The yin to our favourite stat’s yang. Or the other way round, we don’t know.

We all love seeing who’s got the most points from losing positions, but it’s quite literally impossible to look at those numbers without having to also see which silly sods have spaffed away the most points when leading.

It was a relatively slow start, but we’re in full lead-spaffing swing now, with Liverpool and Newcastle the only teams left not to have bungled a lead in any way and over half the league having now lost at least one game in which they’ve led.

20) Ipswich – 12pts dropped
5 leads, 3 draws, 2 defeats

It’s a lot of points dropped at this very early stage but the flipside is that taking the lead in five games is also quite encouraging when you consider the odds Ipswich are up against. Could really, really, really do with holding one of these leads, mind. Interesting game coming up for them this weekend at Spurs, who keep going behind at home but still winning but are also of course entirely capable of getting a team without the win off the mark…

19) Wolves – 11pts
4 leads, 1 draw, 3 defeats

Starting to look like it could be a long old season for Wolves as they became the latest side to be left scratching their heads and wondering how after a defeat to Newcastle, while they were very good for a long time at Villa before once again coming away with nothing despite holding a 1-0 lead for a good long while. Produced an admirable 95-minute effort against Man City in which they scored a lovely early goal and were seconds away from a fantastic second point of the season before John Stones broke their hearts.

But the bald numbers are now stark. Nine points dropped from winning positions and not a point to show for it for a team who did very well by this metric last season. They have already lost more games from ahead this season than last.

18) Brentford – 11pts
8 leads, 4 wins, 1 draw, 3 defeats

Deserved home winners against Palace and Southampton either side of a predictably comfy defeat from a trip to Anfield, one in which they didn’t do anything so silly as take the lead. A plan they immediately and bafflingly abandoned at the Etihad, of all places. Did you learn nothing from Ipswich, guys? Come on.

Have now apparently committed themselves to committing the cardinal sin of point spaffers everywhere: taking a first-minute lead. We are working on a theory that teams who take a first-minute lead never ever actually go on to win. Brentford certainly didn’t against Spurs or West Ham, anyway. And a lead taken on the stroke of half-time at Old Trafford soon went the same way.

They’ve frequently looked a pretty decent side this season, have Brentford, but there’s no escaping the fact that is an alarming number of points spaffed at this early stage, with more very nearly fumbled against Ipswich.

17) Fulham – 10pts
7 leads, 3 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats

Saw off Leicester safely enough but were pegged back in the dying moments by West Ham. A previously unbeaten Newcastle were dealt with pretty impressively, mind, while Nottingham Forest’s own unbeaten record also fell to the Cottagers, who then lost for the first time after leading, at Manchester City, and promptly did it again at home to Aston Villa. Couldn’t hold on at Everton, either.

16) Brighton – 10pts
8 leads, 4 wins, 2 draws, 2 defeats

Gave Everton what is now starting to look like a fairly standard Everton beating before just about emerging without any dropped points against Manchester United. Didn’t lead at the Emirates but did draw, and that is a very decent outcome for anyone there these days. Goalless draw with Ipswich a first real blip, before trailing and leading before eventually drawing 2-2 with Forest.

The early lead taken at Chelsea was swept away in dizzyingly quick-fire style by Cole Palmer, while they turned the tables when silly Spurs rocked up at the Amex at their daft best. Failing to hold their own 2-0 lead in the closing minutes against Wolves was also daft, while seeing a 1-0 lead turn into a 2-1 defeat against Liverpool is more easily explained away.

15) Southampton – 8pts
4 leads, 1 win, 1 draw, 2 defeats

Finally went in front at the fifth time of asking, and immediately discovered how painful it can be as Ipswich found a 95th-minute equaliser to kick them squarely in the pods. Foolishly took the lead at Arsenal, who reacted very well to win 3-1, and even more foolishly went 2-0 up against Leicester before unravelling to lose 3-2 in the second half. Finally made a lead stick against Everton.

14) Everton – 8pts
5 leads, 2 wins, 1 draw, 2 defeats

Oh mates. To lose one Premier League game 3-2 after leading 2-0 might be considered unlucky, to lose two consecutive Premier League games 3-2 after leading 2-0 is etc. and so forth. We remain in gobsmacked, bewildered awe that Everton managed to start the season by losing 3-0 to Brighton and 4-0 to Spurs yet still contrived to have things get much, much worse from there.  A point at Leicester was something, but even that involved spaffing two more.

