EPL

Man Utd become first team to reach 700 Premier League wins

By Sports Desk February 20, 2022

Manchester United became the first team to win 700 Premier League games following their thrilling 4-2 victory over Leeds United.

The Red Devils had to work hard for their milestone triumph at Elland Road on Sunday. Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes put them 2-0 ahead by the interval in torrid conditions in Yorkshire, but Rodrigo and Raphinha restored parity with quickfire goals early in the second half.

However, Fred scored immediately after coming on from the bench before fellow substitute Anthony Elanga netted a fourth late on.

Overall, the Old Trafford club are 90 wins ahead of Chelsea, who have won the second-most matches (610), with Arsenal close behind in third on 609.

Manchester United great Ryan Giggs has won the most games in the competition for the club, claiming 407 victories from 632 appearances. Paul Scholes is the second on that list, with 321 wins.

They have won 28 games in five different Premier League seasons – their highest return in a single campaign, including doing so in consecutive seasons (2011-12 and 2012-13, which was the campaign in which they last won the title).

United have defeated each of Aston Villa, Tottenham and Everton on 37 occasions, as well as having beaten every single side they have faced in the competition.

Of their 700 wins, 399 have come at Old Trafford, while the away venues where they have landed the most victories are Villa Park (17) and Goodison Park (17).

The only venue at which United have played multiple games in the competition and never won is Huddersfield Town's John Smith's Stadium.

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    Carsley handed first senior call-ups to Southampton's Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Newcastle's Lewis Hall for their Nations League fixtures against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.

    Harwood-Bellis has played in all the Saints' Premier League fixtures so far this season, and is someone Carsley knows well.

    The defender made 21 appearances under Carsley with England's Under-21's side, more than any other player during his time in charge.

    Hall has also been in fine form. His 11 successful crosses and 15 chances created are totals only bettered by Anthony Gordon (15 and 20) in the Premier League for Newcastle.

    The only other uncapped player in the squad is Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones, while there is no place for Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers.

    Cole Palmer has also been handed a place in the 26-man squad despite missing Chelsea training this week after picking up a knock against Manchester United at the weekend.

    Kobbie Mainoo misses out through injury along with Manchester City's John Stones. Nick Pope was also dropped from the squad, with Aaron Ramsdale coming in. 

    England face Group B2 leaders Greece in Athens on November 14 before rounding off their Nations League campaign at Wembley against Ireland three days later.

    England squad in full: 

    Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton); Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Lewis Hall (Newcastle), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton); Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Curtis Jones (Liverpool); Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham).

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    When the Premier League fixture list was drawn up, even the most optimistic Chelsea fan may have struggled to visualise the Blues sitting ahead of Arsenal in the table after 10 games.

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    He opened the scoring when the Blues last welcomed Arsenal to west London for a 2-2 draw last October, scoring his first Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge.

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    Last season, Arsenal won 42 of their 89 Premier League points on their travels, taking nine points from five matches at the homes of their Big Six rivals. 

    This campaign, however, their failure to hit top form on the road has threatened to end their latest title tilt before it truly got going. 

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    While Arteta has long preached the importance of control, Arsenal have simply not been good enough going forward in those matches. They have attempted just 37 shots on the road in the Premier League this season (7.4 per game), with only Brentford (seven) averaging fewer per away match across the entire division.

     

    The fact Arsenal played significant amounts of time at Manchester City and Bournemouth with a numerical disadvantage likely plays a part, but the fact five teams have attempted at least twice as many shots on the road does not make for good reading (Manchester City 90, Tottenham 83, Crystal Palace 79, Bournemouth 78 and Manchester United 74).

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