Official Statistics Thread

[Guest Klitschko]

Also proves my point. Which didn't really need to be proved, but nonetheless.

[Guest Portuguese]

Leo stats in Serie A:

8 games, 7 wins and 1 loss (Winning Record = 87%)

21 points won in 8 games (2.6 points per game)

24 goals scored (3.0 GF per game)

13 goals conceeded. (1.6 GA per game)

Benetiz stats:

15 games, 6 won, 5 drawn, 4 lost (Winning Record = 40%)

23 points won in 15 games (1.5 points per game)

20 goals scored (1.3 GF per game)

14 goals conceeded (0.9 GA per game)

Leo already has more wins in 8 games than Rafa had in 15!!

[Guest Portuguese]

Bundesliga Top Scorers

Gomez-Bayern-16

Cisse-Freiburg-15

Gekas-Frankfurt-14

Lakic-Kaiserlaurtern-11

Konan Ya-Hannover-10

Schurrle-Mainz-10

Raul-Schalke-10

Liga Sagres Top Scorers

Hulk-Porto-19

Joao Tomas-Rio Ave-11

Falcao-Porto-8

Cardozo-Benfica-8

Edgar-Guimaraes-8

Serie A

Cavani-Napoli-18

Di Natale-Udinese-16

Eto'o-Inter-15

Di Vaio-Bologna-14

Ibrahimovic-Milan-13

Matri-Cagliari/Juventus-13

Pellissier-Chievo-10

Borriello-Roma-10

Premier League

Berbatov-Man Utd-19

Tevez-Man City-18

Carroll-Newcastle/Liverpool-11

Drogba-Chelsea-10

Bent-Sunderland/Villa-10

Nolan-Newcastle-10

Van Der Vaart-Tottenham-10

La Liga

Ronaldo-Madrid-24

Messi-Barcelona-24

Villa-Barcelona-14

Llorente-Athletic-13

Rossi-Villarreal-12

Pedro-Barcelona-12

Nilmar-Villarreal-10

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Xavi has made 2043 passes (excl. crosses) in La Liga this season, completing 1928 (94.4%).

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Gennaro Gattuso has only committed nine fouls in 413 mins of CL action this season; one every 46 mins on average

Benoît Assou-Ekotto misplaced 21 passes v Milan tonight. Only three players have misplaced more in a CL game this season.

After tonight, Milan have won none of their last six matches in European competition against English opposition

Peter Crouch has now scored 7 goals from 13 shots on target in the Champions League (incl. qualifiers) this season

162 - @kevindaviesbwfc has won more aerial challenges than any other player in the Premier League this season

18 - Steven Gerrard has hit the woodwork more often than any other player in the last five seasons.

[Lenny]

[Lieutenant]

Pmsl says it all

[Mr Q]

Guardiola has won 79 of his 100 La liga games in charge.

Bawse.

[Michel Kane]

[Guest Klitschko]

Yup. That was last year though. 'Throw in taker first, footballer second'.

[Flojo]

That is disgraceful.

His wiki is a joke, half of the page is dedicated to his throw ins with a section for goal assists from throw ins.

Delap was a talented javelin thrower in his youth, and was touted to represent Ireland in the Olympics after his throw-ins shot to prominence following Stoke's promotion to the Premier League.

[Mame Biram Diouf]

29 - @Cesc4official has created a chance from open play every 29 minutes, the best rate of any player in Europe's top 5 leagues. Playmaker.

Spurs have scored the most left-footed goals in the Premier League this season (18), while Blackpool have conceded the most (20)

Tottenham have recouped 20 points from losing positions this season, more than any other team in the Premier League

Tottenham have recouped 20 points from losing positions this season, more than any other team in the Premier League

[ 86% - Jose Mourinho has won 12 of his last 14 Champions League games

Anelka has scored 10 times in his last 11 Champions League starts and this season he has 7 goals from 9 shots on target.

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Can Torres and Drogba play together?

In the three games since Fernando Torres became eligible to play for Chelsea, he and his new team-mates have failed to score in normal time.

Granted, the Spaniard was cup-tied for the loss to Everton on Saturday, but Frank Lampard's extra-time strike in the penalty shoot-out defeat is the only goal manager Carlo Ancelotti has seen his team score in 300 minutes of football.

A worrying scenario for any team, let alone last season's Premier League and FA Cup winners, who now realistically only have the Champions League to play for and face FC Copenhagen on Tuesday aiming to make it through to the quarter-finals.

