Premier League stats: Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Romelu Lukaku, Wayne Rooney - SportRivals

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Sunday, 15 October 2017

Premier League stats: Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Romelu Lukaku, Wayne Rooney

Klopp and Mourinho
In three Premier League games against Liverpool under Jose Mourinho, Manchester United have had an average 42.74% of possession
As Jose Mourinho's Manchester United go on the defensive, Pep Guardiola's City cannot stop scoring.
Elsewhere, Romelu Lukaku looks to drop an unwanted tag, Arsenal rise to bust some aerial myths and Crystal Palace finally score.
Here BBC Sport looks at the most interesting stats from the weekend's action in the Premier League.

Does Jose actually park the bus?

"I think United came here for the point and they got it," said Jurgen Klopp after his Liverpool side were held to a goalless draw by Manchester Unitedat Anfield for a second successive season.
This after United boss Mourinho had joked in his pre-match news conference that he would start with "nine strikers". He didn't. And the visitors managed just one shot on target.
Mourinho has earned a reputation for taking a defensive approach to games against the rest of the Premier League's 'big six' - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham.
But is that reputation justified? Let's have a look at the stats...
Of course, you would expect United to score fewer goals and have fewer shots against the league's better sides, but since Mourinho was given the job in May 2016 they have registered, on average, less than a goal a game against their supposed title rivals.
That one shot on target at Anfield on Saturday came from six attempts, lower than United's average of 9.8 efforts on goal against the rest of the big six and way below the average 17.4 shots they have per game when playing the rest of the Premier League.
Mourinho's side see far less of the ball in these supposedly big games, too. Against the rest of the division, United boast an average of 60.28% possession. When playing the big six, that figure is 43.53%.
In fact, in his time at Old Trafford, the only big-six side Mourinho's United have enjoyed more of the play against is his former employers Chelsea - having 51.49% of the ball across their meetings last season.
Perhaps a draw at Anfield was inevitable. After all, it was the third time Mourinho and Klopp's respective Reds had met in the league, and each time they have shared the points - that has not happened in this fixture since 1921.
Since Mourinho was named United manager last year, the clubs have won exactly the same number of points in the Premier League - 89.
Under Klopp, Liverpool have gained more points (37) than any other side against the big six. But that won't bother Mourinho too much - the Portuguese has just guided United to their joint best start to a Premier League season.
The only other times United have had 20 points after eight games was when they won the title in 1999-00 and finished runners-up to neighbours Manchester City in 2011-12.

A flat-track bully?

Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku has scored seven league goals in eight games this season
Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has scored 16 goals in 14 games for club and country this season, yet the Belgium international has been described by some as a "flat-track bully".
Everton legend Peter Reid said in his autobiography he "never saw" the former Toffees striker in "big games", and Lukaku was again stifled by a big-six side at the weekend.
The 24-year-old has only scored 15 goals in his 58 games against the 'big six' in the Premier League, while netting an impressive 77 times in 136 outings against the rest.
Last season, Lukaku was on target four times against the top sides as an Everton player, but after a £75m move to Old Trafford, the striker expects to be more prolific.
"When I was at Everton we have a different mindset going into games," said Lukaku. "Now I am in a team who want to win against big teams so I think the situation will change."
And it should be noted, the striker's debut goal for United came in a 2-1 Super Cup defeat by European champions Real Madrid.

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