Hurrah, then, for the Palace game. A lead defended and a deficit overturned. What a time.

13) Nottingham Forest – 8pts
9 leads, 5 wins, 4 draws

They spaffed loads of points last season too but while concerns may still exist you’d imagine Forest won’t be too glum at this stage given the points they’ve kept. A lot of the theoretically spaffed points feel like earned ones, but it’s nevertheless mad to think they sit third in the Premier League and can still legitimately engage in some what-iffery.

12) Aston Villa – 7pts
8 leads, 5 wins, 2 draws, 1 defeat

Were absolutely brilliant by this metric last season – a vital factor in securing fourth place, in fact – so leaking a couple of points from 2-1 up at newly promoted Ipswich and late on at home to Bournemouth was already a bit grating before spaffing all three at Spurs. With two draws and a defeat, they’ve now already matched their total dropped points from last season’s 23 leads.

11) Arsenal – 6pts
8 leads, 5 wins, 3 draws

Declan Rice’s red card set Arsenal down a path to their first dropped points of the season in a damaging draw with Brighton. Never looked in any real danger of being pegged back by Spurs in the NLD after scoring the most predictable goal in the history of all goals, while the Etihad madness neatly incorporated both daft red cards and predictable goals in its madcap recipe.

Came alarmingly close to what would have been a couple of the dafter dropped points you could find against Leicester but pulled themselves back from that particular brink in the end, but were pegged back twice by Liverpool in a slightly frustrating 2-2 draw. Couldn’t get in front at all in defeats to Bournemouth and Newcastle that have dealt their title hopes such a hefty early blow.

10) Tottenham – 5pts
7 leads, 5 wins, 1 draw, 1 defeat

Never looked likely to take anything but all three points against Everton and should really have been out of sight at Leicester before Jamie Vardy rustled them so. Successive defeats to Newcastle and Arsenal left them teetering on the crisis club precipice, but they extricated themselves from some early unpleasantness against Brentford adroitly enough. Romped to victory in hilarious fashion at Old Trafford, collapsed to defeat from 2-0 up in even funnier style at Brighton, overcame early deficits to thrash West Ham and Aston Villa either side of going down tamely at Palace. They remain forever compellingly, irredeemably Spurs. Feels very on-brand that they have led in seven games and trailed in seven games this season.

9) Manchester City – 4pts
9 leads, 7 wins, 2 draws

Pegged back in successive games by Arsenal and Newcastle to lend an air of heady danger to the title race. Defeat at Bournemouth not only saw the last unbeaten record of the Premier League season come to an end but also saw off their status as the only team to have led in every game this season.

8) Crystal Palace – 3pts
3 leads, 1 win, 1 draw, 1 defeat

Finally took the lead at the sixth time of asking and immediately showed why they hadn’t previously bothered by conspiring to lose to Everton of all teams. Held a lead against Spurs because of course they did, then led and trailed in the 2-2 draw at Wolves.

7) West Ham – 3pts
4 leads, 3 wins, 1 defeat

Finally took the lead in a home game and ended up winning 4-1. The 2-0 win at Crystal Palace was another impressive gem, the less said about what happened after going 1-0 up at Spurs the better, while the victory over Manchester United via that late penalty was certainly… something.

6) Leicester – 2pts
3 leads, 2 wins, 1 draw

Might well come to rue failing to close out a 2-0 lead at Crystal Palace, a lead that was cut to 2-1 almost immediately after their second goal before a cruelly late equaliser. Turned the tables on Southampton in truly dramatic style in one of the season’s finest six-pointers so far.

5) Manchester United – 2pts
4 leads, 3 wins, 1 draw

Sack Erik Ten Hag, immediately drop points from a winning position for the first time all season. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, hmm?

4) Bournemouth – 2pts
5 leads, 4 wins, 1 draw

Pegged back by Newcastle and denied a dramatic late winner by VAR at its most irritatingly, buzz-killingly fussy, but took care to avoid any such disappointment against Everton by very shrewdly only taking the lead in the 96th minute. Also clever to not take the lead against Arsenal until after one of their players had done something stupid to take them down to 10 men. Again. And going 2-0 up against City was definitely a shrewd move too. Solid record, this, you have to say, given the calibre of the teams beaten and how unlucky the two points they have dropped were.

