Arsenal-Barcelona THE STATS

Head to head

• Arsenal have not beaten FC Barcelona in five previous meetings (all CL). The Catalans won three and two matches were drawn.
• Last season, these sides met in the QF. The 1st leg at the Emirates finished 2-2 and Barça won the return 4-1, courtesy of 4 goals by Messi. He was the 6th player in CL history to score four foals in a match.
• There have been red cards in three of the five matches between Barcelona and Arsenal.

Arsenal

• No team from continental Europe has won away at Arsenal in the CL since Inter beat the Gunners 3-0 in September 2003 - a run of 36 games with the only defeats coming against English sides (Chelsea and Manchester Utd).
• Scored at least twice in their last 8 CL home matches, equalling an all-time CL record which is jointly held by Real Madrid (Sep 1997 - Dec 1998) and Man United (Sep 1999 - Oct 2000)
• They have been awarded a penalty in each of their last four CL home matches.
• RvP has scored 12 of 13 CL goals at home. 4 of his last 5 CL goals were penalties.
• Kept just one clean sheet in their last 8 CL games.

Barcelona

• Messi has scored 13 goals in his last 11 Champions League starts including four in one game against Arsenal.
• They had the tightest defence in the group stage, allowing their opponents just 8 shots on target against them.
• Messi needs one more goal to become Barça’s out right top scorer in European competitions. He and Rivaldo both have 31.
• Lost only one of their last 15 CL matches (9-5-1). That defeat was in last season’s SF at Inter (3-1).
• Barça have scored in the last 14 CL matches which is the longest running streak in the competition. The last time the Catalans did not score was at Rubin Kazan on 4 November 2009 (0-0).

Picklive Cup - what are the odds?

The first round of the first ever Picklive Cup saw some strong teams knocked out and some intriguing ties thrown up in the second round.

 Shock of the first round was Villarthebest (3rd in the all-time table) crashing out to K&KFC. Another big name to fall was Abervilla (8th all-time), more understandably knocked out by giant and legend Chelman42 in the tie of the round. Other names lost at the first hurdle included (very) occasional FC Roger contributor Warriors plus Neds XI, who lost out to behemoth Wildheart FC in another glamour tie.

So with 32 (actually 33 atm) left in it who will be proudly clad in Picklive polyester come the final?

With no apologies for accidental exclusions, poor formatting or prehistoric use of statistics I present the form book. Looking at the last months stats I've calculated the average points per plays (PpP):

Marcus Speller Forever              15.79
Invincibles                                  12.52
The Rams Are Going Up           12.38
Chelman42                                 12.13
Grunny27                                   11.76
Portydown                                  11.63
Wrideos                                      11.36
Teenage Mutant Ninja Skrtels    10.65
Wildheart FC                              10.44
Fisherman’s Spurs                      10.27
PAFC                                          10.17
Holters Mews FC                         7.67

At the bottom of the pile is Holters Mews FC and they'll have to raise their game to get past Wildheart FC. Marcus Speller Forever is on a strong run of form and must fancy his chances against Ivar the Engine in the second. But lets have a look at the Champions League form:

Invincibles                                22.29
Gobzmacked                             21.42
Ivar the Engine                         21.19
AC Alittlesilhouetteof Milan    19.82
Chelman42                                18.87
PAFC                                        18.24
Wildheart FC                            17.87
Grunny27                                  17.56
CMFC                                       16.77
Portydown                                16.68
Bensbulls                                  16.49
Fisherman’s Spurs                    15.47
Fritzl FC                                   13.47

All of a sudden Ivar the Engine looks a sterner test. He's one of the three teams maintaining a 20+ average in the Champions League. The other two are drawn together in round 2. If Gobzmacked can get past Gmansenior in a replay Invincibles will face a tough game.

And finally lets have a look at the all-time table:

Chelman42                                15.16
AC Alittlesilhouetteof Milan    14.84
Bensbulls                                  14.71
Grunny27                                  14.69
Footlikeatractionengine            14.59
Gobzmacked                             14.50
CMFC                                       14.47
PAFC                                         13.82
Wildheart FC                             13.26
WayneH FC                               13.20
Fisherman’s Spurs                     13.07
Invincibles                                 12.93
Portydown                                 12.67
Farmersjuice                              10.67

Already flagged by Picklive is myself versus fellow FC Roger contributor Grunny27. And a look at the averages shows why, both of us within a whisker of each others PpP. Unfortunately for me, Simon is in much better form at the moment. Another quick look at the fixtures shows another veteren clash: AC Alittlesilhouetteof Milan v Portydown - another big name will fall at the second hurdle.

