Stat, Viz, Quiz is the Opta Analyst football newsletter. This week’s edition looks at Arsenal vs Man Utd, Kylian Mbappé, and goalless draws.
Just last week it felt likely that Arsenal would probably ease their way to the Premier League title, after their closest challengers both lost on Matchday 22.
However, Manchester City and Aston Villa won their games this weekend, while the Gunners were beaten in a five-goal thriller by Michael Carrick’s Manchester United, reducing the gap at the top to just four points. In this week’s SVQ, we look at one particularly notable stat from that game that will explain why Mikel Arteta will be glad he won’t have to face Carrick again this season.
The final chaotic matchday of the league phase of the Champions League takes place tomorrow, which, quite frankly, has us all here at Opta Analyst feeling giddier than on Christmas Eve. To mark the occasion, we’ll be taking a look at Kylian Mbappé, who has been scoring goals in this year’s competition like he has some sort of vendetta against goal nets.
Our Ask Opta question is, funnily enough, about a lack of goals, while we have set five more questions for you in our weekly quiz to scratch your head over.
We start at the Emirates, though, where the title race may have been blown wide open again.
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Arsenal games this season have usually guaranteed one thing, that the Gunners would look solid at the back.
On Sunday, though, they were anything but as they were beaten on home soil for the first time this season, losing 3-2 against a resurgent Man Utd.
Granted, it took two worldies to do it, but having gone ahead via Lisandro Martínez’s own goal in a game they had dominated to that point, an error from Martín Zubimendi allowed Bryan Mbeumo to level things before half-time, and the hosts never looked comfortable after that.
Patrick Dorgu made it 2-1 early in the second half, and though Arsenal looked to have rescued a point when Mikel Merino equalised with six minutes of normal time remaining, there was still time for Matheus Cunha to fire in a spectacular winner for the Red Devils.
And it wasn’t the first time Michael Carrick had done that to Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard has lost just twice as Arsenal manager in games in which his team have scored at least two goals, and both times were at the hands of Carrick’s Manchester United.
First, at Old Trafford in December 2021 when Carrick’s first interim spell in charge included a 3-2 victory over the Gunners. Emile Smith Rowe’s opener was cancelled out by Bruno Fernandes just before half-time. Cristiano Ronaldo put United ahead early in the second half only for Martin Ødegaard to equalise two minutes later. A penalty from Ronaldo was enough to win it for United.
Just over four years later, in his second interim spell, Carrick repeated the trick.
The agony of losing to Man Utd was bad enough, but to have been thwarted by an ex-Tottenham midfielder must have been extra painful for Arsenal fans.
Carrick is the only manager to face Arteta more than once in his managerial career and have a 100%-win record against him (two wins from two).
It was also the first time Arsenal had conceded 3+ goals in a match since December 2023 (vs Luton Town), bringing to an end a run of 121 matches across all competitions in which they had not conceded more than twice.
As for United, it has been a perfect start under Carrick after also beating Manchester City in the derby. They are the first team to win back-to-back Premier League games with both matches coming against sides starting the day in the top two positions since Everton in February 2010.
Arsenal are still in the driving seat when it comes to the title, and Arteta will hope this experience focuses minds and ends up helping them in the long run.
He’ll also presumably be hoping Carrick doesn’t get the United gig permanently at the end of the season.
VIZ – Mbappé’s Champions League Goal Bonanza
It wasn’t that long ago that some people were doubting Kylian Mbappé after his move from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid.
He scored just 14 goals in his first 27 games for his new club in all competitions. Fair enough, that was a pretty solid return, but for Mbappé and the hype around his move to the Spanish capital, it seemed a tad underwhelming to some.
He scored 29 goals in 29 games between then and the end of the 2024-25 campaign, though, and has 34 goals in 28 games in all competitions this season (not including the FIFA Club World Cup); only Harry Kane has as many (34 in 30 games). It’s safe to say those doubters have piped down a bit since.
The man who regularly tests the strength of his anti-perspirant by putting his hands under his armpits after every goal is undoubtedly one of world football’s premier marksmen, and he’s doing it on the biggest stage.
Mbappé has 21 goals in 20 La Liga games this season, at least seven more than any other player, but it’s in the Champions League where he has especially thrived.
