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What Have We Learnt From the New Premier League Season? By Ewomazino Orowor

The 2015/16 season of the English Premier League is only four weeks old but we have had plenty savoury moments. With surprises springing up here and there, the stats are screaming too.  

Although, the international break is around the corner, the four-week-old Premier League has left us with some staggering figures.
So, with reference to the results and proceedings of matches in week four, let's review the on-going season...in numbers.
0 - Manchester City (and their goalie, Joe Hart) are yet to concede a goal this season. It's the first time that the Citizens have kept a clean sheet in each of their opening four Premier League fixtures. Last season, Joe Hart kept more clean sheets (14) than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League. 

1 - West Ham United's victory at Anfield last Saturday was their 1st since 1963- five years before their current manager, Slaven Bilic was born. The result was also Liverpool's 1st loss this season and the Reds managed only 1 shot on target.

2 - Everton's clean sheet at White Hart Lane in the late kick-off was their 2nd consecutive clean sheet away from home this season. The last time they garnered consecutive away clean sheets in the league was October to December, 2013.

3 - Crystal Palace's win over Chelsea was Alan Pardew's 3rd victory over Jose Mourinho. Pardew is the first manager to have defeated Mourinho 3 times in the Premier League.  

Meanwhile, Swansea's home victory over Manchester United means the Swans have now defeated the Red Devils in their last 3 league meetings. It also meant that 3 goals had been scored in each of those meetings with Swansea triumphing 2-1 in all of them.

4 - Bafetimbi Gomis (Swansea City) is joint Premier League top scorer with 4 goals. The French striker has also scored in each of Swansea's opening 4 fixtures - the first Swansea player to achieve such feat in the Premier League.

5 - With Tottenham v Everton being a no-goal affair, there have been 5 goalless draws so far this season- one more than at this stage last season.
6 -  In week four, a total of 6 red cards were issued to players- that's one more than the red cards issued in the first three weeks. Meanwhile, Alexsander Mitrovic's red card against Arsenal in the early kick-off was Newcastle United's 6th red card in 2015.

7 - Chelsea's loss to Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge means Jose Mourinho's last 7 Premier League defeats have been against managers whose surnames begin with the letter 'P': alan Pardew (August, 2015); manuel Pellegrini (August, 2015); tony Pulis (May, 2015); mauricio Pochettino (January, 2015); alan Pardew (December, 2014), gus Poyet (April, 2014); tony Pulis (March, 2014). 

8 - Arsenal's win over Newcastle in the week's early kick-off was their 8th consecutive league win against the Magpies. The last time the Gunners failed to collect all three points in this fixture was in the goalless draw at St. James' Park in August 2011.
9 - Chelsea are yet to keep a clean sheet so far. In fact, the Blues have conceded 9 goals already- only bottom-of-the-table Sunderland have conceded more. One would have to rewind to the start of the 2003/04 season for the last time Chelsea failed to keep a clean sheet in their opening four matches in the Premier League.

10 - Wayne Rooney fired blank again! The last time Rooney scored a Premier League goal was in the 3-1 win over Aston Villa at the start of April. Since then, however, the Manchester United captain has failed to score in 10 Premier League matches in which he has featured for Man United. Ironically, though, Rooney is Man United's top scorer in all competitions so far this season with three goals.
We'll have to wait for a fortnight to see more intriguing figures this exciting league will produce. But let's enjoy the international break as we wait.
Ewomazino Orowor
Twitter - @zino_orowor

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