Here are the statistics for all 40 goalkeepers to have played in the Premier League this season (we have not included Jose Enrique):

Wayne Hennessey was forced into make the most saves (165) during the season, despite missing the final 4 games of the season. The Wolves first choice was also responsible for conceding the most goals (73) as he side propped up the table.

Former England number 1 Paul Robinson conceded the joint-league high 16 goals from outside the penalty area with the Wales number 1. The Blackburn stopper came number 2 to Hennessey for the number of goals conceded, having been left out of the starting XI for Blackburn’s 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on the final day of the season.

After a slow start to his debut Premier League campaign, David De Gea ended the season with the league’s highest save percentage (77.86%) amongst regular goalkeepers. Joe Hart followed in a close second (76.98%). De Gea’s team mates Ben Amos and Anders Lindegaard topped the table for their cameo appearances during the season. Amos was the only goalkeeper to have a 100% save record; that consisted of making 2 saves in his only appearance of the season. Lindegaard kept clean sheets in 6 of his 8 appearances.

At the other end of the table, Paul Robinson (57.49%) had the lowest save percentage amongst regular Premier League goalkeepers. Jussi Jääskeläinen, who played less than half of the season for Bolton between the sticks was next with 63%, whilst Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny didn’t fair much better, saving 63.16% of shots faced this season. The Polish goalkeeper also made 7 errors; a league high.

Gerhard Tremmel and Marton Fülöp have the unfortunate stat of failing to make a single save this season in the 1 game they each played. The West Brom back up was also at fault for 2 of the 3 goals he conceded against Arsenal on the final day of the season, according to Opta. Although replays suggest all 3 were his fault.

Manchester City’s ever-present Joe Hart averaged the most minutes between conceding goals amongst regular Premier League goalkeepers. Having only conceding 29 goals all season, Hart let in a goal every 118 minutes on average. Hennessey, Robinson, Jääskeläinen and Adam Bogdan averaged a goal against them every half. All 4 goalkeepers were relegated this season.

Data provided by Opta Sports

0 – Blackburn became the first team not to manage a single shot in a Premier League game since West Brom vs Manchester City in December 2004.

1 – Sunderland were the only team to avoid defeat against Manchester City this season.

2 – Gareth Bale was booked for diving more than any other player.

2 – Fulham were the only team to win more than 1 game after trailing at half time.

2 – Fulham and Manchester City were the only two sides Robin van Persie did not score against this season.

2 – David Wheater, Mario Balotelli, Djibril Cissé and Joey Barton were all sent off on two separate occasions.

3 – Scott Dann scored the most own goals this season.

3 – The three newly-promoted teams avoided relegation for only the second time in Premier League history (after 2001/02: Fulham, Blackburn and Bolton).

3 – Everton became only the third visiting side to avoid defeat after going two goals behind at Old Trafford in the Premier League (Chelsea 00/01 and West Brom 10/11).

3 – Everton were only the third visiting side to score four or more goals at Old Trafford in the Premier League (Liverpool 08/09 and Manchester City 11/12).

4 – Luis Suarez won more penalties than any other player.

4 – Paul Scholes scored more Premier League goals this season than any season since 06/07 (6).

4 – Fernando Torres, Joey Barton, Grant Holt and Adel Taarabt all scored and received a red card in single games this season.

4 – Liverpool were booked for diving more than any other team.

4 – Sergio Agüero and Salomon Kalou were the only two players to have scored in the Premier League, FA Cup, Carling Cup and Europe this season.

4 – Jean Beausejour committed the most foul throws.

5 – Victor Anichebe scored the most goals from the subs bench this season.

6 – Robin van Persie became only the 6th player to score 30+ goals in a Premier League season.

6 – Manchester City became the first visitors to score 6 goals at Old Trafford during the Premier League era.

6 – Danny Simpson made the most goalline clearances.

6 – Wayne Hennessey made the most errors leading to a goal.

7 – Shane Ferguson and Giovani dos Santos made the most substitute appearances without starting a single game.

9 – Arsenal scored the most goals on counter attacks.

9 – Queens Park Rangers were shown nine red cards, tying the Premier League record for a single campaign with Sunderland in 2009/10.

9 – Liverpool converted just nine per cent of shots into goals; the lowest proportion of any side.

9 – Martin O’Neill is now undefeated in nine previous Premier League clashes with former club Aston Villa; winning four and drawing five.

9 – Samir Nasri had more Premier League assists this season for Man City than he did in his entire spell at Arsenal (7).

10 – Robin van Persie hit the woodwork more times than any other player.

10 – Emmanuel Adebayor was penalised for the most hand balls.

11 – Manchester United were awarded the most penalties.

