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Sir Alex Ferguson has surprised everybody again, making a move for Michael Owen which echoes previous loan deals involving Henrik Larsson and Carlos Tevez. With the World Cup just around the corner can the former Liverpool man return to the top and silence his critics or will United rue missing out on Karim Benzema
Over the past two Premier League seasons Owen has played in 42 matches going W9-D14-L19 (21% won & 45% lost) and has missed 34, in which the Magpies recorded W9-D9-L16 (26% won & 47% lost). Newcastle’s PPG reflects this earning 0.98 points per game when he plays and 1.06 when he has doesn’t. We’d expect Owen to affect his team’s exploits at the offensive end of the pitch but in this sample the stats remain rather similar for goals scored with and without him- in matches he has played in Newcastle averaged 1.13 goals per game and in matches where he has been absent they averaged 1.16 goals per game. In fact it is at the other end where Newcastle were adversely affected conceding 17% more goals per game with the hit man (1.54 gpga) compared to without him (1.32 gpga).

Before his turbulent years at Newcastle, Owen spent a season with Real Madrid and the Galacticos. In his one season with Los Merengues, Owen started in 18 matches and missed 21. Real Madrid returned better results without the Englishman winning 71% of their matches and losing 19% compared to winning 61% and losing 22% when he played. They averaged 2.00 PPG with him and 2.24 PPG without him. Moreover, they scored a superior amount of goals per game when Owen was left out managing 2.05 compared to 1.67 when he wasn’t included- a 23% increase in goals scored without the striker. In addition Real Madrid failed to score in 33% of their matches when Michael Owen played compared to in only 10% of matches when he didn’t.

Karim Benzema was the initial primary target but United lost out to Real Madrid again. The Frenchman has been hugely influential over the past two seasons as Lyon have averaged 2.04 ppg in the 55 matches he has played compared to just 1.81 in the 21 he has missed. This drop in ppg is due to Lyon losing a third of the matches he has missed compared to just 13% of those he has played. He has also weighed in with a personal goals tally of 31 and helped the team average 1.71 goals per game when he has been playing while this has fallen by 11% without him to 1.52 goals per game.

Key Stats

With Michael Owen at Newcastle
W9-D14-L19
0.98 PPG
1.13 goals per game for
1.54 goals per game against

Without Michael Owen Newcastle
W9-D9-L16
1.06 PPG
1.16 goals per game for
1.32 goals per game against

With Owen Real Madrid
W11-D3-L4
2.00 PPG
1.67 goals per game for
0.89 goals per game against

Without Owen Real Madrid
W15-D2-L4
2.24 PPG
2.05 goals per game for
0.81 goals per game against

With Benzema Lyon
W14-D9-L4
1.89 PPG
1.41 goals per game for
0.70 goals per game against

Without Benzema Lyon
W6-D2-L3
1.82 PPG
1.27 goals per game for
0.91 goals per game against