Ranking PL teams by shots taken/faced, territory, chances created & more
Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Burnley are leading the way in select statistical categories in the Premier League this season.
After a break for internationals, the Premier League will get back underway this weekend, and we’ve looked back at how every team has fared statistically so far this term.
Every club has now played seven fixtures, with Manchester City and Manchester United topping the table with 19 points each, and Crystal Palace still searching for both their first win and first goal.
But have the results so far reflected each team’s performance? We consulted the stats to try see if any club finds themselves in a false position.
Shots attempted
Manchester City and Manchester United have scored the most goals in the division this season with 22 and 21 respectively, but Liverpool lead the way in terms of shots at goal attempted yet have only scored 13 goals.
Interestingly, fourth-placed Chelsea have only attempted the ninth-most shots in the competition, behind the likes of Southampton, Newcastle and Stoke City.
Poor Crystal Palace are yet to score despite taking the 10th-most shots, only four fewer than Chelsea. Obviously this does not take into account the quality of shot or chance, but they cannot be accused of not buying a ticket for the raffle.
1. Liverpool – 137
2. Man City – 135
3. Tottenham – 134
4. Arsenal – 122
5. Man Utd – 121
6. Southampton – 106
7. Newcastle – 91
8. Stoke – 89
9. Chelsea – 86
10. Crystal Palace – 82
11. West Ham – 80
12. Everton – 79
13. Watford – 78
14. Bournemouth – 73
15. Huddersfield – 72
16. Leicester – 69
17. West Brom – 68
18. Brighton – 64
19. Burnley – 61
20. Swansea – 46
Shots faced
Crystal Palace, given their lowly status, have unsurprisingly conceded the most goals with 17, but five teams have allowed more attempts on their goal than the Eagles.
Remarkably, Burnley have only conceded five goals in their opening seven matches, despite allowing the opposition to have a whopping 147 attempts – the most in the league.
The stats suggest Man City are protecting their defence and goalkeeper much more efficiently this season, with Pep Guardiola’s men having conceded the fewest shots and only two goals.
Newly-promoted duo Huddersfield and Newcastle can also be pleased with encouraging efforts in this regard.
1. Burnley – 147
2. Leicester – 127
3. Swansea – 121
4. Brighton – 105
5. Bournemouth – 100
6. Crystal Palace – 99
8= West Brom – 97
8= Stoke – 97
9. Watford – 92
10. Everton – 90
11. West Ham – 89
12. Southampton – 88
13. Chelsea – 84
15= Newcastle – 80
15= Huddersfield – 80
16. Arsenal – 71
17. Man Utd – 62
18. Tottenham – 60
19. Liverpool – 59
20. Man City – 45
Shooting accuracy
As Liverpool and Crystal Palace have discovered, taking plenty of shots is all well and good, but you ultimately have to make the goalkeeper work if you are to have any chance of scoring.
Newcastle may have only attempted the seventh-most shots in the league, but they can be encouraged by the accuracy of their attempts.
1. Newcastle – 54.55%
2. Man Utd – 53.49%
3. Chelsea – 53.45%
4. Man City – 52.48%
5. Arsenal – 50%
6. Huddersfield – 48.94%
7. Liverpool – 48%
8. Leicester – 46.81%
9. Tottenham – 46.74%
10. Brighton – 41.86%
11. Bournemouth – 41.67%
12. Watford – 39.29%
13. Stoke – 38.1%
14. West Ham – 37.5%
15. Burnley – 36%
16. West Brom – 35.09%
17. Swansea – 31.43%
18. Everton – 30.91%
19. Southampton – 30.56%
20. Crystal Palace – 27.59%
Possession
Possession is nine-tenths of the law, apparently, and it is no surprise to see Guardiola’s Man City outfit top this list, with north London duo Tottenham and Arsenal not far behind.
Southampton have had plenty of the ball but struggled to break teams down, while West Brom finding themselves 10th in the table despite having the least possession in the Premier League is likely to put a huge smile on the face of Tony Pulis.
You can just picture it, can’t you?
1. Man City – 68.66%
2. Tottenham – 63.73%
3. Arsenal – 62.51%
4. Southampton – 59.92%
5. Liverpool – 57.33%
6. Man Utd – 56.46%
7. Bournemouth – 53.08%
8. Chelsea – 50.54%
9. Everton – 50.31%
10. Huddersfield – 49.22%
11. West Ham – 48.14%
12. Watford – 46.48%
13. Swansea – 45.54%
14. Crystal Palace – 43.85%
15. Brighton – 42.75%
16. Burnley – 40.94%
17. Stoke – 40.04%
18. Newcastle – 39.14%
19. Leicester – 38.36%
20. West Brom – 36.98%
Successful passes ending in final third
Perhaps more important than having possession is the area of the pitch where a team has the ball.
Taking into account the amount of passes each club has completed in the final third of the pitch, it is still City, Arsenal and Spurs who top the pile.
1. Man City – 1147
2. Arsenal – 1073
3. Tottenham – 957
4. Man Utd – 865
5. Liverpool – 820
6. Southampton – 794
7. Bournemouth – 724
8. Chelsea – 668
9. Everton – 571
10. Crystal Palace – 541
11. Stoke – 520
12. Huddersfield – 519
13. Watford – 510
14. Brighton – 462
15. Newcastle – 452
16. West Ham – 401
17. Burnley – 399
18. Leicester – 396
19. Swansea – 388
20. West Brom – 360
Chances created
Liverpool’s profligate finishing is emphasised once more given the Reds have actually created the most chances, while Manchester United’s impressive conversion rate reflects well on Romelu Lukaku and co.
Leicester have managed to score the eighth-most goals in the division despite a worryingly low tally of chances, while Paul Clement will no doubt be concerned about Swansea’s lack of opportunities.
1. Liverpool – 107
2. Man City – 102
3. Tottenham – 95
4. Arsenal – 94
5. Man Utd – 91
6. Southampton – 87
7. Chelsea – 71
9=. Newcastle – 66
9= Stoke – 66
10. Everton – 65
11. Crystal Palace – 62
12. West Ham – 59
13. Watford – 54
14. Huddersfield – 51
15. West Brom – 50
16. Bournemouth – 49
17. Brighton – 45
18. Burnley – 44
19. Leicester – 43
20. Swansea – 28
Duel success rate
Obviously passing the ball in dangerous areas, creating chances and scoring goals are all important, but you need to win the ball to begin with.
Klopp may be frustrated by Liverpool’s wasteful finishing, but he can at least be pleased by his players leading the way in terms of winning their personal battles (taking into account tackles, dribbles and aerial challenges) for the ball.
In truth not much separates the 20 teams in this category, although it is perhaps a surprise to see West Brom bottom of the list.
1. Liverpool – 53.86%
2. West Ham – 53.27%
3. Burnley – 52.36%
4. Arsenal – 52.67%
5. Stoke – 52.39%
6. Man City – 51.89%
7. Chelsea – 51.69%
8. Bournemouth – 51.09%
9. Crystal Palace – 50.78%
10. Man Utd – 55.55%
11. Swansea – 50.13%
12. Watford – 49.25%
13. Tottenham – 49.17%
14. Huddersfield – 49.14%
15. Leicester – 49.09%
16. Southampton – 47.63%
17. Newcastle – 46.44%
18. Brighton – 46.37%
19. Everton – 45.81%
20. West Brom – 45.48%
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