The Top Ten Statistics of the Weekend

After two weeks, Premier League football returned to our screens last weekend and it didn't disappoint.The fans of all 20 clubs were excited to see how their teams would get on after the league took a break for World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies.Chelsea, Manchester City, Sunderland, Bournemouth, Watford and Tottenham Hotspur were the weekend's winners while Manchester United and Arsenal were locked in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.The Blues made it an incredible six wins in a row after defeating Middlesbrough and wrestled top spot from Liverpool, who drew 0-0 with Southampton.There were also a number of interesting facts to pick out from across Europe, with ex-Premier League players hitting the news for their goalscoring exploits.The statisticians were hard at work at the weekend picking out the best statistics from the nine games. We've picked out ten of the best...

CHELSEA HIT SIX CONSECUTIVE CLEAN SHEETS...AGAIN

Chelsea went to the top of the Premier League summit with a 1-0 win away at Middlesbrough.Â It marked a sixth consecutive victory for the Blues who are unbeaten since Antonio Conte changed to a 3-4-3 formation.

Arguably more impressively, they have also registered six consecutive clean sheets - the tenth time a team has managed it, with Chelsea completing the feat and incredible five times.

Thibaut Courtois still has some way to go to match the most consecutive clean sheets, however, with Manchester United's Edwin Van Der Sar managing 14 in a row in the 2008-2009 season.

GIROUD THE TRUE SUPER-SUB

Despite fans' mixed opinions of the Frenchman, Olivier Giroud's absence from the Arsenal side has drawn confusion from some loyal Gunners.

The 30-year-old scored a brace from the bench in their 4-1 win against Sunderland at the end of last month and followed it up with a goal against Ludogorets in the Champions League before netting a late equaliser against United on Saturday.

The former-Montepellier forward has yet to start a Premier League game this season but became Arsenal's record goalscorer off the bench on Saturday - although he's still some way behind Premier League record holder Jermain Defoe (23).

DEFOE JOINS ELITE COMPANY

Jermain Defoe made history himself as he bagged his 150th Premier League goal at the weekend, becoming only the eighth player to do so.

The 34-year-old showed he still has the predatory instincts of a top striker as he fired a superb low drive past David Marshall in Sunderland's 3-0 win over Hull City.

Defoe managed the feat in 443 games however - some way behind the likes of Andy Cole (286), Thierry Henry (230) and Alan Shearer (212).

KANE LONDON'S BEST

Harry Kane is very quickly becoming the king of the London derby.

The England international followed up his equaliser in the north London derby a fortnight ago by bagging two late goals against West Ham United in a 3-2 Spurs win.

The goals mean Kane now boasts the best strike rate (0.82) of any player to feature in 10 or more London derbies and - at the age of 23 - he will be chasing down Thierry Henry's record of 43 goals in total.

PALACE HOLDING UNWANTED RECORDS

Look away Palace fans - these statistics do not bode well for the Eagles.

No Premier League side who have been in the Premier League in 2016 have picked up fewer points.

The Eagles have lost five games on the trot and are currently just a point above the relegation zone with Alan Pardew so far showing little evidence of arresting the slide.

They have also conceded a league-high 56 goals in that period and are the only side to not keep a clean sheet this season.

WICKHAM CONTINUES TO HAUNT CITY

While Harry Kane likes to score against teams from the same city, Connor Wickham seems to save them for a particular club.

The Crystal Palace striker has been the bane of Manchester City previously and now boasts four goals against them after finding the net on Saturday.

This was actually his first goal against the Citizens in a Palace shirt, with the other three coming while he played for Sunderland.

Wickham famously bagged a brace at the Etihad Stadium in the 2013/14 season as Sunderland went on an impressive run to avoid relegation.

ANTONIO LEVELS HEADER RECORD

Michail Antonio must have thought West Ham would get something from their game at Tottenham Hotspur when he headed the Hammers in front.

The 26-year-old directed a bullet header from Winston Reid's shot to score the opener in a game they'd later lose.

It was Antonio's sixth goal this season - all of which have been headers.

He also joined Everton legend Tim Cahill on 11 headers for a calendar year - a record the Australian managed six seasons ago.

RONALDO'S HAT-TRICK FEVER

Most players would be happy to score against over half the teams they've played against in their league - but how about managing to score hat-tricks against each of them?

That's the incredible record Cristiano Ronaldo now boasts having hit a treble in Real Madrid's 3-0 derby victory over bitter rivals Atletico Madrid.

It means he has now managed the feat against 19 out of 34 La Liga sides he's faced - an incredible 55.8% of the opposition and a large chunk of his 268 Madrid goals.

ANICHEBE HITS FIRST BRACE IN NEARLY A DECADE

If Sunderland fans were to pick any striker to come into their side at the start of the season you imagine very few would have picked Victor Anichebe.

The former Everton and West Bromwich Albion striker had scored only six goals in his previous four Premier League seasons and hadn't managed a brace since December 2006.

The Nigerian has transformed the fortunes of David Moyes' side with three goals in two starts and managed to hit two goals in a game against Hull City on Saturday - the first time since he did it against Newcastle United nearly a decade ago.