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Martin Tyler's stats: Longest gap between hat-tricks? Late top four challengers?

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Martin Tyler brings you his latest teaser ahead of England's friendly with the Netherlands.

Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler has been busy looking into your questions and has come up with the answers on topics including hat-tricks, top-four finishes and scoring 20 goals in a season.

How to send your questions to Martin:

1: Email your posers to [email protected]

2. Tweet @SkyFootball using the hashtag #TylersTeasers

Martin's starting stats

I was at Wembley on Tuesday night and saw England continue their run of not beating the Dutch since the famous 4-1 win at Euro 96. Holland are unbeaten in the last seven against England - four draws and three wins, all in England (2-0 at White Hart Lane, 2001, 3-2 at Wembley, 2012 and 2-1 this week).

The Dutch goals were the first England have conceded with John Stones on the pitch (eight matches).

Also See:

Jamie Vardy scored the 100th goal under Roy Hodgson in his 49th game in charge. Including penalty-shoot-outs as defeats, it was his eighth defeat in those 49 matches.

England conceded the 80th penalty in their history of which 55 have been scored. Vincent Janssen found the net from the spot on his first start for the Netherlands. He is the top scorer in the Eredivisie and this was his first call-up.

Interestingly, he is the son of two world champion swimmers - and it was very wet at Wembley on Tuesday!! By being asked to take the penalty he was thrown in at the deep end!!

All to play four?

Andy Carroll celebrates with his team-mates after scoring with his first touch
Image: West Ham are aiming to mount a late top four push

How often does a team outside of the top four on April 1 finish in the top four come the end of the season? John (Islington)

MARTIN SAYS: The bad news for West Ham and Manchester United, who start April outside the top four, is that this is not a very common occurrence. In fact we have seen only four teams outside the top four on April 1 finish inside the top four at the end of the campaign.

On April 1, 1995 Liverpool were six points behind third-place Newcastle with three games in hand and 10 games left to play, but eventually finished two points ahead of them in fourth. That was a 42-game season.

On April 1, 1998 Chelsea were in fifth place - three points behind Blackburn and eventually finished five points clear of them in fourth.

On April 1, 2006 Arsenal were two points behind Tottenham with a game in hand - and were able to finish above them in fourth.

Arsenal also pulled it off in 2013 when they were fifth at the start of April, four points behind third-place Tottenham but managed to finish a point clear of them.

In 11 of the other 19 seasons no team has broken into the top four at any stage between April 1 and the end of the season, so the omens suggest Leicester, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City are on track for Premier League football next season.

Treble chasers?

Jermain Defoe applauds fans, Liverpool v Sunderland, Premier League
Image: Jermain Defoe has to wait a long time to score a hat-trick once more

What is the longest a player has gone between hat-tricks in the Premier League? Paul (Teesside)

MARTIN SAYS: Thanks to our friends at Opta, I can tell you that Jermain Defoe holds this record after going 2,243 days between scoring a hat-trick (in fact he scored five goals) for Tottenham against Wigan in November 2009 and then scoring his next treble for Sunderland against Swansea in January of this season - a gap of more than six years.

Teddy Sheringham went 2,156 days between netting a hat-trick for Spurs against Newcastle in December 1994 and then repeating the feat for Manchester United against Southampton in October 2000.

Robbie Keane had a spell of 2,121 days between hat-tricks for Spurs: netting a treble against Wolves in December 2003 and not scoring the next until September 2009 against Burnley.

Nicholas Anelka went 1,875 days between hat-tricks from September 2003 with Manchester City to November 2008 when he was playing for Chelsea.

And Les Ferdinand had a 1,862-day gap between his hat-trick for Newcastle against Wimbledon in October 1995 and then his treble for Spurs against Leicester in November 2000.

Ferdinand also boasts the shortest time in between Premier League hat-tricks after scoring one on April 10, 1993 (a 4-3 win for QPR over Nottingham Forest) and another on April 12, 1993 (a 5-3 win for QPR at Everton). That was two trebles in three days!

Plenty of twenty

Harry Kane celebrates after giving Spurs the lead
Image: Harry Kane is already past the 20-goal mark

We could see five players score 20 Premier League goals this season. Would this be a record? Andrew (Peterborough)

MARTIN SAYS: As it stands, Harry Kane already has 21 Premier League goals, while Jamie Vardy is almost there with 19 and Romelu Lukaku has 18. Riyad Mahrez and Sergio Aguero would need to score four each in the final games of the season to reach 20.

We have seen three seasons when five or more players scored 20 goals in the Premier League - although two of those season featured 22 teams so players had a maximum of 42 matches, rather than 38 now.

In both 1993/94 and 1994/95 there were six players to reach the landmark.

In 1993/94 it was Andy Cole (34), Alan Shearer (31), Matt Le Tissier (25), Chris Sutton (25), Ian Wright (23) and Peter Beardsley (21) and the following campaign it was Shearer (34), Robbie Fowler (25), Les Ferdinand (24), Stan Collymore (22), Cole (21) and Jurgen Klinsmann (21).

We have seen one 38-game season in which there were five players to reach the milestone. It came in 2009/10 when Didier Drogba (29), Wayne Rooney (26), Darren Bent (24), Carlos Tevez (23) and Frank Lampard (22) all got there.

However, there have also been several campaigns where the 20-goal mark has not been reached.

In both 1997/98 and 1998/99 there were three players who scored 18 goals but nobody who passed 20, while in 2008/09 the highest scorers were Nicolas Anelka (19) and Cristiano Ronaldo (18).

Squad rotation

Claudio Ranieri
Image: Is Claudio Ranieri still the Tinkerman?

How many players has each club used in the Premier League this season? Peter (Anglesey)

MARTIN SAYS: It might not surprise you to hear that Manchester United have used more players than any other club this campaign.

Thirty three different players have played for Louis van Gaal's side in the 2015/16 Premier League campaign so far, including a number of academy youngsters.

Newcastle (30) and Liverpool (29) are second and third while Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Norwich, Sunderland and West Ham have all used 28 players.

Leaders Leicester and Chelsea have used the fewest (both 23), just one more than Arsenal and Tottenham.

Players used by each Premier League team this season

Team Players used
Manchester United 33
Newcastle 30
Liverpool 29
Bournemouth 28
Crystal Palace 28
Norwich 28
Sunderland 28
West Ham 28
Aston Villa 27
Southampton 26
Swansea 26
Everton 25
Manchester City 25
Stoke 25
Watford 25
West Brom 25
Arsenal 24
Tottenham 24
Chelsea 23
Leicester 23

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