11 – Papiss Cisse equalled Mick Quinn’s Premier League record of most goals in his first 10 games (11).

11 – Cheik Tioté received the most yellow cards for a second consecutive season.

12 – Newcastle United cleared more shots off their own goalline than any other team.

14 – Tottenham won the most points from London derbies in the Premier League this season, Chelsea the fewest (8).

15 – Arsenal have qualified for their fifteenth successive Champions League campaign. Only Manchester United (17) and Real Madrid (16) have current longer streaks.

15 – David Silva lead the Premier League in goal assists.

18 – Everton had the highest number of different goalscorers.

19 – Blackburn and Manchester City both scored a league high 19 goals from set pieces.

19 – Fernando Torres scored the 19th and final hat-trick of the season, equalling the record from 1993/94.

19 – Shola Ameobi made the most substitute appearances.

20 – Manchester City set a new Premier League record of 20 consecutive home wins.

20 – Sergio Agüero, Matthew Etherington, David Ngog and Rafael van der Vaart were substituted on the most occasions.

22 – Andrea Orlandi scored the quickest goal of the season after just 22 seconds (versus Wolves).

23 – Arsenal recovered more points from losing positions than any other team.

23 – Wolves dropped more points from winning positions than any other team.

24 – Alex Song completed the most through balls.

25 – David Silva committed the most fouls without being cautioned.

27 – Darron Gibson is unbeaten in his last 27 Premier League games, dating back to 3 April 2010.

33 – Liverpool hit the woodwork more times than any other team.

39 – Danny Murphy created the most chances for team mates from set pieces.

41 – There were 41 own goals scored in the Premier League this season. Newcastle were the only side not to put one past their own goalkeeper, while Aston Villa, Norwich City and Wolves never benefited from one.

41 – Jonas Olsson blocked the most shots.

42 – Chris Eagles had more shots blocked than any other player.

42 – Andy Carroll attempted the most headed shots on goal.

49 – Arsenal conceded more goals this season than in any previous 38-game Premier League campaign.

50 – Clint Dempsey became the first American to score 50 Premier League goals.

52 – Goalkeepers made more saves from Robin van Persie than any other player.

52 – Emmanuel Adebayor was flagged offside on the most occasions.

55 – Stewart Downing created the most chances for team mates without recording a single assist.

59.6% – Arsenal averaged the most possession over the course of the season.

69% – 9 of Antonio Valencia’s 13 assists came against the bottom five.

72 – Stewart Downing had the most shots without scoring a goal.

74 – Chelsea were on the receiving end of the most yellow cards.

77 – David Silva created the most chances for team mates in open play.

77.9% – David De Gea has the best saves to shots ratio of all regular Premier League goalkeepers.

85 – Fulham made fewer substitutions than any other team.

85.9% – Manchester City completed the highest percentage of their passes.

86 – Moussa Dembélé won the most tackles.

86 – Jonás Gutiérrez was the most fouled player.

89 – Grant Holt committed the most fouls.

91% – Leon Britton had the highest long ball accuracy.

94 – Stoke fired in the fewest shots on target.

100 – There were 100 penalties awarded during the 2011/12 Premier League season. 72 were scored.

103 – Stephen Warnock made the most interceptions.

105 – Emmanuel Adebayor was dispossessed of the ball more times than any other player.

108 – Gareth Bale attempted the most left-footed shots.

114 – Liverpool attempted the most headed shots on goal.

118 – Joe Hart averaged the most minutes per goal conceded amongst regular goalkeepers.

132 – Liverpool allowed the fewest shots on target.

150 – Frank Lampard became the first midfielder to score 150 Premier League goals.

165 – Wayne Hennessey made the most saves.

174 – Robin van Persie fired in the most shots.

225 – Number of days between Paul Scholes’ last game of 2010/11 and his return from retirement in the FA Cup on 8 January 2012.

250 – Manchester City fired in the most shots on target.

254 – Ryan Shawcross made the most headed clearances.

267 – The number of players who received more yellow cards than Wayne Rooney.

270 – The number of players who scored during the 2011/12 Premier League season.

300 – Brad Friedel became the first player to appear in 300 consecutive games in Premier League history.

309 – Liverpool won the most corners.

400 – Chelsea became the third team to reach 400 Premier League wins (after Manchester United and Arsenal).

446 – Queens Park Rangers won more free kicks than any other team.

464 – Ashley Williams made more long ball attempts than any other outfield player.

485 – Wigan Athletic committed more fouls than any other team.

516 – Emmanuel Adebayor conceded possession more times than any other player.

800 – David Silva completed the most passes in the final third.

1017 – Newcastle became the eighth Premier League team to accrue 1000 points.