3) Chelsea – 2pts
6 leads, 5 wins, 1 draw

Gave Wolves a kicking in the end despite conceding not one but two equalisers along the way but couldn’t find a similar response when pegged back by Palace. Didn’t give Bournemouth much time to get back at them, which Everton will confirm was a sensible move, and overwhelmed West Ham and Brighton too. Good win over Newcastle was followed by a hard-fought draw at Man United.

2) Newcastle – 0pts
4 leads, 4 wins

Wins against Southampton and Spurs at St James’ Park to go with the come-from behind success against Wolves and a 1-0 home win over Arsenal. It’s a very decent record when leading, with the only issue the fact they haven’t led more often.

1) Liverpool – 0pts
8 leads, 8 wins

Ipswich were ground down, Brentford airily dismissed and Man United torn to pieces. And then Forest happened, to the astonishment of all. A routine win over Bournemouth returned the world to its rightful axis. Wolves proved a tougher nut to crack than might have been expected, but job done in the end there, and Crystal Palace were disposed of with alarming ease. Chelsea pegged Liverpool back briefly, but only briefly, while a 1-0 deficit against Brighton was overturned with alacrity. Arne Slot’s team are doing an awful lot right.

New Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim has vetoed the planned signing of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong, according to reports.

The Red Devils sacked Erik ten Hag last Monday after Man Utd made a terrible start to the new campaign with three wins from their first ten matches in the Premier League.

Man Utd moved quickly to appoint Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim – who had been linked with a number of other Premier League clubs – with the Portuguese coach joining on November 11.

Ten Hag was known for buying a number of players who had played under him at Ajax with Andre Onana, Matthijs De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Antony and Noussair Mazraoui all signing.

Netherlands internationals Joshua Zirkzee and Tyrell Malacia were also signed by Ten Hag and there were rumours throughout his tenure that he wanted to sign another compatriot in the form of Barcelona midfielder De Jong.

However, a move for De Jong never materialised because the Dutchman made it clear that he wanted to remain at the Camp Nou with Man Utd struggling to attract the top players to Old Trafford.

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And now reports in Spain claim that Ten Hag had lined up a deal for De Jong over the next couple of transfer windows but that the appointment of Amorim has ‘brought with it an unexpected change of plans in the transfer market’.

Amorim has ‘already made it clear that he does not consider the Dutch international in his project’ and the ‘decision upsets the plans of Barca, who saw United as one of the main candidates to secure De Jong’s services next summer and obtain a significant financial injection.’

It is understood that the new Man Utd boss still wants a midfielder but that he ‘is betting on a different type of player for the midfield, and Frenkie does not fit into his style of play’.

A transfer to Man Utd ‘was seen as a clear and almost closed route, as Ten Hag had insisted on several occasions on the importance of having De Jong’ at Old Trafford.

Man Utd ‘will look to strengthen in other positions and with another midfield profile’ and Amorim ‘has in mind a more physical and vertical style of play’.

Current Man Utd interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has given his thoughts on the Amorim appointment, he said: “I look forward to getting to know him better. He has done well over a longer spell in Portugal, we wait to meet him soon.”

“It’s like a cold shoulder to your English fans,” said Gary Cotterill as Ruben Amorim politely declined the Sky Sports reporter’s request to answer his question in English.

It is precisely because he wants to avoid giving fans the cold shoulder that Amorim opted against bowing to Cotterill’s ludicrous demand and wasn’t moved by his cringey, nonsensical attempt to bully him into changing his mind.

Just imagine the furore if Amorim had been on the verge of moving from Manchester United to Sporting and answered a question ahead of the Red Devils’ biggest game of the season in Portuguese.

The club, players and fans would have been furious, and rightly so, and Cotterill – a man famed for his outspoken and unapologetically brash approach to sports reporting – would almost certainly be chief among those peddling his lack of respect to the club he still manages.

Here’s the excruciating exchange in full:

Cotterill: “You could be a hero even before you get on a plane to Manchester. Has that crossed your mind?…… In English please.”

Amorim: “Mmm sorry, I cannot speak in English now.”

Cotterill: “Why?”

Amorim: “Sorry.”

Cotterill: “Why?”