Chelsea have certainly had a better time of it in Europe this season where they qualified for the knockout stages top of their group.

The west Londoners only dropped points to Marseille after progress to the last 16 had been secured and have been more prolific in the Champions League, scoring 2.33 goals a game compared to 1.77 in the Premier League.

Chelsea will hope they can return to that sort of form even with no solution seemingly apparent when it comes to finding if Torres can play alongside fellow forwards Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka.

Following Torres's £50m deadline day move from Liverpool on 31 January, the immediate evidence in the 1-0 defeat by his former club suggested that placing Anelka behind the other two was a forlorn exercise.

During the 0-0 draw at Fulham on 14 February, Drogba was dropped allowing Florent Malouda and Anelka to probe either side of the former Atletico Madrid striker in a role to which he was more accustomed.

Then without Torres on Saturday, Chelsea had 19 shots on target with Drogba looking more bullish in the first-half.

So where does that leave Ancelotti now?

With separate performances indicating they might be better off working on their own, an obvious option would be to scrap the 4-3-3 system Ancelotti favours and twin Drogba and Torres as a front two.

But former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin thinks that would be a bad idea because they are too similar. Not in the way they play the game, he says, but more in terms of the roles they fulfil in the team.

Average positions from the Liverpool game showed that when they played together, Drogba (11) and Torres (9) occupied much of the same space, whereas when Torres started up front on his own against Fulham, there was more room to work in.

"Both of them play through the middle and although their styles are very different, the positions they take up and want to make the most out of are very similar," Nevin says.

"They both want to play on the opposition backline and they both can't do that because they would kill each others space.

"In the Fulham game, even though Torres didn't play that well he was always on the shoulder of the last defender and did get away two or three times. In particular, that happened when David Luiz put him through so if Drogba had been standing near him, there wouldn't have been the necessary space to find that ball.

"When Torres did his best work with Liverpool it wasn't as part of two strikers, it was by himself, with Steven Gerrard or Yossi Benayoun playing off him. They could slip balls through to him, or he could rely on Xabi Alonso's passes from deeper areas."

Former Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari had a similar issue with strikers before he was sacked at this stage of the season two years ago.

He was reluctant to pair Drogba with Anelka against bigger teams but Nevin believes the route of the problems are more wide ranging this time, stemming from a lack of creativity in midfield and fitness difficulties after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"The problems Chelsea have are not just limited to one area. If it was one thing you could put your finger on Ancelotti would have figured it out a while ago," Nevin adds.

"Some of it comes from the style of the players behind the front men. Gerrard and Alonso are the type who can thread balls through the eye of a needle. The only guy at Chelsea who can do that is injured - Benayoun.

"So the issue is that Chelsea haven't got the style to make the best of Torres. If Chelsea lump the ball long and be slightly more direct, it doesn't really suit him.

"I suspect the problem is not absolutely solvable this year. I think it will be solved next year either with return of Benayoun or a slight adaptation of personnel, by bringing in one or two players who are more creative in that area."

The lack of depth in the Chelsea squad has been talked about many times this season but Nevin believes it has been crucial in a post-World Cup season with Drogba the biggest victim.

"The top players in England who played in the Champions League and the World Cup have played for two seasons without a break," Nevin states. "They have all suffered.

"I would argue that Drogba has suffered more than anyone else and after coming back from a bout of malaria he hasn't played particularly well this season.

"He hasn't looked strong which then begs the question whether he has lost it or whether he is getting too old. I don't know the answer to that question yet but the time will come and you have to be prepared for it. That's why Torres is there."

In the meantime, the quandary of who to play up front stays unresolved. But should Chelsea fail to get past Copenhagen, recent history suggests it could be a different manager who has to come up with the answer.

Which combination of forwards do you think Ancelotti should choose?

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Has fortune favoured Premier League's brave?

While the top of the Premier League might have a familiar look to it this season, a more interesting story appears to be emerging when you cast your eyes down a little further at places six to 10.

In recent seasons this is where you might usually find the likes of Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa, or perhaps Birmingham and Fulham, all chasing European places with more than half the season gone.

Not this term. Those sides already mentioned are further down the league. Six to 10 in the table currently reads: Sunderland, Bolton, Stoke, Newcastle and Blackpool.

A lot can still change between now and the end of the season, but there are suggestions that these teams, which include two promoted sides, have benefitted from playing in a positive manner.

"The teams that have come up [Newcastle, West Brom and Blackpool] have shown no fear and have tried to be attacking," Blackpool boss Ian Holloway told BBC Sport.

