Brighton broke a Premier League record with Saturday’s 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest, their 17th consecutive game in which both teams have scored.
Here, the PA news agency looks at Roberto De Zerbi’s free-flowing side.
Goals galore
After beating Arsenal 3-0 in May, the Seagulls’ final four games of last season began the ongoing sequence.
They lost 4-1 to Newcastle, beat Southampton 3-1, drew 1-1 with champions Manchester City and closed out the season with a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa.
They opened the new campaign with 4-1 wins over Luton and Wolves before their next four games all finished 3-1 – defeat to West Ham followed by wins over Newcastle, Manchester United and Bournemouth.
Even during the six-match winless run that followed, they scored in each – losing 6-1 to Villa and 2-1 at City and drawing 2-2 with Liverpool and 1-1 against Fulham, Everton and Sheffield United.
That matched Everton’s previous record of 16 successive games between September 2012 and January 2013, and Evan Ferguson’s 26th-minute equaliser against Forest broke the record before Joao Pedro’s double secured three points.
Thirteen games is also the longest such run from the start of a season, comfortably beating the record of nine by Middlesbrough in 2000-01 and Leicester on their way to the 2015-16 title.
Roberto’s revolution
Since De Zerbi succeeded Graham Potter last season, Brighton rank fourth in Premier League goals scored with 89.
They have found the back of the net in 29 successive games since losing 1-0 to Fulham in February and 41 out of 45 since the Italian started as he meant to go on with a 3-3 draw against Liverpool.
Only Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United have longer scoring runs in the Premier League era. The latter pair each have a longest run of 36 so should Brighton score in their next seven games up to January 2 against West Ham, only Arsenal would rank ahead of them with a record of 55.
With 71 conceded under De Zerbi, Albion rank joint fourth-highest in that time behind Bournemouth (80), Tottenham (73) and Forest (72). They are alongside Wolves, who have played two games fewer, and Everton.
Unsurprisingly, Brighton’s games are the highest-scoring in the Premier League since De Zerbi took over – 160 total goals is 10 clear of nearest challengers Spurs. His side rank seventh in points and sixth in goal difference.
Sharing the goals around
Brighton’s top-scorer under De Zerbi is Ferguson with just 12 goals.
That 13.5 per cent share is the lowest of any Premier League club’s top scorer in that time and demonstrates Brighton’s tendency to share the goals around.
They are one of only five teams with three players in double figures in the time since De Zerbi’s arrival, with Kaoru Mitoma and Solly March on 10 apiece.
Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has 39 league goals in that time, backed up by 12 from Phil Foden and 11 for Julian Alvarez. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (27) is joined by Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, also on 12 and 11 respectively.
Newcastle have Callum Wilson on 23, Alexander Isak 15 and Miguel Almiron 12 while for Arsenal, Bukayo Saka has 17, Martin Odegaard 15 and Gabriel Martinelli 13.
Ten Seagulls have scored this season, with only Arsenal, Newcastle (13 each) and Manchester United (11) having more different scorers.
Fiorentina 2-2 Napoli: Kvaratskhelia keeps visitors' slim European hopes alive
Dethroned Italian champions Napoli's hopes of playing European football next season are hanging by a thread after they played out a 2-2 draw at Fiorentina in Serie A on Friday.
Napoli took the lead in the eighth minute through defender Amir Rrahmani, who nodded home a corner by Matteo Politano.
Cristiano Biraghi levelled for Fiorentina in the 40th minute from a free-kick, before M'Bala Nzola put the hosts in front two minutes later when he fired a shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia responded with another stunning free-kick early in the second half to rescue a point for his team.
Eighth-placed Fiorentina, on 54 points and with a game in hand, are five points behind Lazio in seventh.
They can still earn a Europa League spot either by leapfrogging the Rome side or by winning the Europa Conference League final in which they face Greece's Olympiakos on May 29.
Ninth-placed Napoli, on 52 points, still have a slim chance of making the Europa Conference League playoffs.
Data Debrief
Fiorentina left-back Biraghi has now scored six goals from direct free-kicks since the start of 2021-22, which is behind only James Ward-Prowse (seven) - now of West Ham and formerly of Southampton - as the most across Europe's top five leagues in that period.
Kvaratskhelia also levelled via a direct free-kick, making this the first Serie A match in which both teams scored via that route since Fiorentina against Lazio in April 2018 (Jordan Veretout and Luis Alberto in that case).
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Marc Skinner signs Manchester United Women contract extension
Marc Skinner has signed a one-year contract extension as Manchester United Women head coach with the option of a further 12 months.
The 41-year-old guided United to their first major silverware last weekend with victory over Tottenham in the Women's FA Cup final.
United are fifth in the Women's Super League with one game to go - a massive drop on last term's runners-up finish - but Skinner will stay on.
"It's an honour to extend my stay at Manchester United," Skinner, who was appointed in 2021, told United's official website after the news was confirmed on Friday.
"I've always felt at home here, with our excellent players, staff, and fans.
"Being able to secure the team's first major trophy at Wembley was a real career highlight for me and another sign of our continued growth, on and off the field."
United conclude their campaign on Saturday against Chelsea, who lead Manchester City on goal difference entering the final day.
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