Fact check: Best stats from this weekend's (21-22 Jan) European Football Action

Another fun-filled weekend in European Football has ended, giving us plenty of stats to digest. The fight for the title and the top four places is beginning to gather pace across the top five leagues in Europe.

While some clubs continue to set the pace at the top (Arsenal and Napoli), some are still looking to find their feet (Liverpool and Chelsea).

England's weekend began with a drab affair between Liverpool and Chelsea. However, it ended on a high as Arsenal edged Manchester United in a five-goal thriller. With Manchester City set to chase Arsenal until the end, we have an intriguing title race in the Premier League.

In Spain, both Barcelona and Real Madrid justified their title credentials with solid yet unspectacular wins. Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid pummeled Valladolid to stay in the hunt for the top-four race, whereas Real Sociedad maintained their stronghold over the third place.

In Italy, Napoli continued their charge towards their first Serie A title in 32 years, making the title race look like a procession thus far. The Milan clubs and Roma capped off the top four after Juventus were handed a 15-point penalty after getting caught in transfer irregularities.

In Germany, Bayern found it hard to get off the blocks against RB Leipzig, whereas Borussia Dortmund’s roller coaster of a season continued at home as they ran out winners against Augsberg in a seven-goal thriller.

So, without any further ado, let’s have a look at the best stats from this weekend’s European Footballing action:

Best Stats from this weekend’s European Footballing action (league-wise)

Premier League

The game against Chelsea was Gurgen Klopp’s 1000th game as a manager (270 with Mainz, 319 with Dortmund, and 411 with Liverpool).
Erling Haaland has scored four Premier League hat-tricks this season. Only Alan Shearer (five in 1995-96) has scored more hat-tricks in a single Premier League season than Haaland. It looks as if Haaland is here to obliterate all the stats in this season itself.
Kevin De Bryune is the leading assist provider across Europe’s top five leagues (16). Interestingly, seven of those assists have resulted in an Erling Haaland goal!
Liverpool and Chelsea have played out three consecutive goalless draws in all competitions. Chelsea has had such a run against a single opponent for the first time.
Arsenal’s 50 points at the halfway stage is the fifth-highest points tally a team has amassed after 19 games in the PL era. Only Liverpool (2018-19) failed to win the title after amassing 50 points in 19 games. Even the stats are backing the Gunners.

Another match, another record for @ErlingHaaland 🔥

The fastest to score four hat-tricks in #PL history ⚡ https://t.co/MXAjcRqi4P

Five points clear with a game in hand 19 games into the season—Arsenal are halfway there 💭 https://t.co/1pVj0v5OwC

LaLiga

Karim Benzema is now the fifth-highest goal scorer in the history of La Liga (228). Only Lionel Messi (474), Cristiano Ronaldo (311), Telmo Zarra (252), and Hugo Sanchez (234) are above him.
Here are some interesting stats; Barcelona has kept the most number of clean sheets across Europe’s top five leagues (13). In fact, the Blaugranas have conceded only six goals in La Liga this season- five less than the next best (Newcastle).
Mar Andre Ter Stegen has the highest save percentage across the top five leagues (84.6%) for the 2022-23 season.
Real Madrid has been undefeated in their last 12 visits to teams from the Basque region in La Liga (W12, D1) since losing to Real Sociedad back in May 2019.

King Karim and King Kroos do the business for Real Madrid 👑🫡 https://t.co/GWT1louwpc

Serie A

Napoli are the third side in the Serie A era to pick up 50 points in the first half of a single campaign after Inter and Juventus.
Only Erling Haaland (25) and Harry Kane (15) have scored more goals than Victor Osimhen (13) in the top five leagues this season.
AS Roma are unbeaten in their last seven Serie A away games for the first time since May 2018.
Juventus and Atalanta have drawn eight of their last 12 Serie A games.

Bundesliga

RC Leipzig are now unbeaten in their last 14 competitive games. However, on the flip side, they have won only once in their 16 meetings with Bayern to date!
Jude Bellingham has scored four goals this season- his best tally for a single season to date.
Under Marco Rose, RB Leipzig has picked up 24 points in 11 games in Bundesliga. Only Bayern have matched that tally since Rose’s arrival.

Stats courtesy of ESPN & Whoscored