things thanks to the ground’s tiny pitch.
1. Space exploration at Craven Cottage
Anyone hearing that Bournemouth’s Ryan Christie and Fulham’s Joachim Andersen had been sent off in the first half at Craven Cottage might assume that this left the remaining players with an unusually large amount of space in which to play. Not true. It simply meant that the Fulham home crowd at last got to see a Premier League fixture with a normal density of players on their small pitch. The drop from 22 to 20 players caused by the dismissals (a 9.1 per cent reduction in players) almost exactly matched the proportionate decrease in area from a regulation pitch of 105 x 68 metres to Fulham’s dimensions of 100 x 65 metres (a 9 per cent reduction). Three other Premier League clubs have smaller pitches than the standard: Chelsea 103 x 67.5m, Crystal Palace 101.5 x 68m and Liverpool 101 x 68m.
2. Bournemouth leave Dagenham and Morecambe in their wake
Real Madrid v Morecambe next season, or Bayern Munich v Dagenham & Redbridge? The idea sounds absurd, yet in the 2008-09 season those clubs finished higher in League Two than Bournemouth, who are in contention for a Champions League place with two games of this season remaining. Bournemouth, whose average attendance in that campaign was 4,931, also finished below Macclesfield Town and Darlington, whose successor teams (the original clubs folded) will join Morecambe and Dagenham in the sixth tier next season.
3. Chelsea’s Wembley worry
Chelsea will approach an FA Cup final in a worse run of form — by one measure — than every other finalist since the league’s foundation in 1888. Before their meeting with Manchester City at Wembley this Saturday they have managed only one draw and six defeats in their past seven league games, a run that is inferior to that recorded by each of the other 255 finalists in the lead-up to the final.
Chelsea are on a poor run of formDavid Klein/reuters
The next worst cases? Blackburn Rovers produced one win and six defeats in their seven league games before the 1928 final, matching Everton’s sequence in 1897; and Preston North End managed only three draws and four defeats in 1922.
4. Bayern in league of their own
How dominant have Bayern Munich been in their domestic league this season? Consider this. Had Bayern been forced to kick off every league game 1-0 down they would still be in second. Arsenal, in contrast, would drop from first to 12th if the same applied to them. What if Bayern had started each match 2-0 behind? They would still have qualified for Europe, assured of sixth; Arsenal, however, would already be relegated. Bayern would not even be in the drop zone if they had started every fixture 3-0 down. Perhaps it’s time for a handicap system in the Bundesliga to rein in a club with 13 league titles in the past 14 seasons.
5. Champions play waiting game
History beckons north and south of the border. In every season since 1962 at least one of the two clubs clinching the English and Scottish titles had not waited longer than eight years since their previous success. But this season could be different. Arsenal are well placed for a first league triumph for 22 years while Heart of Midlothian, the Scottish league leaders, can become champions for the first time in 66 years. The previous instance of both champions not having won a league title in the preceding eight years? Ipswich Town and Dundee both secured a first league crown in 1962.
6. Goalkeepers on protected list
The attitude of officials towards goalkeepers means Arsenal fans should have been encouraged when the challenge on David Raya was being scrutinised by VAR in stoppage time against West Ham United.
Raya was, statistically, always likely to have the decision go in his favour after West Ham’s controversial goal on SundayMarc Atkins/Getty Images
Of all fouls awarded in the top flight this season where goalkeepers were either perpetrator or victim, 91 per cent have had the decision go in their favour.
7. City’s repeat scoreline
Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Brentford means they are the first to record eight victories by that scoreline in one top-flight season, edging out Liverpool’s seven 3-0s in 1978-79. The title will be won by a club with a Spanish midfielder born on June 22, 1996: that is the birthdate of Rodri, of City, and Mikel Merino, of Arsenal.
8. Seagulls are early birds
Brighton & Hove Albion, who beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0, became the first team with two English goalscorers in the opening five minutes of a Premier League game since November 1997: Jack Hinshelwood and Lewis Dunk. At the same time, the pair produced the first case since April 1998 of two headed goals in the first five minutes of a top-flight match, by any nationality of player.
The No 5 Dunk scored in the fifth minute; then yesterday Everton’s No 6 James Tarkowski scored in the sixth minute.
9. English busy in Europe
English clubs will have played a combined 24 games more in European competition this season than in any previous campaign: 117, compared with the previous high of 93 in 2008-09.
10. Play-off teams fire blanks
Two years ago the first legs of the Championship play-off semi-finals both finished 0-0, with Southampton playing away in the second of those matches — and the same has happened this season.