"That's the very nature of how we all tried to get out of the Championship."

West Brom aside, are their positions a coincidence or a reflection of how attacking play has been rewarded this season?

Much has already been written about Blackpool's playing style this season, which has relied on in-demand midfielder Charlie Adam spreading the ball wide so that the attack can penetrate quickly from the wings.

But their approach has been a lesson in what taking the game to another team can achieve if it is done in the right manner.

"I've watched the Premier League since it began and there are very few promoted teams that can play that way and get away with it," said former Liverpool defender and Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen.

"You can count many sides that have come up and tried to play openly; Burnley last season and they got decimated, Derby two or three years back, but Blackpool have done it and got the results as well.

"That must mean they have a semblance of organisation, and going forward, they have guys who can score goals and create goals too. Everybody says they have been a breath of fresh air and I would go along with that. It's been a fantastic style of football and obviously terrific to watch."

Blackpool are in the Premier League's top 10 for average shots per game this season (10.9), and as if to underline their entertainers status, of the 14 matches with the most shots this term, the Seasiders have been involved in eight of them.

Also showing positive signs are the other promoted teams. West Brom have taken more shots per game on average than Manchester United (11.7 compared to 11.4), and Newcastle are second only to Wolves in the average number of attempted crosses per game. Bolton are also in the top 10 for average number of shots per game (10.9).

Elsewhere, Sunderland are 10 points better off than they were at the same stage last season, which has coincided with their decision to play with two strikers more often.

Steve Bruce's side face Blackpool at Bloomfield Road this Saturday attempting to banish the memory of the reverse fixture in December where despite 32 goal attempts to Blackpool's nine, Holloway's team ran out 2-0 winners.

Even though they will do so without last season's top scorer Darren Bent, who joined Aston Villa for £24m earlier this week, there are signs that the Black Cats might be able to cope without him in the longer term.

Bruce was indebted to Bent for his 24 league goals last season which went a long way to keeping Sunderland in the Premier League, but when he was out injured in November, Bruce scrapped his lone forward system and called on strikers Danny Welbeck and Asamoah Gyan to lead the line in tandem.

The effect was devastating as Sunderland produced a memorable performance to beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, with Welbeck and Gyan both on target.

The shackles actually came off prior to that game when, fed up with his team's first-half display at Spurs when they were goalless at half-time, Bruce made the switch, resulting in a 1-1 draw.

The difference was clear, though, with Sunderland having 18 shots in the Chelsea match compared to seven against Spurs.

Bruce told BBC Sport after the Chelsea win: "Everybody who comes here plays just one striker and Chelsea are so used to it, and so patient, eventually they will break you down.

"So we just thought why not have a go? We were better against Tottenham in midweek so we thought we'll not change it."

Bruce has stuck with this policy since, at one point using Bent, Welbeck and Gyan in the same side, but with Bent gone and Welbeck now injured, he will hope that new £3m target Ricardo Fuller can step into the breach.

Thankfully, the more positive approach the Black Cats have shown has also come at a time when their defence has improved.

Sunderland are only matched by Manchester City in keeping 11 clean sheets this term, four more than they managed for the whole of last season.

That might be a more telling statistic than the decision to play two forwards, but there is an argument to say that by being more positive in attack, the defence will have less sustained pressure on them. Attack is the best form of defence, so the saying goes.

This theory could also be backed up by Blackpool's record which shows they have kept the highest number of clean sheets away from home this season (five).

Hansen says that although teams like Blackpool and Sunderland have added to the drama of the Premier League, it is their balance which have ensured profitable seasons so far.

"If you are the manager and you play openly against the bigger teams you are ultimately taking a chance, but sometimes these chances pay off," he said.

"And because it has paid off for Blackpool or Sunderland it might pay off for a lot of other teams that traditionally might go and play tight.

"You wouldn't expect the bottom sides to go to Arsenal and play wide open because they would get trounced. We saw that at the start of the season with Blackpool where they lost 6-0 at the Emirates and I think Ian Holloway learned from that.

"He is still going away from home and playing open but you've got to get the balance right between attack and defence.

"Some people might say I'm cynical, but I think this is the first season since the Premier League began where the lesser teams have played openly and have got away with it, and it might be because the top four aren't as good as they used to be.

"For example if you played against Manchester United a few years ago when they had Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney playing, you would get absolutely annihilated. I think the only team that is capable of doing that now against the lesser sides is Arsenal."

