Solskjaer has a WORSE Premier League record than Emery
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 29 Sep 2021 03:19 CDT
- 4 min read
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will take on Unai Emery once again as his Manchester United side host Villarreal in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The pair faced off in the 2020/21 Europa League final, with Emery getting the better of his counterpart as Villarreal won the trophy on penalties.
Man Utd are looking to bounce back from three defeats in their past four games, while Villarreal will be hoping to turn draws into wins. Emery's team are yet to lose this season, but they've drawn six of their seven games in all competitions, with four of those being scoreless.
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Solskjaer is under pressure to deliver at Man Utd, but they've been unable to find results recently, which needs to change.
The Norwegian's plight is highlighted by his poorer Premier League record than Emery, who was considered a flop at Arsenal.
What are their records in the Premier League?
Emery was in charge of Arsenal from 2018 until 2019 before he was sacked and replaced by Mikel Arteta.
His spell at the Emirates Stadium was widely seen as disappointing. Nevertheless, he won 25 of his 51 Premier League matches, drawing another 13.
That saw him earn 1.73 points per game (PPG).
He had a hard act to follow, though. Long-time boss Arsene Wenger had picked up 1.97 PPG during his time with the Gunners.
Nevertheless, Emery posts a better Premier League record in this regard than Man Utd boss Solskjaer.
The Norwegian posts 1.69 PPG in England's top flight, which is a marginally poorer record than Emery.
Even when it is taken into account that 18 of these matches were overseeing Cardiff - a team considered to have under performed during Ole's brief reign - his record of 1.87 PPG is not startling better than his counterpart at Villarreal.
How does Solskjaer compare to other Premier League managers?
The Man Utd boss' record at Old Trafford stands up reasonably well against his chief Premier League rivals.
Below is a table of how each of the leading managers in the league is faring at their current club.
| Manager | PPG in the Premier League (with current club) |
| Pep Guardiola | 2.33 |
| Jurgen Klopp | 2.12 |
| Thomas Tuchel | 2.04 |
| Ole Gunnar Solskjaer | 1.87 |
| Brendan Rodgers | 1.65 |
| Mikel Arteta | 1.61 |
| Nuno Espirito Santo | 1.6 |
Unsurprisingly, Pep Guardiola has the best PPG record of any manager in the English top flight, with a tally of 2.33.
Following him is Jurgen Klopp, whose excellent job at Liverpool can be seen with his 2.12 PPG. Considering the state of the squad when he arrived, that's mightily impressive.
Thomas Tuchel only took charge of Chelsea in January 2021, but he has already racked up a PPG of 2.04, which is actually less than his PPG in the Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund (2.09).
Brendan Rodgers has helped Leicester break into the top six, so his PPG of 1.65 is surprisingly low, but there's no doubting the job he's done at the club.
The current Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has a worse PPG than Emery, which is fairly damning on the former Gunners and Everton midfielder. His PPG tally is just 1.61, which is actually far below Emery's and is less than Rodgers'.
Nuno Espirito Santo has only taken charge of six games at Tottenham, meaning his 1.5 PPG record is hard to judge. Including his time at Wolves, his overall Premier League PPG total is 1.42.
