An act of Rodri, Salah´s collector´s item, and Man Utd defence proves incompetence – the Premier Lea

Premier League football was back with a bang this weekend following the international break.

It left Ole Gunnar Solskjaer feeling especially frustrated as he paid the price for another defeat, while Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal were brought back to reality by Liverpool.

That win for the Reds further highlighted their excellent record in meetings with other members of the ‘big six’, while Rodri once again showcased his effectiveness from distance.

Below, Stats Perform looks at some of the weekend’s quirkier Opta facts.

Salah’s collector’s item

Another weekend, another devastating performance from Mohamed Salah.

After a quiet start, the Egyptian once again proved to be extremely effective against Arsenal, even if he was only able to score once.

Salah’s goal was something of a collector’s item as it was with his right foot, which in itself brought to light just how much he relies on being so good with his left.

Of his 108 Premier League goals, 87 have been with his strongest foot – that equates to 80.6 per cent, which is the greatest proportion of strikes netted with the left foot among the 31 players with at least 100 goals.

Interestingly, his Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane is also in the top six (26.5 per cent) despite being predominantly right-footed.

Solskjaer has no defence

A 4-1 defeat at Watford brought Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time as Manchester United manager to an end, and he could have few complaints about that.

While the Norwegian’s work at United has largely been well received, as he leaves the club and squad in much better shape than when he took over from Jose Mourinho, it’s fair to say the writing had been on the wall.

United have been especially poor defensively this season, not just in the Premier League, averaging 1.7 concessions every match across all competitions.

Remarkably, relegation-threatened Newcastle United (2.08) and Norwich City (2.14) have a worse record in that regard among Premier League clubs.

Whoever his interim replacement is will surely look at sorting United’s ailing defence out as soon as possible.

Liverpool’s big-six domination

For much of the Premier League era, Manchester United were the team to beat, and while they obviously wouldn’t win every game, they seemed to rise to the biggest occasions.

But since Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013, it’s Liverpool who have arguably become the best at dealing traversing contests with the other so-called ‘big six’.

Liverpool’s defeat of Arsenal took them to 142 points from such matches since the start of 2013-14, putting them ahead of Manchester City by a point – though the Reds have played one game less.

Granted, City boast the most victories (42 to Liverpool’s 39), Liverpool have suffered eight fewer defeats.

Chelsea’s 124 points is the third-most, while Man Utd are on 110 points, having lost to both City and Liverpool comprehensively in the past month.

Arsenal and Tottenham are a fair way adrift with 86 and 85 points respectively.

Acts of Rodri

Manchester City haven’t been doing too badly without a recognised striker this season, with Pep Guardiola boasting plenty of midfielders who can find the net.

Defensive midfielder Rodri might not be one of those whom you’d associate with goalscoring, but he’s making long-range piledrivers something of a habit.

His latest, in the defeat of Everton, was a blistering 25-yard drive.

That was his fourth goal from outside the box for City, with only Kevin De Bruyne (seven) and Riyad Mahrez managing more since Rodri joined in 2019.

Rodri’s four is 57.1 per cent of his overall Premier League haul, which is the highest proportion in the City squad during that same period.