Amorim (gesturing to the other reporters): “They will miss in Portuguese so I have to speak in Portuguese.”

Cotterill: “They’ve had about 25 minutes in Portuguese. We want ten seconds in English.”

Sporting media representative: “We’ll proceed in Portuguese. Next week you can hear him talking in English.”

Cotterill: “It’s like a cold shoulder to your English fans.”

Amorim (laughing nervously): “Sorry.”

We got our native Portuguese speaker here at Football365 to translate Amorim’s answer – we’ve got bilinguists on retainer to cover all the European leagues for occasions like this when foreign players or coaches refuse to speak The Queen’s – and he gave an interesting response, explaining that he knows he will be judged by many solely on this game before making a tongue-in-cheek quip about links being inextricably made with Sir Alex Ferguson if his Sporting side claim victory over Manchester City.

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He provided two lines worthy of headlines in a few sentences. As journalists frequently let down by dry press conferences and humdrum responses, we couldn’t ask for anything more and rather than reprimanding him for not speaking English, Cotterill should be thanking Amorim for providing him with an answer at all.

The Sporting manager – because he’s the manager of Sporting and not Manchester United – would have been well within his rights simply to state his pure focus on the job at hand. Less amenable managers would have said nothing.

Amorim asked if it was possible to delay his move to Old Trafford until the summer, when he had told the Sporting chiefs he would be leaving in any case, but it was “now or never” for United. He’s made a big deal about leaving the club where he’s made his name in “the right way”; allowing the club time to source a replacement and giving that replacement time to settle during the international break.

By all accounts he’s a man of morals and is in a very unusual and difficult position where he knows his bread will shortly be buttered on the other side.

Despite the attempts of a shameless reporter who should have had his microphone and accreditation removed the moment he lip-synced to ‘Call Me Maybe’ with the Crystal Palace cheerleaders over a decade ago to push him to flout those moral standards, Amorim played it perfectly, giving something for his “English fans” while showing courtesy to those who will be cheering for his team on Tuesday.

Well done, Ruben Amorim, and shame on you, Gary Cotterill. It’s that sort of Premier League-centric, Little Englander nonsense that gives the rest of us a bad name. How about you ask him a question in Portuguese instead?

Arne Slot has had the fourth best start of any Premier League manager over his first 10 games at a club but he’s no John Gregory…

10) Avram Grant (Chelsea, 23 points)
Just two months after becoming Chelsea’s director of football, Grant found himself leading Chelsea in September 2007 after Jose Mourinho was mutually consented. Despite five dropped points in the Blues’ first two games under the Israeli, they were then unbeaten throughout October, November and then deep into December as Chelsea moved from fifth to third. Defeat to Arsenal in Grant’s 11th match would actually be their last Premier League loss of the season, but that still wasn’t enough to keep Grant in the job.

9) Pep Guardiola (Manchester City, 23 points)
Initially it really did look like Pep Guardiola – much to the chagrin of the ‘he thinks he can come over here…’ brigade – was going to flatten every Premier League team in his path after his arrival along with John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane. Frankly, it looked like a piece of p*** until the seventh game of the season when they got Spursed. Then came 72% possession and two saved penalties to see them emerge with just a point v Everton. Welcome to the Premier League, Pep. They eventually finished a lowly third. Embarrassed for you, Pep.

8) Luiz Felipe Scolari (Chelsea, 23 points)
It’s extraordinary how many Chelsea managers start with a bang, with this 2007/08 iteration of the Blues scoring a ludicrous 22 goals across those first 10 games. But Scolari’s style eventually exhausted the Chelsea players and he was out on his ear by early February. Remember when Chelsea sacked managers for being fourth?

7) Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea, 24 points)
A year after Scolari’s Chelsea began with a bang, Ancelotti’s Chelsea went a step further, winning eight of their first 10 games with the only blips coming in a lacklustre performance against Wigan marred by a sending-off and a defeat away at Aston Villa. Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka were on fire, Terry and Carvalho were resilient, and this was the midfield of Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Michael Essien. What a bloody team. What a manager. And this one actually won the Premier League title.