1066 – In all, 1,066 goals were scored during the 380 games of the 2011/12 Premier League season.

1440 – Luka Modric completed the most passes in the opponents half.

2215 – Luka Modric and Ashley Williams completed the most passes.

3420 – Brede Hangeland and Stephen Ward were the only outfield players to complete all 3,420 minutes (38 games).

1. Manchester City 3-2 Queens Park Rangers – 13 May 2012

A home victory for Manchester City against the side with the fewest points away from home was the requirement for Roberto Mancini’s side. When Pablo Zabaleta had fired City in front, with help of Paddy Kenny the title looked destined to be lifted at the Etihad Stadium. In a bizarre turn of events in the second half, Djibril Cisse took advantage of a poor header from Joleon Lescott to level for the visitors. Joey Barton’s red card 10 minutes into the second half gave City an extra helping hand to lift the crown. However, Jamie Mackie headed QPR into a shock lead, before the most dramatic ending to a Premier League season in its 20 year history.

The full-time whistle had gone at the Stadium of Light with Manchester United fans thinking their team had won their 20th top flight title. Back in Manchester, Edin Dzeko promptly headed in Manchester City’s equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time to give Roberto Mancini’s side a glimmer of hope of lifting their first league title in 44 years. Then, Sergio Aguero wrote his name into Manchester City folklore when he belted the ball home in the fourth minute of stoppage time to win the Citizens the 2011/12 Premier League.

2. Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United – 30 April 2012

What was billed as the title decider and the biggest Manchester derby in history, Vincent Kompany’s solo goal in first half stoppage time saw Manchester City overcome an 8-point deficit in April to leading the Premier League by 8 goals going into the final two games of the season.

Manchester United played a heavily-criticised formation that included both Park Ji-Sung and Chris Smalling making their first starts for a while and Antonio Valencia left out of the starting line up. Playing to eliminate the threat of Manchester City’s vibrant attack, Manchester United failed to turn things around in the second half after going a goal behind. Joe Hart’s gloves were as clean at full time as they were at the start as the visitors failed to produce a single shot on target all game.

3. Newcastle United 0-2 Manchester City – 6 May 2012

Despite heading into this game top of the table with lowly Queens Park Rangers to play afterwards, Roberto Mancini had claimed Manchester United were still the favourites to retain their Premier League title. A victory for Newcastle would have put them in 3rd spot heading into the final weekend of the station, following a 2-0 victory at Chelsea midweek prior to this match.

Roberto Mancini’s inspired substitution, replacing Samir Nasri for Nigel de Jong proved to be the most important he made all season. This allowed Yaya Toure to push forward as Manchester City went in seek of a winning goal. And within 10 minutes of Mancini’s first substitution, it was Yaya Toure who broke the deadlock in the 70th minute with a sweetly struck effort from outside of the penalty area. The Ivorian put the game beyond reach in the 89th minute and in stoppage time the visiting fans finally began celebrating like they believed their team were going to lift the Premier League title.

4. Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City – 23 October 2011

Manchester City had a 2 point lead advantage over their local neighbours going into the first league clash between the top two of the season. Manchester United had already overturned a 0-2 deficit to win the Community Shield back in August, but the multi-million spending side weren’t going to roll over in this one.

Mario Balotelli had opened the scoring midway through the first half en route to revealing his now-famous shirt. Within two minutes of the second half restart, the controversial Italian was involved in a game-changing moment when he was brought down by Jonny Evans that lead to the United centre back being dismissed. Balotelli, added a second before Sergio Aguero put the game out of reach for the hosts. Darren Fletcher scored a consolation but the three goals scored from the 90th minute onwards proved to be key later in the season. Edin Dzeko scored a brace either side of David Silva’s goal. Manchester City had an 8-goal advantage going into the final game of the season, out of United’s reach.

5. Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea – 21 March 2011

A defeat to Swansea City in their previous outing left Manchester City 1 point behind leaders Manchester United; a deficit that had been increased to 4 before this game. Chelsea had been experiencing new life under caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo; winning his first 4 games in charge.

When Gary Cahill opened the score on the hour, the title looked to be slipping away from Manchester City. Midway through the second half, Roberto Mancini brought on the returning Carlos Tevez. After fellow countryman Sergio Aguero equalised from the penalty spot with 12 minutes remaining, it was Tevez’s who’s superb flick put in Samir Nasri who coolly chipped Manchester City in front with 5 minutes remaining. The Citizens held on and kept within 1 point of the leaders heading into the final 9 games of the season.