Hansen points to West Brom as an example of a promoted team who have been playing openly and have suffered five straight league defeats around the turn of the year to leave Roberto di Matteo's team close to the relegation zone. But before that run they memorably beat Arsenal 3-2 at the Emirates in September.

So with promoted teams Blackpool and Newcastle in the Premier League's top 10, Sunderland sixth and Bolton showing a resurgence under manager Owen Coyle, has positive play been rewarded?

Is this why the Premier League is so open and exciting this season?

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Dalglish knowhow can help fill Torres void

Only Andy Carroll's thigh injury has denied Liverpool fans the chance to directly compare their new strike force with former hero Fernando Torres when the Reds travel to Chelsea on Sunday.

They will already be buoyed by Luis Suarez scoring on his debut against Stoke in midweek and will look forward to a partnership with Carroll some are likening to previous Liverpool forwards John Toshack and Kevin Keegan.

Nevertheless, the question remains whether the deal to bring in £35m Carroll and £22.7m Suarez for £50m Torres represents good business.

On the one hand you have a World Cup and European Championship winner who has scored 65 Premier League goals, while on the other you have a striker new to English football and a 22-year old who has scored 14 times in the top tier.

The fact that Torres appeared to be disillusioned at Anfield might settle the argument. As Reds manager Kenny Dalglish said on Monday: "The most important people at Liverpool Football Club are the ones who want to be here."

But what exactly will Liverpool be getting from their new front two?

As he demonstrated against Stoke on Wednesday, Suarez is a predator. The former Ajax captain scored 49 goals in 48 games in the Eredivisie last season and helped guide Uruguay to the World Cup semi-finals last summer, albeit in controversial circumstances.

For Carroll, whose price tag was the more surprising of the two, you get far more than an aerial threat, according to Match of the Day pundit and former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer.

"You get a leader of the line, a player who can hold the ball up and you get someone who defenders hate playing against," he said, with passing statistics showing Carroll was far more involved than Torres in the game between Newcastle and Liverpool in December.

"His link-up play is very good too. He can bring people into the game and he can run into the channels if you need him to. He's still very young and has got a lot to learn but if there is one guy who can teach him then it is Kenny Dalglish."

It was as Blackburn's manager in 1992 that Dalglish signed Shearer from Southampton for a then record fee of £3.3m. So there are echoes in the way the Scot has plucked Carroll from a mid-table team aiming for eventual title glory.

The good news for Liverpool fans is that following an initial season where Shearer scored 16 league goals, he then went on to notch more than 30 in each of the next three seasons for Rovers, which included a Premier League title in 1995.

Dalglish was also responsible for bringing Chris Sutton to Ewood Park, forming the famous SAS partnership that resulted in 49 league goals in that title-winning season.

"My whole game improved working under Dalglish," said Shearer. "Kenny helped my movement, he helped my positional play and he helped me get in the box more often to score more goals.

"As he did with me, he'll speak to Andy every single day so I'm convinced Andy's game will improve by working with Kenny. Kenny is not only a great man but a great manager in my opinion. He won the league with Liverpool and Blackburn because of his football knowhow and of course he played in a forward position too."

In signing Carroll, Dalglish may have already studied various partnerships at Newcastle where his link-ups with captain Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton have been a feature of their season.

Barton has set up five of Carroll's 11 league goals this term, making them the most prolific combination in the Premier League. The duo have 12 assists between them.

And as if to underline Carroll's presence in the air Newcastle are the fourth best team for scoring from set-pieces with 39% of their goals coming from that route.

"Newcastle have looked to put balls in the box at every opportunity, whether from set-plays or open play and that is one of the reasons why Joey Barton has looked so good this year," Shearer added.

"He knows that if you put the right ball in the box, eight or nine times out of 10 Carroll will get on the end of it. For a wide or midfield player that is great to know."

That notion will be welcomed by Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard and he will also be encouraged by the connection between Carroll and Nolan, which was similar to the one he had with Torres.

"Gerrard can time his runs knowing that Carroll can win a flick-on or bring him into the game with either his pace or his strength," stated Shearer.

"Andy has also partnered Shola Ameobi up front this season so he has played in different formations and I don't think it will be problem for him to play either way with Gerrard or Suarez."

There is an added value to Carroll's aerial ability. Where Torres rarely contributed to Liverpool's defending, the 6ft 3in striker can help clear danger at set-pieces, as the touch map right shows.