6) Maurizio Sarri (Chelsea, 24 points)
Remember when Sarriball was an innovation that could bring glory back to Chelsea and the spark back to Eden Hazard rather than a dirty word. Chelsea were unbeaten across the first 12 games of the Italian’s reign, though a smattering of draws meant that they never looked like potential champions. Things – as so they often do at Chelsea – soured over the winter months and Sarri left at the end of the season with all happy to part ways. But that start was far better than we remembered.

5) Guus Hiddink (Chelsea, 25 points)
The Dutchman proved there wasn’t an awful lot wrong with Scolari’s Chelsea squad as he began with four straight wins before defeat at Spurs. But they recovered to settle into third and an automatic Champions League qualifying spot, all while reaching the semi-finals of the actual Champions League.

4) Arne Slot (Liverpool, 25 points)
It’s not been spectacular but they have conceded just six goals in 10 games, with home defeat to Nottingham Forest a wake-up call.

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3) Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham, 26 points)
That Tottenham started last season with a 10-match unbeaten run now feels like a fever dream but IT HAPPENED. Without the departed Harry Kane and with excellent new signings James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario, Tottenham looked unstoppable, mate. They beat Manchester United and Liverpool in those first eight heady games that ended with a narrow 10-man victory over Luton that took them top of the actual Premier League. Two months later they were fifth. Fantasy over.

2) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United, 26 points)
The only man to remain unbeaten across his first 10 games at a Premier League club. No wonder people were losing their minds and screaming ‘Ole’s at the wheel’. After the dismal days of Jose Mourinho, the smiling face and twinkling eyes of the Norwegian brought joy and freedom to a United side that rose from sixth to, erm, sixth as Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and even Anthony Martial were on fire. How did that end again?

1) John Gregory (Aston Villa, 27 points)
Brian Little resigned (remember when managers resigned?) in February 1998 with Villa looking like outside bets for relegation. Villa decided against a big-name replacement and instead turned to Wycombe manager John Gregory. His first game was a come-from-behind Villa Park win over Liverpool featuring two Stan Collymore goals; the Villa fans were on board. By the end of an 10-game run with a bizarre home defeat to Barnsley the only blip, Villa had moved from 14th to seventh and a place in Europe. Now that’s what we call a new manager bounce.

New Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim could sell Marcus Rashford in the January transfer window unless his performances improve, according to reports.

The Red Devils decided to sack Erik ten Hag on Monday before acting quickly to bring in his successor in the form of Sporting Lisbon head coach Amorim.

Man Utd have made a terrible start to the Premier League season with the Red Devils sitting in 13th position ahead of their 1-1 draw against Chelsea on Sunday.

Amorim will inherit a side who have won just three of their ten matches in the Premier League this season with only newly-promoted Southampton and Crystal Palace scoring fewer goals than them this season.

Rashford, who scored 30 goals in 56 matches in Ten Hag’s first season at Old Trafford, has been on a barren run ever since, registering just eight goals in his last 43 Premier League matches for Man Utd.

Last month, Algemeen Dagblad journalist Geert Langendorff branded Rashford a “rotten apple” after his disappointing start to the campaign under Ten Hag.

Langendorff said on the AD Voetbalpodcast: “He is one of the rotten apples. Rashford had problems off the pitch last year. He didn’t quite colour within the lines.

“And anyone who saw him on Sunday against Aston Villa. He was ostentatiously applying for a red card. Fortunately, Ten Hag was able to intervene just in time and get him off.

“Mourinho never mentioned names. But he did say there were one or two more rotten apples who made the job impossible for him. Anthony Martial was one of them, who has since left. The fact that Mourinho said there is one more sitting there. That can only be one and that is Rashford.”

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And now, ahead of Amorim’s arrival at the club on November 11, Football Insider claim that Man Utd are ‘now plotting’ Rashford’s sale in the January transfer window.

It is understood that Man Utd are ‘considering selling’ Rashford ‘amid concerns about his recent performances’ and Amorim ‘will assess the winger’s level before making a decision, but he will need to see a significant improvement for the player to stay’.

The report adds:

‘Having come through the academy set-up, his connection to the club has earned him leeway, but his declining performances in recent seasons have caused concerns among the hierarchy, led by the new Ineos regime.

‘Amorim will be given a chance to get the best out of the winger following his appointment in a last-gasp assessment of his true level.

‘Should Rashford prove unable to display his best form under new management, there is a growing feeling that he will be moved on in what would be seen as a drastic move by many observers and supporters.’