6. Manchester City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur – 22 January 2012

Tottenham Hotspur had lost 1 of their last 19 Premier League matches heading into this one; 5 points behind the league leaders with some pundits claiming Harry Redknapp’s side were genuine contenders for the Premier League title. Meanwhile, Manchester City had won just 2 of their 4 league games heading into this one, eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester United and losing the first leg of their Carling Cup semi final match against Liverpool. Was the pressure getting to the league leaders?

After a goalless first half, Manchester City flew out to a 2-0 lead inside the first 15 minutes of the second half through goals from Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott. Roberto Mancini’s side had won all 10 of their Premier League games at the Etihad this season but were quickly pegged back through strikes from Jermain Defoe and a cracking equaliser from Gareth Bale. Those two then had the opportunity to combine for Tottenham’s winner in stoppage time. Bale broke clear down the left wing and attempted to square the ball to an unmarked Defoe at the back post. However, the ball was a fraction too far in front of the England striker who failed to make enough contact with the ball to stick it into the unguarded net. Moments later, a long ball up field lead to Ledley King bringing down Mario Balotelli inside the box and the Italian converting the resulting penalty to earn City a dramatic 3 points.

After a poor start to the season, Roberto Martinez’s side have blossomed once again in the final weeks of the season to dramatically pull themselves clear of the relegation zone. Last season, Hugo Rodallega headed Wigan to safety with just 10 minutes of the season remaining.

After picking up 5 points from their opening 3 Premier League games against the newly-promoted sides, Wigan Athletic went on a worrying 8-game losing streak, which included losing 3-1 at home Bolton and 3-1 at Wolves. Their sixth point came with a 3-3 home draw to Blackburn Rovers in mid-November. At this stage, leaving Martinez’s side half a dozen points from safety a dozen games into the season.

Steve Gohouri, Ronnie Stam and Conor Sammon all started the home draw with Blackburn. Gohouri and Stam have not played since February, although Sammon does continue to make substitute appearances despite scoring just 1 goal this season and not looking so clever in the process.

Constantly written off season after season, it was hard to see how Wigan would survive this season after Victor Anichebe rescued a point for Everton at the DW Stadium to start February. Athletic were left 5 points adrift with 14 games to go, and a tough remaining fixture list, winless in 9.

That draw with the Toffees started off a mini run for Wigan, which saw them lose just 1 of 8 before a controversial, late 2-1 loss at Chelsea. Two weeks before their trip to Stamford Bridge, Wigan had taken 3 points home from Anfield for the first time in their history.

4 days after a heartbreaking defeat at Chelsea that left Martinez’s side in the bottom 3 with 6 games to go, they handed Manchester United a blow to their title race when Shaun Maloney scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over the Premier League leaders.

A victory at Arsenal, a 4-0 drubbing of Newcastle and Monday night’s victory at Blackburn have since followed, seeing Wigan reach the illustrious 40-point mark and ensure they will be playing Premier League football again next season.

This late run of form has coincided with a formation change. Since sending his side out in a 3-4-3 formation, Roberto Martinez has seen his formerly shaky defence sure up. 3 clean sheets were kept in their first 25 games. 5 shut outs in their last dozen games have followed, finishing the season with a home game against Wolves on Sunday.

Captain Gary Caldwell has been a rock at the heart of the Wigan defence recently, playing alongside Maynor Figueroa and Alcaraz. Victor Moses has finally stepped up to the plate in recent weeks. The Nigerian international has scored goals against Norwich, Stoke and Newcastle in recent months; picking up 7 points from those 3 games he scored in.

Even Franco Di Santo has scored 2 goals in his last 4 outings having been a laughing stock for many Premier League fans over nearly 3 seasons in which he’d scored just a solo goal in each of the previous two. The former Chelsea striker has now scored 6 goals this season; bringing his tally up to 8 goals in 86 Premier League games; a strike rate worse than Emile Heskey’s at Aston Villa.

Wigan have survived for a third consecutive season under Roberto Martinez. I’ve had my doubts over him during this spell, but whilst he continues to keep the Latics in the Premier League, we will have to accept his style of football is good enough for the best league in the world.

Gylfi Sigurdsson is no stranger to English football; having come through the youth ranks at Reading, which included loan spells at both Crewe Alexandra and Shrewsbury Town before his Royals debut in 2009; shortly before his 20th birthday.

4 games into the start of his second season as a first team player, Sigurdsson was whisked away from the Championship side by 1899 Hoffenheim in a £6.5 million move to the German Bundesliga. He had scored 19 goals in 41 appearances in England’s second tier. Despite a successful first season with Hoffenheim, injuries limited his opportunities this season until a January loan switch to Premier League newcomers Swansea City.

