Jesus or Aguero? Or Dmitri Kharine?

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Gabriel Jesus joined City from Palmeiras for £27m in August 2016

Gabriel Jesus or Sergio Aguero?

Pep Guardiola went with the Brazilian option in Manchester City’s starting XI against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Jesus rewarded his manager with an assist and a goal, as Raheem Sterling sealed the points and was then sent off after receiving a second yellow card for for his stoppage-time celebrations.

The 20-year-old has now contributed towards 12 goals in his first 11 league starts for City – by scoring eight and providing assists for four.

Aguero has not exactly been out of form, and in fact his own recent return is equally impressive, having scored nine and assisted three in his past 11 league starts.

But Jesus does beat his team-mate when it comes to one thing; hitting the ground running.

Aguero only contributed towards 10 goals in his first 11 starts for City, compared to Jesus’ 12.

Still, it’s not quite good enough to knock a certain Mr Shearer off the all-time number one spot…

Goals and assists in first 11 PL starts
Alan Shearer 16
Mick Quinn 15
Kevin Phillips 14
Papiss Cisse 13
Gabriel Jesus 12
Paulo Wanchope 12
Andrey Arshavin 11
Eric Cantona 11
Kevin de Bruyne 11
Diego Costa 11
Jurgen Klinsmann 11
Mark Viduka 11
Schmeichel’s penalty save was in vain. Unfortunately for Leicester, Man Utd went on to to win 2-0

Kasper Schmeichel‘s penalty save at Old Trafford on Saturday could not help Leicester avoid defeat, but it certainly improved his already impressive spot-kick record.

The Dane has now saved three of the past five penalties he has faced in all competitions for the Foxes.

But who is the Premier League’s best penalty stopper?

Will we ever see such a fine pair of tracksuit bottoms in the English top flight?

Look no further than former Chelsea goalkeeper Dimtri Kharine.

The Russia international kept out almost half of the penalties he faced during seven years at Stamford Bridge between 1992 and 1999. Of the goalkeepers to have faced 10 or more penalties in the Premier League, he comes out on top.

Next down the list is ex-Arsenal stopper Manuel Almunia, while former Newcastle keeper Pavel Srnicek, who died at the age of 47 in 2015, is third.

Burnley’s Tom Heaton, Bournemouth’s Artur Boruc and Watford’s Heurelho Gomes are the only current top-flight players to make the top 10.

Penalties faced Penalties saved Save %
Dmitri Kharine 11 5 45.5%
Manuel Almunia 14 6 42.9%
Pavel Srnicek 12 5 41.7%
Bryan Gunn 10 4 40%
Artur Boruc 14 5 35.7%
Mark Bosnich 18 6 33.3%
David Seaman 22 7 31.8%
Mark Crossley 19 6 31.6%
Tom Heaton 10 3 30%
Heurelho Gomes 32 9 28.1%
The Schmeichels were in attendance when Manchester United hosted Anderlecht in last season’s Europa League

There was another intriguing stat to come out of Schmeichel’s penalty save at Old Trafford.

It means the 30-year-old has saved more Premier League penalties at Old Trafford than his father Peter, 53, managed in his eight years with Manchester United.

That is because Schmeichel senior only faced three penalties at United’s home ground.

Which begs the question: Are there any Premier League venues where a penalty for the away side is an even rarer occurrence?

Nope. There is not.

Every 1,811.25 minutes the referee awards a penalty to the away side at Old Trafford. An average of one around every 20 matches. Only Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest can boast of pushing them close.

Home team Penalties faced Games played Minutes played Mins per pen faced
Manchester United 24 483 43,470 1,811
Queens Park Rangers 7 139 12,510 1,787
Nottingham Forest 5 99 8,910 1,782
Barnsley 1 19 1,710 1,710
Blackpool 1 19 1,710 1,710
Cardiff City 1 19 1,710 1,710
Chelsea 26 482 43,380 1,668
Bolton Wanderers 16 247 22,230 1,389
Sheffield United 4 61 5,490 1,372

So what about if you reverse the trend? Which club has conceded the most penalties at home in the Premier League?

Wigan Athletic take the prize.

Over their 152 Premier League matches (to date), the Latics conceded 22 spot-kicks at an average of one every 621 minutes – around one every seven home matches.

Home team Penalties faced Games played Minutes played Mins per pen faced
Wigan Athletic 22 152 13,680 621
Reading 8 57 5,130 641
Burnley 8 58 5,220 652
Bradford City 5 38 3,420 684
Wolves 10 76 6,840 684
Charlton 20 152 13,680 684
Hull 12 95 8,550 712
Portsmouth 16 133 11,970 748
Stoke 20 172 15,480 774
Watford 9 78 7,020 780
Britos protested his innocence, but was correctly given his marching orders

Miguel Britos loves a red card so much that he was already suspended when he signed for Watford in the summer of 2015.

He really was.

In his final game for Napoli, he headbutted Juventus striker Alvaro Morata, and the ban carried over to the English game.

The Uruguayan saw red again on Saturday, for a reckless challenge on Brighton’s Anthony Knockaert.

It means the 32-year-old has received the most red cards in the Premier League since the start of last season, with three.

Patrick Vieira, Richard Dunne and Duncan Ferguson are top of the league’s all-time red card rankings, with eight over the course of their careers.

But who leads the way in terms of cards shown per minutes played? Not Britos.

Instead, it is former Birmingham and West Brom defender Darren Purse, whose three red cards from 4,434 Premier League minutes played means every 1,478 minutes – just over 16 games – he was sent off.

Britos comes in at second place, just ahead of former Middlesbrough and Southampton attacking midfielder Gaston Ramirez.

Red cards Minutes played Mins/red card
Darren Purse 3 4,434 1,478
Miguel Britos 3 4,563 1,521
Gaston Ramirez 3 4,785 1,595
Chico Flores 3 4,931 1,644
John Hartson 6 12,262 2,044
Stefan Schnoor 2 4,120 2,060
Paul Stewart 2 4,137 2,069
Ashley Barnes 2 4,243 2,122
Carl Jenkinson 3 6,456 2,152
Arjen Robben 2 4,374 2,187
Mourinho’s Man Utd are the only Premier League side with a 100% record

Jose Mourinho hailed his goalscoring substitutes Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini as Manchester United defeated a resolute Leicester at Old Trafford thanks to two strikes from the bench.

But which Premier League team makes the most of their changes?

Perhaps surprisingly, since the the beginning of last season it is Arsenal who lead the way – with defending champions Chelsea following close behind.

Sub goal involvements since start of 2016-17
Arsenal 22
Chelsea 21
Manchester United 14
Hull 13
Bournemouth 12
Manchester City 11
Swansea 11
Burnley 9
Leicester 9
Tottenham 9


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