WIGAN V LIVERPOOL: STAT ATTACK
All the relevant facts and figures ahead of Liverpool's trip to Wigan Athletic on Saturday with LFC club statistician Ged Rea.
WIGAN ATHLETIC v LIVERPOOL
Head to head : (league only)
Overall: Liverpool 4 wins, Wigan 0 wins, 0 draws.
At Wigan: Liverpool 2 wins, Wigan 0 wins, 0 draws.
Last season Liverpool won here 4-0 in December to record their first away league win of the campaign, Craig Bellamy scored twice (his opening goal was the Reds first of the season on their league travels from open play), with Dirk Kuyt and a Lee McCulloch own goal completing the scoring before half-time.
The Reds won the return 2-0 at Anfield (Kuyt 2) to guarantee a top-four finish in the Premiership.
The goals the Reds scored at the JJB Stadium last season was the first time since 1991 they had scored four in the first half of an away league game.
Only one player has scored a hat-trick for Liverpool against Wigan. Steve Staunton in a League Cup tie in 1989 became the first substitute in Liverpool’s history to score three goals in a game.
The Reds have picked up seven points on their travels this season (from three games). Last season it took a victory at Charlton on 15th December to go past that total. (They won eight points only from opening nine away games)
Peter Crouch's first goals came for Liverpool against Wigan in December 2005 after a wait of 18 games. He has scored in 25 different games for the Reds and has yet to be on the losing side when he has found the net.
Sami Hyypia scored the first ever goal on this ground in games between the sides in February 2006. It was the winning goal in the Reds first visit.
If Liverpool win today they will record 400 points won in away Premier League games.
If they score three goals they will reach 300 under the managership of Rafa Benitez.
Liverpool have conceded just two goals from their opening six league games this season. That is the lowest total at this stage since 1989-90 season when they also let in two on the way to their last League title.
If they keep a clean sheet it will be Liverpool's best start defensively for 30 years (two conceded on seven games).
Liverpool's 0-0 draw last Saturday was their second in succession in the league. They have never in their history played out three consecutive league goalless draws.
This is the fifth meeting between the teams and Wigan are currently one of only five clubs to play against Liverpool never to score a league goal. The others, who all played two games, being Middlesbrough Ironopolis, Darwen, Northampton Town and Carlisle United.
Wigan have lost all six games they have played against Liverpool in their history - League and League Cup.
Wigan finished 17th last season and secured their Premiership status on goal difference from the team they beat on the final day - Sheffield United. That win at Bramall Lane came with goals from Paul Scharner and a David Unsworth penalty. Unsworth began last season with Sheffield United and played against Liverpool on the opening day. His reward for his heroics was to be released by Wigan!
The Latics went out of the Carling Cup at the first hurdle this season beaten 1-0 at home by Hull City.
Chris Hutchings replaced Paul Jewell as Wigan boss in the summer. He became the club's 37th post-war manager and the 16th since they entered the league in 1978.
This is his second spell as a Premier League boss. He followed Jewell into the Bradford City hot-seat in 2000 but lasted only a handful of games.
Chris Kirkland made his England debut whilst on loan to Wigan from Liverpool. He played 45 times in total for the Reds and will go down in history as the first Liverpool goalkeeper ever to make his first three appearances in three different competitions.
Wigan suffered ten home defeats in the league last season - more than any other team in the division. Victory today will move them to within a point of Liverpool.
They are without a win in any of their last five games in all competitions and only once in their eight games this season have they scored more than once. That came in a 3-0 win over Sunderland last month.
If they win today they will record their 100th point in the Premiership. They currently have 97.
Wigan have scored eight league goals this season with all but one coming in the second half.
They have been awarded three penalties this season - all at home and all scored.
Marcus Bent last Saturday became only the third player ever to score for six different Premiership clubs equalling Les Ferdinand and Andy Cole's record.
Current League Positions:
Liverpool: Pld 6 W 3 D 3 L 0 Goals For 11 Against 2 Pts 12 Position: 4th.
Wigan: Pld 7 W 2 D 2 L 3Goals For 8 Against 7 Pts 8 Position: 12th.
Leading scorers this season (League in brackets):
Liverpool: Torres 6 (3), Kuyt 3 (0), Voronin 3 (2), Alonso 2 (2), Babel 1 (1), Benayoun 1 (0), Crouch 1 (0), Gerrard 1 (1), Hyypia 1 (0), Sissoko 1 (1), own goals 1 (1).
Wigan: Sibierski 3 (3), Bent 1 (1), Heskey 1 (1), Koumas 1 (1), Landzaat 1 (1), Scharner 1 (1).
Wigan's last six League games:
22/9/07 Reading 2 Wigan 1 (Bent). Position: 10th.
15/9/07 Wigan 1 (Koumas pen.) Fulham 1. Position: 10th.
1/9/07 Newcastle 1 Wigan 0. Position: 7th.
25/8/07 West Ham 1 Wigan 1 (Scharner). Position: 3rd.
18/8/07 Wigan 3 (Heskey, Landzaat pen., Sibierski pen.) Sunderland. Position: 1st.
15/8/07 Wigan 1 (Sibierski) Middlesbrough 0. Position: 10th. |
發表於 2007-9-28 10:05 PM
| 