That has proved to be a hidden weapon for Newcastle this season, who have the second best record in the Premier League for conceding this way, only 15% of their total, while 24% of Liverpool's goals against have come in this fashion.

"I think Liverpool have moved very well after the loss of Torres," said Shearer. "He is a world-class player and has been for many years so you can understand why Chelsea want to pay that type of money for him.

"But in Carroll and Suarez they have got two guys who are goalscorers, they will be horrible to play against and I'm pretty sure they will fill the gap vacated by Torres."

The Spaniard's move to London has presented Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti with a completely different dilemma.

Where once debate raged on who was the better striker between Torres and Didier Drogba, they now find themselves in the same team. Add in Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda and there will be some serious juggling involved.

Ancelotti has tended to favour a front three of Drogba, Anelka and Malouda this season, but Torres' move could lead to him switching formations.

"Torres will be able to make the adjustment to the way Chelsea play," said Shearer. "I know he has been off-colour lately - and you suspect it was because he wanted to get away from Liverpool - but now he has left, it might put the spring back in his step. You might see the Torres that we saw a year or two ago.

"The obvious front two to me would be Drogba and Torres and that would be some forward line. The partnership has got a bit of everything: it has got raw pace, raw strength, it is good in the air, it is good at attacking balls, both have a good touch; so potentially those two have got the lot.

"If you look at the Liverpool pair, Carroll is young and inexperienced while Suarez is just coming into the country to learn the English game. But in Torres and Drogba they know it inside out already and you know what you are getting."

On that basis, it looks like Dalglish is the one taking the bigger gamble. Yet with his pedigree both as a player and manager it is hard to doubt his nous for weaving another prolific strike force capable of returning the good times to Anfield.

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Are Manchester United lacking a midfield spark?

So Manchester United's 29-game unbeaten run in the Premier League has come to an end. Who guessed it would have been Wolves, the division's bottom club on Saturday morning, who inflicted the damage?

Not many, perhaps. Yet coming after the wins over Chelsea and Manchester City at Molineux, the 2-1 victory showed that Mick McCarthy's side are more than a match for some of the league's biggest teams.

Goals by George Elokobi and the industrious Kevin Doyle cancelled out Nani's opener but there was evidence from the back to the front that Wolves deserved their victory.

The problem now for McCarthy is to maintain that sort of form against lesser teams, a key factor if the Midlands outfit are to stay up.

"Wolves were absolutely sensational," said Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer.

"During the second half you were expecting an onslaught by Manchester United and they attacked in little bursts. But whatever they threw at Wolves, the home side handled really well and defended so well too."

Resolute defending was also a feature of Wolves' wins over Manchester City and Chelsea at home this season, where they only allowed two and three shots on target all game.

Chelsea usually average more than double that figure but the reduction was, in part, down to the Wolves defence willing to put their bodies on the line, blocking six of their attempts on goal.

On Saturday, Manchester United only had four shots on target all game, where they usually average about six, but with Wolves only blocking three other shots it shows how much the visitors petered out in the second half.

Some of that was down to the indefatigable Doyle, who allowed the Wolves defence time to breathe by maintaining possession even when the ball was hit long to him. Judging by the passes he received in the graphic to the right, that was an awful lot.

McCarthy's team were also clinical in front of goal. From only five shots they scored twice, a similar story to when they beat Chelsea with a goal from only three shots.

In three other games this season - against Aston Villa, Birmingham and Blackpool - their shot total has hit double figures with only one goal as a return, whereas in five other matches more than 10 shots on goal have yielded nothing.

"Kevin Doyle up front was magnificent," stated Shearer. "He worked his socks off, he worked the channels, he held the ball up and he was brilliant.

"I'm still not totally sure if he got a touch for the second goal but he deserved it because of his work rate all afternoon."

As good as Wolves were, Manchester United finally came unstuck having spent most of the season getting results without playing well. This time they forgot the first part.

The signs were there: only an injury-time winner from Park Ji-Sung separated Sir Alex Ferguson's side and Wolves at Old Trafford in November.

More recently, another late comeback saved United from defeat at Blackpool, where Ryan Giggs helped turn their fortunes around, and a similar scenario was repeated in the FA Cup tie at Southampton where they came from behind to win 2-1.

Even before then at Tottenham in January, it was a vintage performance by centre-backs Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand that were the most outstanding aspects in a display in which the forwards and midfield failed to fire.

In all of this, the reliance on veterans Giggs and Scholes may be the most worrying aspect for United fans.

While others have scored goals, they have provided more zest and energy to the centre of midfield, where the likes of Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick and Anderson have failed to do so.