The 27-year-old has a remarkable 11 goals in six appearances in the league phase of Europe’s biggest competition; already the most the France international has scored in a single Champions League campaign.
He is already just six goals off the record for the most strikes in a single season in the competition, a record held by his idol Cristiano Ronaldo for Madrid in the 2013-14 season (17).
Mbappé has played in six Champions League games this season, but having failed to find the net against Juventus or Liverpool, his 11 goals have come across just four of them. In fact, every time he has scored in a Champions League game this season, he’s done so at least twice.
He scored twice against Marseille on Matchday 1, before a hat-trick away at Kairat on MD2. He ran riot against Olympiakos, scoring all four goals in Madrid’s 4-3 victory on MD5, and hit two more on MD7 against former club Monaco.
Mbappé will have the chance to add to that when Los Blancos travel to Benfica on Wednesday, seeking to secure a top-eight finish, as well as potentially eliminate José Mourinho’s side.
He scored both goals in Madrid’s 2-0 win at Villarreal at the weekend, and his consistency in front of goal will certainly be welcomed by interim boss Alvaro Arbeloa.
Will he break Ronaldo’s Champions League record? Real Madrid will likely need to reach the latter stages for him to do so, but then if any team can be backed to go far in this competition, it’s the record 15-time winners.
QUIZ – Edwards’ Agony, Joelinton’s Card Collection, and Bruno’s Assists
1. Rob Edwards took charge of his 50th Premier League game as a manager on Saturday (38 with Luton, 12 with Wolves) and suffered his 32nd defeat (W7 D11). Name either of the managers to have ever lost more of their first 50 matches as a manager in the competition.
2. No player has scored more goals from outside the box for Premier League clubs in all competitions this season than Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai (5). Who does he share that record with?
3. Joelinton has been booked 52 times in the Premier League for Newcastle United. Since the Brazilian joined the Magpies in July 2019, who is the only player to have received more yellow cards in the competition?
4. Chelsea’s 3-1 win at Crystal Palace was their first away victory in the Premier League since beating who in November 2025?
5. Bruno Fernandes is the first Manchester United player to make 10+ assists in consecutive Premier League seasons since who did so in both 2012-13 and 2013-14?
Scroll to the bottom for the answers
Ask Opta
Our question this week comes from Daryl J, who asks: “Compared to previous seasons are there more or less goalless games in the Premier League, because it feels like more?”
Do you have a stat-based question you’d like Opta to answer in a future edition of SVQ? Email us at editors@theanalyst.com or message us on X @OptaAnalyst with #AskOpta and we’ll pick the best one.
Answer:
A timely question Daryl, as we covered this very topic on the Opta Analyst site last week. And yes, there are indeed more 0-0 draws in the Premier League than in recent seasons.
In total, there have been 17 goalless games in 2025-26, already more than there were in 2024-25 (16) and 2023-24 (11).
However, those two previous seasons had the lowest proportion of goalless draws in Premier League history. Prior to that, there had never been fewer than 21 in a single campaign in the competition, so the lack of 0-0s is more of a recent trend, and it’s likely that the numbers are simply reverting back to normal.
For more details, you can read our article on it here.
Quiz Answers
1. Rob Edwards took charge of his 50th Premier League game as a manager on Saturday (38 with Luton, 12 with Wolves) and suffered his 32nd defeat (W7 D11). Name either of the managers to have ever lost more of their first 50 matches as a manager in the competition.
Mick McCarthy (38) and Daniel Farke (35)
2. No player has scored more goals from outside the box for Premier League clubs in all competitions this season than Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai (5). Who does he share that record with?
Phil Foden
3. Joelinton has been booked 52 times in the Premier League for Newcastle United. Since the Brazilian joined the Magpies in July 2019, who is the only player to have received more yellow cards in the competition?
James Tarkowski (54)
4. Chelsea’s 3-1 win at Crystal Palace was their first away victory in the Premier League since beating who in November 2025?
Burnley
5. Bruno Fernandes is the first Manchester United player to make 10+ assists in consecutive Premier League seasons since who did so in both 2012-13 and 2013-14?
Wayne Rooney
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