Strange Day In The Premier League

What a strange day it was in the Premier League on Saturday. Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United all failed to score. Aston Villa came within a whisker of beating Man United, which would have pushed them into third place. And Arsenal crumbled against Manchester City.

In the closest Premier League season ever, who would have predicted Fulham stealing points at Anfield, Newcastle stealing points at Stamford Bridge and Man United failing to score?

Here are a couple of interesting statistics:

• If Tottenham beats Blackburn at White Hart Lane tomorrow, only eight points will separate Spurs from arch-enemy Arsenal, even though Juande Ramos’s former side had such a terrible start to the season.
• The last time Manchester United played in a nil-nil draw in the Premier League was the opening day of last season when they drew Reading at Old Trafford. Bonus points to whoever can figure out the last time that Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United all played nil nil draws on the same day in the Premier League when all three teams didn’t play each other.

Manchester United looked quite ordinary at Villa Park. Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez fluffed their chances. Cristiano Ronaldo continues to underimpress when taking free kicks, and the back four continues to look shakey.

Meanwhile, some things don’t change. Hull City continue to fight until the final whistle scoring a late equalizer against Portsmouth to end the game 2-2. Middlesbrough’s bright start to the season continues to fumble losing at home to Bolton. And Stoke seem impenetrable at home, again, after beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0.

Fulham, incredibly, are in ninth place with a game in hand, albeit against Manchester United.

Even with three nil nil draws in one day, who said the Premier League was boring?