Driving runs by Giggs on the ball have been matched by Scholes' never-ending capacity to gamble on getting into the box. This was emphasised when he replaced Carrick on Saturday and was more involved in advanced and wider positions.

Comparisons with the other top four teams show that United appear to be lacking a creative influence from the middle of the park.

Arsenal have Cesc Fabregas, Tottenham have Rafael van der Vaart and Luka Modric, Manchester City have David Silva and Yaya Toure, while Chelsea can usually rely on Frank Lampard, whose injury-hit season has contributed to his team's stuttering form.

Only Manchester City are in the same category when it comes to shots and goals from central midfield but that is only because manager Roberto Mancini prefers a more defensive approach, with the likes of Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry anchoring the midfield.

From their regular central midfield players, Tottenham average 1.59 shots per game, Chelsea 1.41, Arsenal 1.17 and Manchester City a lowly 0.69.

Fletcher, Carrick and Anderson make up three of the six central midfielders from the top five clubs who have taken the least number of shots. (John Mikel Obi, Nigel de Jong and Wilson Palacios are the other three.)

And together with Scholes, they have totalled 31 attempts on goal, at an average of only 0.6 shots per game.

Does that indicate where Manchester United need to improve? Or with them still sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League table is it an overplayed issue?

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Manchester United face current Ligue 1 champions Marseille at the intimidating Stade Vélodrome on Wednesday, looking to earn a positive result for the return leg at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils will have their work cut out, however, with Marseille sure to test the Premier League leaders on home soil. Here, Opta take a look at the tie's key stats.

1. Raining goals? Don't bet on it

Manchester United have displayed great defensive resolve in Europe so far this season, becoming just the eighth side in Champions League history to concede only one goal in the group stages of the competition.

Marseille have also been a tight-knit outfit in Europe, keeping a clean sheet in their last four Champions League games, and will be hopeful of keeping a fifth successive shutout against a Manchester United side who have the worst conversion rate of any of the sides in the last 16 – just 10%. So don't expect a glut of goals.

2. Test Mandanda often

Marseille have conceded the fewest shots on target in the Champions League this season; just 11 in their six games so far. As previously mentioned, United have scored with just 10% of their shots, so if they continue with same strike rate here, the Red Devils will need to almost equal the amount of shots on target that Marseille faced in the group stages just to take a goal back to Old Trafford in the second leg.

The French side's goalkeeper, Steve Mandanda, has a saves-to-shots ratio of 72.7% in the Champions League this campaign, better than the competition average of 70.2%.

3. Will history repeat itself?

Manchester United may have lost just two of their 24 games against French opposition in Europe, but their last meeting against Marseille ended in a 0-1 defeat at the Stade Vélodrome, in October 1999.

William Gallas scored the only goal of the game, a first group stage meeting, with veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes both playing for United that day.

4. Marseille will miss Gignac

André-Pierre Gignac will miss this game following a groin strain suffered in Marseille’s league win over St. Etienne on Saturday. The French international struggled to find the net following his move from Toulouse earlier this season, but has finally found his feet at OM, scoring four goals and assisting another in his last five appearances in Ligue 1.

Gignac is one of only five players to have scored a hat-trick in the Champions League so far this season - he scored a treble at MSK Zilina in his most recent appearance in the competition - and United will be very glad he doesn't line up against them on Wednesday.

5. OM well-drilled at set-pieces

Marseille have conceded just one goal from a corner, indirect free-kick or direct free-kick in 30 Ligue 1 & Champions League matches this season, proving that they are no slouches when it comes to defending set-pieces.

Including throw-ins, Marseille have conceded just four goals in the league this season from set-pieces, which is the lowest total of any side in Ligue 1.

[Guest FA23]

39 - Jermain Defoe has had 39 shots without scoring in the PL this season, the most in the league.

[Lenny]

Bane where do you get that info from?

[Mame Biram Diouf]

Bane where do you get that info from?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thefootballtacticsblog/

Updated every week

[Lenny]

*Bookmarks*

Cheers fella

[Guest FA23]

BAE >>>

[Mr Q]

57 - Shakhtar Donetsk are now unbeaten in 57 home games in all competitions since 22/10/2008, winning their last 21 in a row. Fortress.

[Guest FA23]

1 - Since Opta started analysing all Champions League games in 2003, Arsenal are the only team ever to record zero shots in a match. Blanks.

[Guest haze-e]

Wow @ The last two...