5 April Match Weeks 30/31
GOALLESS GAMES
In this season of goals galore, two goalless matches in the space of a week feels like a drought. Although Match Week 30 rattled along at the overall rate of 3.2 goals per game, the last match ended with the stalemate at The Etihad – the first time City had failed to score at home for 47 league matches, since they lost 2-0 at home to Saturday’s opponents, Crystal Palace. By strange coincidence City’s last goalless draw was against Palace back in March 2022, a run of 75 consecutive matches without a 0-0.
That was quickly followed by Brentford and Brighton’s 0-0, which was only the tenth this season and it is highly likely that this season will have the fewest goalless games, at the current rate there will only be a dozen. Match Week 31’s goal ratio was looking a little thin until Chelsea’s 4-3 victory against United at Stamford Bridge on Thursday lifted the week’s total to 29. This season’s total has reached 978, which is already more than the overall total for seven seasons with 77 matches left.
HAT-TRICKS
Cole Palmer’s hat-trick, included goals scored in the 100th and 101st minutes, with the third was the latest in Premier League history. Phil Foden managed his second treble of the season during the 4-1 win over Villa and the last four hat tricks have all been scored by Englishmen. The last time this happened was in 2017.
Unsurprisingly, the number of hat-tricks this season are coming at a fair old lick with fourteen already (compared to eight last season). Indeed that is already the most in the last dozen seasons, with only 2015/16’s total matching the fourteen scored so far.
IT STARTED WITH A KICK
Having alerted you to the launch of my new podcast, the time is nigh. The first episode of “It Started With a Kick” will be available next Tuesday 9th April featuring the commentator Darren Fletcher. As there was so much content to chew over it’s a two-parter, with the second part on Thursday 11th April. The podcast will be available on all the usual platforms.
The premise is simple as an array of guests, a mixture of well-known fans and leading figures from the world of football share their experience of attending their first-ever match/es. There is some cracking content and I have been overwhelmed by the positive reaction of the guests so far who have all taken on the task with plenty of gusto and a healthy dose of glee. They have agreed it’s a great idea and have hugely enjoyed sharing their memories. We will be promoting the pod through the usual social media channels so keep your eyes and ears open over the next few days.
The Football Mine 