)
See Opta's funniest April fools' prank stats featuring Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah, Liverpool and William Saliba
As part of the April fools' celebrations, football data providers Opta entertained fans with hilarious faux facts about players in the Premier League on their Twitter handle @OptaJoe.
)
12:23 - 01.04.2023
As it happened: No Haaland, no problem as Grealish leads Manchester City to emphatic Liverpool win
Manchester City blow Liverpool away with dominant second half performance
The joke stats were delivered in typical Opta fashion and caught a few fans off guard before most people figured out the game that was afoot.
15:21 - 01.04.2023
Premier League is in Arsenal's hands — Jack Grealish
Manchester City star Jack Grealish believes Arsenal are still favourites to win the Premier League despite crucial victory against Liverpool.
Players like Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier and Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi were all part of the fun as Opta continued the yearly ritual of April fools' stats and data to entertain its followers on Twitter.
Opta’s comedy of fake stats
The first tweet that went up was this one about Liverpool and phantom penalties in the Premier League.
Some fun was also had at the expense of Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez who was bamboozled by Salah when the Red Devils lost 7-0 to Liverpool.
With the Reds facing Manchester City today as well, the Cityzen’s were also caught up in the tomfoolery thanks to this dubious stat about playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who went on to get a goal in the Premier League’s big clash for the day.
League Leaders Arsenal were ably represented in Opta’s festivity thanks to this stat about defender William Saliba that many Gunners would wish were more fact than banter.
Defenders were easy targets for Opta as they had this in the locker for Newcastle's Kieran Trippier
Finally, World Champion Lionel Messi also featured as Opta’s ‘The Analyst’ paid homage to the two greatest Argentine players of all time with their April fools’ post.
)
22:39 - 31.03.2023
Barcelona prepare incentive-based package to lure Messi
Barcelona are reportedly preparing a financial package to attract Messi back to the Camp Nou.
Opta will be back again next year to titillate fans with more absurd and factitious stats that hopefully will be as comical as this year’s roll out.
Related content
)
20:17 - 01.04.2023
FOOTBALL Ten Hag sweating over Rashford fitness ahead of Newcastle trip
The 25-year-old forward had missed England's recent European Championship qualifying matches due to a knock he picked up during United's FA Cup quarter-final win over Fulham.
)
19:29 - 01.04.2023
FOOTBALL Liverpool bus attacked on journey from Etihad Stadium
The Premier League champions have pledged to support Greater Manchester Police's investigation into the incident, saying that "incidents of this kind are totally unacceptable."
)
19:22 - 01.04.2023
Grealish admits to suffering from illness during Man City’s demolition of Liverpool
Manchester City’s Jack Grealish has revealed he was unwell before the 4-1 win over Liverpool and struggled with the illness during the game.
)
14:29 - 01.04.2023
WHAT'S BUZZIN 'He's truly finished' - Fans troll Van Dijk on social media following Man City's comeback win against Liverpool
Liverpool were bamboozled by Man City in the second half at the Etihad Stadium as the Reds fell to another defeat in the EPL on Saturday.
12:23 - 01.04.2023
As it happened: No Haaland, no problem as Grealish leads Manchester City to emphatic Liverpool win
Manchester City blow Liverpool away with dominant second half performance
)
16:14 - 01.04.2023
We were lucky Man City weren't in a greedy mood — Klopp
Jurgen Klopp confessed Manchester City could have scored more after his side's 4-1 defeat.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)