Premier League ‘glove-watch’ table – which team is ‘softest’?

Sergio Aguero: Dons the gloves in the weekend win

Sergio Aguero: Dons the gloves in the weekend win

Manchester City felt the chill more than most on a weekend when the cold snap was not enough to persuade Newcastle or Liverpool’s players to don gloves.

Five of City’s starting XI in the 4-0 win over Crystal Palace wore gloves, more than any other team in the Premier League over the course of the last round of fixtures.

Newcastle and Liverpool toughed it out without any gloves at all as temperatures – particularly in northern England – plummeted.

Shows number of Premier League outfield players wearing gloves on matches played on Jan 16 to 18 by team (starting XI)

In total, 31 Premier League starters over the weekend wore gloves, including just three Englishmen – Wilfried Zaha, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Lennon.

It was just two degrees when Newcastle hosted West Ham on Saturday, yet none of Steve McClaren’s men plumped for gloves as they ran out 2-1 victors.

Three of the visiting players wore gloves, though, and even manager Slaven Bilic was not immune, taking to his seat at St James’ Park with a beanie hat pulled tight over his head.

Jurgen Klopp opted for a snood as Liverpool hosted Manchester United on Sunday, but his players battled on without a single pair of gloves on display despite the temperature again being down at two degrees.

Bournemouth, West Brom and Swansea’s players also went without, although their matches were played in a comparatively toasty four degrees.

Unsurprisingly, there were more gloves on display north of the Watford Gap, with Manchester City the standout winners of the winter warmers survey.

It was just 1C at the Etihad Stadium when Crystal Palace visited on Saturday and half of Manuel Pellegrini’s side took evasive action.

The numbers of glove-wearing players may well swell in the coming weeks as MeteoGroup – a team of meteorologists – has suggested this is just the start of a sustained cold spell.

“It’s the middle of winter so these sorts of cold spells are not unusual, but we’ve not had a particularly cold winter so far, so expect it (this cold snap) to stay for a while,” a spokesperson said.

Here are the overall results, starting with those most affected:

1. Manchester City (at home to Crystal Palace), five pairs of gloves, temperature 1C

2. Everton (away at Chelsea), four pairs of gloves, temperature 5C

3. Stoke (at home to Arsenal), four pairs of gloves, temperature 1C

4. West Ham (away at Newcastle), three pairs of gloves and a beanie, temperature 2C

5. Watford (away at Swansea), two pairs of gloves, temperature 4C

6. Aston Villa (at home to Leicester), two pairs of gloves, temperature 3C

7. Manchester United (away at Liverpool), two pairs of gloves, temperature 2C

8. Arsenal (away at Stoke), two pairs of gloves, temperature 1C

9= Chelsea (at home to Everton), one pair of gloves, temperature 5C

9= Tottenham (at home to Sunderland), one pair of gloves, temperature 5C

9= Sunderland (away at Tottenham), one pair of gloves, temperature 5C

12= Southampton (at home to West Brom), one pair of gloves, temperature 4C

12= Norwich (away at Bournemouth), one pair of gloves, temperature 4C

14. Leicester (away at Aston Villa), one pair of gloves, temperature 3C

15. Crystal Palace (away at Manchester City), one pair of gloves, temperature 1C

16= Bournemouth (at home to Norwich), no gloves, temperature 4C

16= West Brom (away at Southampton), no gloves, temperature 4C

16= Swansea (at home to Swansea), no gloves, temperature 4C

19= Liverpool (at home to Manchester United), no gloves, temperature 2C

19= Newcastle (at home to West Ham), no gloves, temperature 2C