Plus: repeated penalty awards, keepers kissing the post and lengthy absences. Mail us or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU

“I noticed the expected goals score for Cardiff v Huddersfield was 0.12 v 0.39. Is it the lowest-xG-scoring game ever?” asks Phil Dodds. “Is 0.12 the lowest individual xG recorded?”

“0.12 wasn’t even the lowest xG score recorded in that round of games,” writes Paul Fulcher (look here for an explanation of xG). “Wolves clocked up a score of 0.10 just two days later in their 3-0 (or in xG terms 3.12-0.10) defeat against Manchester City. Burnley managed 0.11 in September’s win at Cardiff when Burnley actually scored twice.”

Laurie Shaw picks up the baton. “Looking through the major European leagues since 2014-15, La Liga holds the record. On 23 May 2015 (the last day of the season) Granada v Atlético Madrid finished 0.08 v 0.07 in xG (and 0-0 in actual goals, unsurprisingly). There were only five shots in the game, and just one on target. For the second part of the question, several teams have managed to register exactly 0 xG in a match, including at least one Premier League team. Swansea City failed to manage a single shot on goal in their league match last season at Huddersfield.”

Quick guide What determines an expected goal? Show Hide Distance from goal Was it a long-range chance or an absolute sitter? Was it a one-on-one chance? Did the player have just the keeper to beat? The assist Was it a cross, a long ball, a through-ball, a cut-back? The angle of the shot Was it a tight angle or did the player have both sides of the goal to aim at? The type of chance Did the chance fall at the player's feet or was it a header? In what passage of play did it happen? For example: open play, direct free-kick, corner kick? Had the player just beaten an opponent? This helps determine whether the player would have been under pressure Was it a rebound? This helps determine how prepared the player would be before taking the shot Photograph: Rob Newell - CameraSport/CameraSport

There’s more, as Andrew Beasley explains. “It’s hard to have a definitive answer on this, as different xG models give out different scores,” he explains. “However, FiveThirtyEight have a spreadsheet you can download with more than 10,000 matches on it, so that’s the best place to start. They have Cardiff v Huddersfield as 0.16 v 0.47. There have been 25 matches with a total of lower than 0.63, but only seven lower than 0.51 as per the original question. The lowest they have is 0.33: Temperley v San Martín de San Juan in the Argentinian Primera Division in November 2017. The home side won 1-0, and despite scoring in the fourth minute, the visitors seemingly couldn’t offer up much of a response.

“They also have plenty of examples of an individual team having less than 0.12 xG – 24 home teams and 106 away sides have managed it. According to their data, there have been six teams that had 0 shots, so obviously 0 xG.”

Paying the penalty, eventually

“Have there been any recorded instances of a penalty being awarded straight after a penalty is saved?” asks Danny Treanor.

Yes, Danny. “Go in to five minutes in this video and you will find two penalties for Dunfermline within about 10 seconds of each other against Ayr United in 2016,” mails Kenny McLeod. “Both for Kallum Higginbotham … and both saved.” It finished 1-1.

There is also the case of Heurelho Gomes during Tottenham’s 1-1 draw against Blackpool in 2011. Paul Doyle takes up the story:

The Brazilian seemed to have gone a small way towards atoning for the many costly mistakes that he has committed this season by performing a superb save from a Charlie Adam penalty in the 75th minute. However, he immediately negated that feat. When Blackpool sent the ball back into the area less than a minute after his save, the keeper failed to cut out the cross and then barged into Gary Taylor-Fletcher while giddily attempting to retrieve the ball. ‘Everybody lost their cool when we saved the penalty and everyone got too excited,’ Harry Redknapp said. DJ Campbell tried to persuade Adam to relinquish spot-kick duty but the Scot stepped up and sent Gomes the wrong way.

And Douglas Jones recalls the Championship meeting between Scunthorpe and Middlesbrough in August 2009. “Joe Murphy saved a penalty from Adam Johnson, only to foul Johnson as both were attempting to reach the loose ball,” he mails. “Johnson scored from the resulting second penalty.”

Post kissing

“I swear I remember a story about Gianluca Pagliuca kissing a post after someone hit it in a penalty shootout,” tweets GTPLiquid. “Am I dreaming? And are there any other such post-kissing events?”

“I was pretty sure I remembered seeing this as a (soon to be devastated) eight-year-old watching Italy succumb to Brazil in the 1994 World Cup final,” answers Nino Rospigliosi-Pallavicini. “Lo and behold, here’s the YouTube link.”

However, that affectionate tap on the woodwork gets a little one-upped by Russian keeper Artem Rebrov …

Хардкуна Матата (@sviraman) Russian goalie Artem Rebrov does it before every game as a ritual pic.twitter.com/y3vRIRTsbS

Knowledge archive

“After seeing Southampton defender Michael Svensson’s almost fairytale return to action after nearly three years out with injury,” wrote Krissy Mondal in August 2008, “I was wondering what the longest time out/injury period is that a player has endured before returning to the first team of a football club?”

Saints’ Swedish centre-half was out of the game for just shy of two years and nine months (11 November 2005 to 9 August 2008), but a certain Dutch winger trumps that. “I reckon Marc Overmars’ recent return to a Dutch second division side must be an example of the longest time out of football before returning,” wrote Chris Topping. Indeed, Overmars had played his last professional game on 30 June 2004 before returning to action with Go Ahead Eagles in their game against Fortuna Sittard on 15 August 2008: an absence of three years, 10 months and 15 days.

However, Michael Haughey could top Mr Topping. “I would guess the longest time out of the first team would be those players who careers spanned either side of the second world war,” he mailed. “From September 1939 till the resumption of FA Cup matches in the 1945-46 season or even longer if their demob was held up until 1947.”

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Can you help?

“Tottenham have currently played 29 consecutive Premier League games without drawing one,” notes Wouter van Dael. “What is the longest ever such league run?”

“Allan Nyom spent six years on loan from Udinese at Granada between 2009 and 2015,” writes Jonathan Gallagher. “I know that both clubs had the same owners, but surely that must be the longest loan spell in history? Does anyone even come close?”

nath (@nath___________) who is the most loaned-out player ever? Michael Hector has been on loan to 15 different clubs (and is only 26!!), can anyone top that?

“My rabble, Chelsea, have five consecutive games coming up against teams that start with the letter ‘m’ (well, the letters ‘ma’),” writes Stuart Corby. “Manchester City, Malmö, Manchester United, Malmö and Manchester City. Has there been a longer sequence? Delving through our 114-year history, I found that in 1964 we also managed five: Workington, West Ham, West Brom, Wolves and Workington.”

Philip Genochio (@philipgenochio) As we're starting to reach that time of season (we'll, we are at #itfc)... What's the earliest *collectively* a team from each of the top 4 English leagues has been relegated?

“Eight teams in the 1930-31 Cheshire County League managed to score 100-plus goals but also concede 100-plus goals: has this number been bettered?” asks Graham Clayton.

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