My dark horses would have to be WayneH FC and Teenage Mutant Ninja Skrtels, both have posted big scores recently.

Who do you fancy for the Cup?


by BensBulls

Bolton v Everton

Bolton's record over the last nine matches against Everton reads 1-2-6. They've also lost five of their last seven matches in the league. Add to that a truly atrocious Picklive Points to Possession ratio and it's very difficult to make a case for including any Trotters in your Big Game team.

But lets try. Daniel Sturridge has scored in the last two games and a goal today could get him towards the top of the points list in what will likely be a low scoring game in Picklive terms. Kevin Davies is similar in that he'll need to score to trouble the judges. Otherwise Robinson has the highest average and Taylor & Petrov might be worth picking if they could stay on the pitch for the full 90. For more detail have a look at this post about the Chelsea game,  although I can't see the Toffees putting four goals away today.

Everton are a much stronger Picklive team than Bolton despite being lower in the league. They're also easier to pick from as they have an amazingly strong core trio: Baines, Fellaini and Arteta. Distin, with 51.6, is the fourth strongest but has an average of over 17 points less than each of the top three (nb. Bolton's top two, Robinson and Cahill, have 54 and 44 respectively). Arteta hasn't been as impressive in his last few Picklive appearances but it will be a very brave player to drop any of that blue trio.

The key for this match is to find the right pair to fill the last two spots. Both goalkeepers have had impressive performances recently, Beckford and Sturridge have scored in recent weeks and Cahill and Distin are both solid point scorers if there aren't many goals. If Taylor and Petrov start there's a chance one of them will stay the course and post a decent score. Likewise Bilyaletdinov if he starts.

Recommendations: Unsurprisingly I'm going for Baines, Fellaini and almost certainly Arteta. Distin and Sturridge are my fancy for 4 and 5 but I'll be waiting for the starting line-ups before committing.

Good luck!

by BensBulls

Denmark-England stats

Head to head 

• Denmark have won the last two international matches against England – scoring seven goals and conceding three in the process. Both were friendly matches.
• The last time they met in August 2005, Denmark triumphed 4-1 in Copenhagen in one of only two occasions that England have conceded four or more goals since 1980.

Denmark 

• They have not won any of their last four friendly matches (2 draws, 2 defeats), since a 2-0 home win against Senegal in May 2010.
• Six players from their squad play in the PL - Thomas Sørensen (Stoke City), Anders Lindegaard (Man United), Lars Jacobsen (West Ham), Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal), Daniel Agger and Christian Poulsen (both Liverpool).

England

• England have not won in their last 8 matches against Scandinavian opposition in Scandinavia (5 defeats). Their last victory was a 2-1 friendly win against Finland in Helsinki in June 1992. David Platt scored both goals.
• Fabio Capello has won 22 of his 33 matches in charge – the same number as Ron Greenwood won in his first 33 matches as England manager (1977-80). Only Walter Winterbottom (24 wins) from 1946-50 picked up more wins in their first 33 matches.
• If they lose today it will be the first time they have lost back-to-back international matches in almost 18 years – since a 2-0 WCQ defeat against Norway in Oslo and 2-0 defeat against USA in Foxboro in June 1993.
• They are one short of 150 clean sheets away from home in international football. They have currently kept 149 clean sheets in 417 away matches.
• If Rooney scores he will move into the top ten of goal scorers in England’s history with 27 goals – level with David Platt in 10th place. He has played twice against Denmark and scored once in both matches – but lost on both occasions.
• Won just four of their 14 opening games in a calendar year since 1997, with all four of those victories coming at home. 
• Conceded exactly one goal in six of their last seven friendly internationals and haven't kept a clean sheet in a friendly since a 4-0 win in Slovakia in March 2009.
• Lampard will captain England for the first time. Of the last six players to captain England, four have lost their opening match.

WestBrom v Wigan

A quick post tonight - both teams are in dire form so hopefully, using reverse sods law, this should be a cracker.

There could be a few goals tonight as the likes of Vela, Odemwinge and Rodallega will go up against two poor defences. I'll be basing my strategy on that assumption and going for goals.

McCarthy and Brunt should make up the goal of most Big Game teams. I'll then go for Mulumbu, Dorrans and/or Alcaraz leaving one place for a striker - I fancy Vela for a debut goal tonight.

Recommendations: 3 or 4 West Brom players as they keep the ball better than Wigan do. McCarthy & Brunt should be the bedrock of a good Big Game team.

Good luck!

by BensBulls
(Ben Wraith)