Since that move on New Year’s Day, the Icelandic playmaker has taken the Premier League by storm. To date, Sigurdsson has scored 7 goals in his 15 starts since making his debut as a substitute at the start of the second half in a 3-2 victory over Arsenal at the Liberty Stadium. His strike in a 2-1 victory at West Brom at the start of the February added him to the list of players who have scored in England’s top 4 divisions.

6 more goals later, the former Reading star has shown his goalscoring ability in England’s top flight. 3 of his goals have been struck from outside the penalty area, including both of his brace in a 2-0 victory at Wigan in March.

His 85% pass completion rate is slightly below the team average. His pass completion percentage is also below both Leon Britton and Joe Allen in the final third, although from the Swansea games I have seen this season he is much more ambitious in this area. His 15 through ball attempts are bettered only by Wayne Routledge (16). Sigurdsson has successfully completed 33% of his attempts.

Swansea City players have not done Sigurdsson’s delivery any justice this season. Completing 28% of his 125 cross attempts, no Swansea player has turned these into a goal yet. His team mates have also failed to turn any of his set pieces into goals either, although the Icelander has scored from 1 of his 11 shots from direct free kicks this season. Sigurdsson has 3 assists from open play.

No Swansea City player has scored more than the 7 goals from their loanee in 2012. However, Danny Graham (11) and Scott Sinclair (8) remain above him in the club’s goal chart with 2 games remaining. The first of those is a trip to Old Trafford this Sunday.

Gylfi Sigurdsson does not offer much defensively, attempting just 26 tackles to date. His 140 ground duels is a respectable number, winning nearly half of those. Standing at 6’1” he rarely wins a header. He rarely involves himself in an aerial duel either. But how many attacking midfielders do? His average numbers aren’t much different to that of Tottenham’s Luka Modric.

Holger Stanislawski was in charge of 1899 Hoffenheim when the German side allowed Sigurdsson to move on loan to the English Premier League. Since then, Stanislawski has left his role at the club and has been replaced by former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel. Some newspapers are claiming Babbel would like their man back at the club next season.

Gylfi Sigurdsson has recently been linked with a £10 million move to Manchester United. Should they fail to sign either Wesley Sneijder or Luka Modric in the summer, perhaps the Swansea star could be an option to Sir Alex Ferguson.

Goals from Daniel Sturridge, John Terry and Fernando Torres (2) in the opening 25 minutes shot Chelsea into an unassailable first half lead. Torres completed his hat trick in the second half before Florent Malouda added a sixth ahead of Djibril Cisse’s consolation.

Queens Park Rangers were all over the place in the first half and even looked more leggy in the second half than their opposition who had played in Spain midweek. Perhaps Neil Warnock’s old school and outdated training techniques are catching up with the QPR players late in the season?

Daniel Sturridge struck Chelsea in front inside 60 seconds with a rare right-footed shot from 20 yards. Paddy Kenny beaten on his near post. The former Manchester City youngster hasn’t been too productive in the second half of the season; scoring only his second Premier League goal in 2012.

Aside from the opening goal, Sturridge didn’t have the most productive of games; failing to test Kenny again, and creating 2 of Chelsea’s 22 chances created in this match.

The man of the match award goes to Fernando Torres. The Spaniard scored the fourth Premier League hat trick of his career, and first since 2009 (for Liverpool against Hull). The movement of the Chelsea number 9 was good today as was his distribution of the ball.

Roberto Di Matteo has now won 4 of his 8 Premier League games as caretaker manager of Chelsea as they go in hunt of a top 4 finish. Remarkably, this was Chelsea’s first London derby win of the season.

Defeat for Newcastle on Saturday means the Blues are 1 point behind the Magpies with 3 games remaining. The two sides meet at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

The odds were stacked against the English side before kick off this evening against Europe’s finest. Chelsea were 5/2 outsiders to qualify and those odds shot up after falling 2-0 down in the first half.

Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta scored either side of John Terry’s red card after his inexplicable off the ball knee to the back of Alexis Sanchez. His starting centre back partner Gary Cahill had earlier limped off injured.

Having started with a back four of (from left to right) Ashley Cole, John Terry, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic, Chelsea lined up for the start of the second half with Ashley Cole, Jose Bosingwa, Branislav Ivanovic and Ramires. Aided with just about every other outfield player parking the bus in front of Petr Cech’s goal. Didier Drogba, and later Fernando Torres even played their part in and around the penalty area.

Ramires’ stunning goal on the stroke of half time out of nowhere gave Chelsea the aggregate lead (on away goals) at the break, despite going in as 5/1 outsiders to qualify with 10 men.

Yes, Barcelona dominated possession but they failed to greatly test Cech. The Czech goalkeeper did get finger tips to a late Messi shot turned onto the post, and was also helped by the Argentine’s penalty striking the bar early the second half.

