Burnley have already damaged the second-tier document for consecutive clear sheets, however the place does their defensive document stand within the historical past of the highest 4 tiers in England?
Burnley’s unimaginable clean-sheet document goes on. This week, with their 2-0 win over Hull Metropolis, Scott Parker’s facet turned the primary crew within the historical past of the English second tier in males’s soccer to maintain 10 consecutive clear sheets. That’s now stretched to 11 video games following Saturday’s 0-0 draw in opposition to Preston North Finish.
Together with all added time, they’ve now gone 1,075 minutes with out conceding a aim in a league sport, stretching again to the Eightieth-minute aim Kwadwo Baah scored for Watford of their 2-1 defeat at Turf Moor on 21 December 2024.
Extremely, they’ve conceded simply 9 targets in 33 Championship video games all season, protecting 24 clear sheets and averaging the fewest targets conceded per sport (0.27) by any crew in any season English Soccer League historical past. Liverpool’s crop of 1978-79 come closest, with 0.38 targets in opposition to per sport, simply forward of José Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2004-05 (0.39 targets in opposition to per sport).
Burnley’s defence is a subject we’ve coated in depth already, how precisely they’ve performed it right here. This time, although, we’ve checked out the place their document of 11 consecutive Championship clear sheets ranks within the historical past of the highest 4 tiers of English males’s soccer.
Most Consecutive Clear Sheets
14 – Manchester United, 2008-09, Prime Flight
11 – Studying, 1978-79, Fourth Tier
11 – York Metropolis, 1973-74, Third Tier
11 – Millwall, 1925-26, Third Tier
11 – Burnley, 2024-25, Second Tier (*ongoing)
10 – Chelsea, 2004-05, Prime Flight
10 – Torquay, 2009-10 & 2010-11, Fourth Tier (throughout two seasons)
10 – Charlton Athletic, 1997-98 & 1998-99, Prime Two Tiers (throughout two seasons)
Manchester United’s title-winning facet of 2008-09 maintain the document within the prime 4 tiers of English males’s soccer for consecutive clear sheets, with 14.
That run started following a worryingly leaky 4-3 win over Hull Metropolis and a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal that left United fourth within the desk and eight factors adrift of runaway leaders Chelsea and Liverpool. They tightened up on the again in historic style after that loss, although, with a 5-0 win over Stoke on 15 November 2008 kicking off a streak of 12 wins and two attracts with out conceding a single aim.
Their run lastly got here to an finish on 21 February 2009 when Roque Santa Cruz scored for Blackburn at Outdated Trafford, just for Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo to offer the targets for United to win the sport 2-1.
With their streak, United turned the primary crew since Studying in 1978-79 (within the fourth tier) to interrupt the 10-game mark, and solely the fourth crew within the historical past of the highest 4 tiers in males’s soccer historical past in England to take action. The opposite two are York Metropolis in 1973-74 and Millwall in 1925-26, each within the third tier.
With the 0-0 draw in opposition to Preston this weekend, Burnley turned solely the fifth crew to go greater than 10 video games with out conceding a aim.
Most Clear Sheets in a Season
30 – Port Vale, 1953-54, Third Tier
29 – Gillingham, 1995-96, Fourth Tier
28 – Liverpool, 1978-79, Prime Flight
27 – Middlesbrough, 1986-87, Third Tier
27 – Wigan, 2017-18, Third Tier
27 – Plymouth Argyle, 2001-02, Fourth Tier
Burnley’s present document of 24 clear sheets after 33 video games of a 46-game season places them already inside touching distance of the all-time document within the prime 4 tiers of English males’s soccer for essentially the most clear sheets in a season.
That document is held by Port Vale, who stored 30 clear sheets in 46 video games in 1953-54 en path to the Third Division North title.
The second-tier document is held by Sunderland, who stored 26 clear sheets in 1995-96. Based mostly on current kind, it might be an actual shock if Burnley weren’t to interrupt the division document.
The truth is, if Parker’s facet stick with it at their present price of fresh sheets (72.7% of video games), they are going to smash the document. As a proportion of video games performed, Liverpool’s 66.7% in 1978-79 is the document as issues stand, simply forward of Chelsea’s 65.8% in 2004-05 (25 clear sheets in a 38-game Premier League season). Burnley are properly away from Port Vale’s 46-game document of protecting a clear sheet in 65.2% of their video games.
Fewest Targets Conceded in a Season (Per-Recreation Foundation)
0.27 – Burnley, 2024-25, Second Tier (*ongoing)
0.38 – Liverpool, 1978-79, Prime Flight
0.39 – Chelsea, 2004-05, Prime Flight
0.43 – Gillingham, 1995-96, Fourth Tier
0.45 – Arsenal, 1998-99, Prime Flight
We’re doing this part on a per-game foundation to keep away from each entry being from the highest flight, as a result of there are fewer video games within the smaller Premier League in comparison with the EFL. The document for the fewest targets conceded in whole in a season in England is held by Preston within the 22-game 1888-89 season and Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2004-05. Both sides conceded simply 15 targets all season.
Nevertheless, on a per-game foundation, Burnley are heading in the right direction to interrupt the document, with 0.27 targets conceded per sport to date. Keep on at this extraordinary price, nevertheless, and they’re going to break the general document regardless of taking part in a 46-game season, which might be an unimaginable achievement. At 0.27 targets conceded per sport, they’d ship simply 13 targets all season.
Liverpool’s 1978-79 crew maintain the document for a full season, with 0.38 targets conceded per sport, and Chelsea in 2004-05 are simply behind, on 0.39.
As for the second tier, it might take one thing fairly stunning for Burnley to fail to interrupt the document. That’s at the moment held by Manchester United in 1924-25, who shipped 23 targets in 42 video games, at a price of 0.55 per sport.
By the tip of the season, we may have a brand new record-holder in all three classes, as Parker’s spectacular Burnley search a spot within the document books.
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