Premier League Matchday 26 By Numbers

Matchday 26 proved to be a fairly exciting weekend of football, with a big shock win to top it all off.

Heading into matchday 26, you would have been excused for thinking it would be a quiet weekend, with just the one exciting game to look forward to.

Instead, we got some strong performances, good results, and overall, a healthy dose of Premier League football.

Tottenham stole the show with their shock victory over Manchester City at the Etihad. Manchester United almost went full Manchester United but managed to recover. And Southampton put on probably the most dominant performance of the weekend.

To recap the weekend, here is how Matchday 26 went down by the numbers.

30

Goals scored in total over the 10 games played this weekend. 

The highest number of goals in a game this weekend was six in the Leeds United vs Manchester United game that ended 4-2 to the Red Devils.

It's the highest number of goals scored over a Premier League weekend since Matchday 19, when there were also 30 goals, but there were also two games postponed that weekend.

What’s more, the number of goals scored exceeded the combined xG for the weekend, which was 26.1.

20

Shots in total from Aston Villa without a goal scored.

Villa have been on a bit of a rubbish run recently, winning just one game in their last seven.

Their match against Watford should have been an opportunity to halt the poor run, pick up a big three points and possibly climb a place up the table.

But, as much as they tried, they could not find a way past the Hornets.

Not only did they have 20 shots in total, but they also had 59% possession and had 82% passing accuracy. But the result was not to be.

Of course, it would have helped if they were able to get more than just two of their 20 shots on target. 

29%

Possession Tottenham had in their victory over Manchester City.

Despite Spurs having a relatively poor season by their standards, they still find themselves in the running for a Champions League spot and are optimistic about their future.

Oh, and they beat top-of-the-table Manchester City 2-3 at the Etihad with only 29% possession.

It wasn’t a win that you could say they dominated City but instead one where they were able to weather the storm throughout and made the most of their opportunities.

Even more interestingly, they had under half the amount of passes attempted than Man City had passes made.

Spurs now join Southampton as the only teams so far who haven't lost to Man City this season. Though Spurs do go into a category of their own, since Southampton managed two draws against City, while Spurs managed to best them in both games.

9

Saves from a total of 11 shots on target from Jordan Pickford as Everton lost 2-0 to Southampton.

The Saints absolutely peppered poor Pickford with shots in this game. They made 19 in total, with 11 of them hitting the mark. That’s a very impressive 83% of shots on target.

While Pickford did his best for as long as he could, there was only so much he could do. Two shots managed to find their way into the back of his net. 

One of which was scored by a 35-year-old Irishman named Shane Long, who scored his first Premier League goal in almost two years with his very first touch of the game after only being on the pitch for not even two minutes till that point.

75%

Conversion rate for Burnley as they beat Brighton 0-3.

It was an impressive display from the team that was sitting at the bottom of the table prior to the weekend.

Burnley went up against a Brighton team that has surprised everyone this year with strong performances and were even at the top of the table at one point (for about 12 hours, granted).

Instead of floundering, Burnley flourished at the AMEX and picked up their first away win of the season.

The Clarets may not have been on top throughout the game, but like Spurs in their match with Man City, they made the most of the chances they got.

Burnley had 10 shots in total, four of them hitting the target, and with three finding the back of the net, they end up with the best conversion rate of the weekend at 75%