There was no plan B for the Catalunyans. There was lack of width or will to get to byline which would have helped pull the 10-man English side out of the middle of the pitch.

Chelsea’s own attack was a direct style of play. Petr Cech hoofing the ball up to Didier Drogba, who caused notable problems early, which lead to Victor Valdes injuring Gerard Pique early on.

The icing on the cake was when Fernando Torres scored in stoppage time to ensure Chelsea became the eighth Premier League representative in the Champions League final in the past eight seasons. Valdes himself made a horrible attempt to deny his fellow countryman scoring the one-on-one.

Expect an outburst from the Spanish papers and media this morning, branding Chelsea of anti-football once again. At the end of the day, winning by any means is what football is all about. Why else would Busquets and his team mates dive to get players sent off? A taste of your own medicine for the Catalan side, and Chelsea force fed it right down their throat.

1. Barcelona Look Tired

It took Barcelona 70 minutes to have their first shot on target in the El Clasico at Camp Nou this past Saturday. This was not the Barcelona we are use to seeing. They looked a bit leggy. Josep Guardiola has made a few rotations throughout the seasons (otherwise Cesc Fabregas wouldn’t get a game), but the majority of this team have been playing under Guardiola during his 4-year reign, some winning Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010… at some point they genuinely need a rest. Lionel Messi’s goals have seemingly dried up recently too.

2. El Clasico Was at the Weekend. Chelsea Rested

Barcelona all-but lost La Liga at the weekend, going down 2-1 at home to arch-rivals Real Madrid leaving them 7 points behind with 4 games remaining. Chelsea rested 8 of their starters from the first leg for their 0-0 draw with Arsenal at the weekend, whilst 9 of Barcelona’s players started both the tie at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and Saturday’s El Clasico. Most, if not all of those 9 are likely to play their third tough game in a week on Tuesday night. Fatigue.

3. Defensive Tactics Worked for Past Two Games

Chelsea have kept back-to-back clean sheets in their last two games, versus Barcelona and Arsenal by playing their defensive, counter-attack tactics. The partnership of John Terry and Gary Cahill in the middle has looked good, weeks before the Euro 2012 finals. Yes, Barcelona had their chances in the first leg, hitting the bar, post and having one cleared off the line. But Barcelona certainly didn’t get beyond Chelsea’s backline as they have with ease against other teams this season. Lionel Messi was kept under control – now 7 games without a goal against the English side. Chelsea have an option with Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres on the counter.

4. Pack the middle

Both of these sides play very narrow, relying on their full backs to offer width. Dani Alves will be Barcelona’s biggest threat down the flanks; the Brazilian basically plays as a winger most of the time. If Chelsea sit a disciplined player on him, the remaining 9 outfield players can pack the middle, where Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas play. Yes, Alexis Sanchez does play out there, but the Chilean likes to come inside. With Michael Essien, Ramires and John Obi Mikel, Chelsea have players to sit in the middle and prevent Barcelona sliding balls in between the centre backs.

5. Didier Drogba

Didier Drogba was a massive reason for Chelsea winning the first leg. Yes, he scored the only goal of the game, but the Ivorian also unsettled the Barcelona team. His play-acting and time-wasting was something Sergio Busquets would have been proud of, but importantly, it got under the skin of the Barcelona players, as well as giving his team mates some breathing time, as they played most of the first leg without the ball.

Chelsea are 5/2 to progress to the Champions League final. Barcelona, clear favourites to progress and favourites to lift the trophy. But they do look beatable right now.

Alan Pardew (Newcastle United)

Newcastle United have gone from a pre-season popular outside bet for relegation for top 4 challengers with 5 Premier League games remaining.

Top scorer Andy Carroll was sold last January, following by a summer clear out that included captain Kevin Nolan to Championship side West Ham, controversial midfielder Joey Barton to Queens Park Rangers and star left back Jose Enrique to Liverpool.

Carroll has been under sever criticism this season having scored just 4 goals for underachieving Liverpool following his £35 million move. Nolan has been on the receiving end of stick from frustrated West Ham fans for his lack of performances as the Hammers fail to top the Championship as the fans were expecting. Barton has been booed by his own fans this season following a number of disappointing performances, whilst Enrique claimed his move in the summer was due to Newcastle having the lack of ambition to finish in the top 6.

Alan Pardew’s replacements… Demba Ba, with 16 goals following his cheap move from relegation West Ham. This is more than twice as many as Fernando Torres and Carroll combined who cost a total of £85 million between them. Not a bad return from the Senegalese international.

Yohan Cabaye from French Ligue 1 champions Lille. A relatively unknown player amongst the English media and myself when he joined Newcastle in the summer. The French international has been a popular figure at the Sports Direct Arena following the number of tackles made in midfield as well as his creativity in the middle of the park. Cabaye has assisted 3 of Newcastle’s last 4 goals.

