Why Bale was just as responsible as Gomes for Redknapp’s first loss

Five stats regarding this weekend’s football

1. Harry Redknapp’s biggest mistake this weekend wasn’t sticking with Heurelho Gomes against Fulham, it was restoring Gareth Bale to the starting line-up. The Welsh left-back has now played seventeen Premier League games for Spurs without tasting victory.

2. While Gomes has become a laughing stock in England for his recent mistakes, his former club PSV Eindhoven are struggling in his absence. After eleven games last season they had lost just once, conceding six goals but this year they have already lost five, conceding twelve.

3. This is now Liverpool’s most successful start to a Premier League season ever and their best start to a campaign since 1990-91, although they ended up finishing second on that occasion.

4. Arsenal’s 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa marked only the second time in 45 league games at the Emirates where the Gunners had failed to score. The previous also came against claret-and-blue opposition, West Ham, in April 2007.

5. With nine straight league victories, Barcelona are on their second longest winning streak in five years. However, they face each of their top five rivals - Sevilla, Valencia, Real Madrid and Villarreal - in succession after next week’s Getafe game though which will make matching the fourteen match winning run achieved between October 2005 and February 2006 a tough task.

Posted: November 17th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn |