Final Statistics

With the 2007-2008 Premiership season now in the books, let's take a look at the league leaders in several different league-only statistical categories.

Goals:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)--31
T2. Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)--24
4. Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn)--19
T5. Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham), Benjani (Portsmouth/Manchester City), Yakubu (Everton)--15
9. Carlos Tevez (Manchester United)--14
10. John Carew (Aston Villa)--13

Assists:

1. Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)--19
2. Ashley Young (Aston Villa)--17
3. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)--13
T4. David Bentley (Blackburn), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)--11
T7. Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland)--10
T9. Carlton Cole (West Ham), Nicky Shorey (Reading), Martin Petrov (Manchester City)Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)--9

Yellow Cards:

T1. Michael Brown (Wigan), Nicky Butt (Newcastle), El-Hadji Diouf (Bolton)--11
T4. Kevin Davies (Bolton), Kevin Nolan (Bolton), Liam Ridgewell (Birmingham City), Christopher Samba (Blackburn)--10
T8. George Boateng (Middlesbrough), Carlton Cole (West Ham), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa), Alan Smith (Newcastle)--9

Red Cards:

T1. Richard Dunne (Manchester City), Sulley Muntari (Portsmouth), Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn--2
T4. Countless others, check premierleague.com for the complete list

Fouls:

1. John Carew (Aston Villa)--93
2. Kevin Davies (Bolton)--86
3. Michael Brown (Wigan)--80
4. Alan Smith (Newcastle)--78
T5. Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Carlton Cole (West Ham)--74
T7. George Boateng (Middlesbrough), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benjani (Portsmouth/Manchester City), Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa)--66

Appearances:

T1. Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Brad Friedel (Blackburn), Robert Green (West Ham), Marcus Hahnemann (Reading), James Harper (Reading), Stephen Kelly (Birmingham), Martin Laursen (Aston Villa), George McCartney (West Ham), Jose Reina (Liverpool)--37

Attendance (Average):

1. Manchester United (75,691)
2. Arsenal (60,070)
3. Newcastle (51,320)
4. Liverpool (43,532)
5. Sunderland (43,344)
6. Manchester City (42,126)
7. Chelsea (41,397)
8. Aston Villa (40,029
9. Everton (36,594)
10. Tottenham (35,966)

Preseason Predictions Revisited

Alright, it's time for me to face the music and let you all have a go at me. I'm going to compare my preseason predictions as to how the final table would look with what has actually transpired over the 38-game season.

Here is my original prediction, and you can go back into the archives and look it up if you want proof:

1. Manchester United
2. Chelsea
3. Liverpool
4. Tottenham
5. Arsenal
6. Portsmouth
7. Aston Villa
8. Everton
9. Bolton
10. Blackburn Rovers
11. Reading
12. West Ham
13. Fulham
14. Newcastle
15. Manchester City
16. Middlesbrough
17. Sunderland
18. Wigan Athletic
19. Birmingham City
20. Derby County

Now, here is the final table. Teams that I picked to finish exactly where they did are highlighted in bold:

1. Manchester United
2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
4. Liverpool
5. Everton
6. Aston Villa
7. Blackburn Rovers
8. Portsmouth
9. Manchester City
10. West Ham
11. Tottenham
12. Newcastle
13. Middlesbrough
14. Wigan Athletic
15. Sunderland
16. Bolton
17. Fulham
18. Reading
19. Birmingham City
20. Derby County

As you can tell, I hit four out of the league's 20 teams on the head, which is a 20% success rate. I also correctly predicted six out of 20 (30%) to finish either exactly where they did or one spot above or below, and 11 out of 20 (55%) to finish either exactly where they did or two spots above or below.

On the whole, I didn't do a great job but that's why this league is what it is. It's extremely difficult to make these kind of predictions and have any significant amount of accuracy. This was also the first season that I've really gotten into the Premiership and followed it closely.

I can't wait until July, when I do my second annual "20 Teams in 10 Days" Premiership Preview, where I take a look at all the teams for next year, their summer comings and goings, and predict where they'll end up in reverse order.

Go for it, everyone, have at me. I know you want to!