Papiss Demba Cisse has exploded on the scene in the Premier League. 10 goals in his first 9 games is some return following his January move from German Bundesliga side SC Freiburg. Although his goal scoring spree has coincided with Demba Ba’s lack of goals following his fellow countryman’s arrival, Newcastle have not lost in the 7 games Cisse has scored in, winning 6 of them.

Alan Pardew gets my vote for Premier League manager of the season with 5 games to go. He got his side’s tactics spot on at Swansea on Easter Friday and has done so on many occasions this season. Newcastle have a legitimate shot at finishing in a Champions League position. Harry Redknapp is the only previous English manager to win this award.

Results so far this season include a 3-0 victory over Manchester United and a 1-0 win at rivals Sunderland.

Brendan Rodgers (Swansea City)

Successfully guided Swansea City to safety in their debut season, Brendan Rodgers’ side have impressed fans and pundits alike with the Welsh side’s style of play, on a cheap budget.

Following the departure of Dorus de Vries for Wolves in the summer, Rodgers signed goalkeeper Michel Vorm for a free in the region of £1.5m from Dutch Eredivisie side FC Utrecht. In his debut season, Vorm has been a popular figure with his shot stopping and agile displays. The experienced pair of Gerhard Tremmel and José Moreira were also signed but have barely been used this season.

Last season’s Championship top scorer with Watford, Danny Graham was Swansea’s record signing in June when they forked out £3.5 million for the former Middlesbrough youngster. Graham made a good start to the season and is the club’s top scorer with 10 goals through 33 games. Arsenal are the only side in the current top 8 that Graham has scored against, but beating the lower half side’s are the most important aims for teams looking to avoid relegation and Danny Graham has certainly helped his side with that.

Former Chelsea youth Scott Sinclair has contributed to the goals also, with 7 to his name – all in 2011 and all that the Liberty Stadium. His pace and dribbling have been a threat down the left hand side, whilst Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge offer a similar threat on the opposite flank.

In the middle, Leon Britton has played a sensible, short passing game, whilst January loanee signing Gylfi Sigurdsson has lit up the Premier League with half a dozen goals from midfield as he has had no problems slipping into the passing and possession game that the Swans have adapted.

They have dropped off a little in recent weeks, but Swansea City have every reason to be happy with their debut Premier League season. Having seemingly been found out by a few times in recent weeks, it will be interesting to see how Rogers adapts his team next season, providing he remains in charge.

A 3-2 win over Arsenal and a 1-0 win over Manchester City at the Liberty Stadium are Swansea City’s two most impressive victories this season.

Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)

George Burley (2000/01) is the only manager to win the Premier League manager of the season award other than Sir Alex Ferguson when Manchester United have won the Premier League. Harry Redknapp (2009/10) is the only other manager to win the award without winning the league that season.

With that in mind, Sir Alex Ferguson is automatically in the run-in to win the award for an eleventh time. Many fans and pundits alike were claiming this Manchester United side were the weakest in years, conveniently after they lost 6-1 at home to Manchester United. That result and a points deficit over their multi-million spending neighbours have quickly been forgotten about following Manchester United’s form in 2012 which has seen them jump to the top of the table.

The return of Paul Scholes has been a big factor in Manchester United’s form after he came out of retirement at the start of the year. Ferguson is getting the best out of Antonio Valencia on the right wing, especially when supported by Rafael bombing on from full back. Ashley Young has suffered from injuries following his big summer move, whilst Nani has shown inconsistent form this season.

A defence that has seen Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand this season whilst record goalkeeper signing David de Gea has come strong during the title run-in after a dreadful start to the season. No doubt Ferguson has had a big impact on the younger players that have been forced into the team and with 5 games to go Sir Alex looks set to claim his 13th Premier League title in its 20th season.

Manchester United’s underachievements in Europe may have an adverse effect when it comes to voting, despite Europe supposedly not being a factor. I think with what was stacked against Alan Pardew’s Newcastle, provided they finish in the top 6, Ferguson’s efforts won’t be praised as highly as what the English manager has achieved this season.

Paul Lambert (Norwich City)

I have to confess that I wrote Norwich City off before the Premier League season had started. Paul Lambert’s side were playing in the third tier of English football two seasons ago, including a number of their signings.

The Canaries had one of the Championship’s weakest defences in the league last season (they like to play attacking football). I didn’t fancy their chances against the world’s finest strikers in the Premier League.

Regardless of their defensive weaknesses and lack of experience in the top flight, Paul Lambert’s side are set to play Premier League football in 2012/13. A remarkable achievement with the resources at hand if you ask me.

