Why Villa are still unlikely to break the Big Four and more
Five stats about this weekend’s football
1. Steve McClaren’s FC Twente are up to third in the Eredivisie after a 6-2 win over Sparta Rotterdam. It was the second home league game in succession where the Dutch side scored six goals, something McClaren never managed while with either Middlesbrough or England.
2. When Everton broke the Big Four in 2004-05 they had 33 points at this stage, compared to Aston Villa’s 28. They were also nine points above the team they displaced, Liverpool (who had a game in hand), indicating that Martin O’Neill’s side are unlikely to finish above Arsenal this season.
3. Is David Bentley really worth thirteen points? Paul Ince thinks the press have an agenda against him but Blackburn had 26 points after sixteen games last season, double the number they have at the same stage this season.
4. Saturday marked the first time this season that Arsenal have followed up an away win with victory at the Emirates.
5. Good news for Sunderland - the team in 18th at this point in each of the last two seasons has survived. They were in this position twelve months ago, albeit with two points less, and stayed up.
Tags: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Big Four, Blackburn, David Bentley, Emirates Stadium, england, Eredivisie, Everton, FC Twente, Liverpool, Martin O'Neill, Middlesbrough, Paul Ince, Premier League, Relegation, Sparta Rotterdam, Steve McClaren, Sunderland
Posted: December 9th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | 