Wayne Rooney is the only Englishman to have scored more goals in England’s top flight than Grant Holt this season. The aggressive forward who is responsible for winning and conceding a large number of free kicks has certainly left his mark amongst the opposition defences.

Arsene Wenger (Arsenal)

Subject to a lot of criticism from his own supporters as well as a number of pundits earlier in the season, Arsene Wenger has overcome the sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in the summer to lead his team to 3rd place with 5 games remaining.

There were a few questionable signings on transfer deadline day (I didn’t have confidence in Per Mertesacker myself), but over the course of the season Arsenal have come good. Only Chelsea survived longer in the Champions League than Arsenal of the 4 English sides.

Robin van Persie’s 27 Premier League goals to date have been a major contributing factor, but Wenger has also got the best out of Theo Walcott down the right wing this season. The English forward has scored 8 goals and assisted the same number in the league through 33 games.

Arsene Wenger’s side have had a number of injuries this season which was a big contributing factor to their slow start to the season. Written off by a number of pundits to qualify for next season’s Champions League, Arsenal currently have a 5 point lead over 4th place Tottenham.

Indeed it was a 5-2 thrashing of Tottenham that started the turnaround of both side’s fortunes heading into the business end of the season. Arsenal’s best result of the season in my opinion. Given that he has won the league on 3 occasions previously, Wenger will not win the award but I couldn’t write this article without crediting the work he has done to a number of boos at the Emirates this season.

David Moyes (Everton)

Everton are heading for another top half finish, are above Liverpool in the Premier League with 5 games remaining and are set to play their local rivals in an FA Cup semi-final on Saturday. David Moyes is doing a great job with Everton in the second half of the season.

Much has been made of the lack of budget David Moyes has had to spend at Everton. It was no more evident when the Toffees were the only side not to spend as much as £1 during the summer transfer window.

Things changed in January with the £1 million signing of Darron Gibson and £5.5 million signing of Nikica Jelavic. The former scored the winner against Manchester City in January and remains unbeaten in blue. The latter has scored 4 goals in his first 8 Premier League appearances.

Should David Moyes’ side fend off Liverpool for the remaining 5 games of the season, Everton will finish above their local rivals for only the second time in Premier League history. However, Kenny Dalglish’s side have lifted 1 trophy this season, compared to the 0 Moyes has lifted in 10 years as Everton manager.

It’s not been an overly-special season for Everton in the Premier League, but an honourable shout out for David Moyes.

Newcastle United fans can still dream of Champions League football next season with 3 more points picked up today as they made it 4 wins in a row. The Magpies are 2 points behind both Arsenal and Tottenham having played a game more than the North London pair.

Incredibly, Newcastle had just 23% of the possession in today’s game, completed 654 fewer passes and faced 14 shots on goal from the home side. Alan Pardew set his side up well as they forced Swansea into a number of long range efforts that rarely threatened Tim Krul and scored two goals on the counter attack.

Of Swansea’s 914 pass attempts, only 23% of these went forward, compared to the 47% of 271 pass attempts from Newcastle that went forward.

Papiss Demba Cisse has been a revelation at Newcastle following his £10 million move from SC Freiburg in January. Only two players in the history of the Premier League have reached 9 goals in fewer appearances than the Senegalese strikers (Micky Quinn and Sergio Aguero). Cisse’s 9 goals have come from 12 shots on target (6 off target) as he averages 1 goal every 66 minutes in England’s top flight.

The striker did his part to help out the makeshift defence too, with a clearance from inside his own box as well as closing players down in and around his team’s own 18 yard box.

One player who’s goals have dried up since the arrive of Cisse is fellow countryman Demba Ba. The club’s top scorer has not scored since Cisse’s arrival and is without a goal in his last 707 minutes. Ba had previously scored 16 goals in 20 Premier League games this season.

Gylfi Sigurdsson resorted to 4 attempts from outside the box, 3 drawing comfortable saves from Tim Krul as the other was off target. None of the in-form Iceland midfielder’s attempts from inside the area forced a save out of the Dutch goalkeeper.

Luke Moore’s only attempt on goal was dragged several yards wide from a long way out his left foot, whilst his replacement Danny Graham failed to have a single shot during the 24 minutes he was on the pitch. Another outstanding performance from Newcastle defensively as they have now kept clean sheets in 3 of their games during this 4-game winning streak, with Shane Long’s consolation for West Brom being the exception.

Newcastle’s remaining 6 fixtures give them a legitimate shot at a Champions League position. Finishing above Chelsea is certainly a realistic aim with the Blues having a much tougher run in, as well as playing in at least 3 cup ties.