The most boring teams in Premier League history: Arsenal, Leeds, Man City…
Boredom is a subjective thing in football. Some people swear that goalless draws are fascinating. You know the types. Call us old-fashioned, but we like goals.
Over the years, there have been a number of teams that dominate the television listings because they’re almost guaranteed to treat you to goals – ideally at both ends. But there have also been teams just as likely to provide us with mind-numbing tedium and low-scoring attritional battles.
We’ve taken a look at the 10 teams in Premier League history that averaged the fewest goals in their games.
10. Birmingham City – 2005-06
Goals Scored: 28
Goals Conceded: 50
Average Goals Per Game: 2.05
Steve Bruce’s Blues scored just 28 goals in 2005-06 – just one more than Arsenal’s Thierry Henry that year. Jiri Jarosik was their top scorer with just five league goals.
Unsurprisingly, they ended up relegated. But defensively they weren’t especially shambolic, having conceded fewer goals than seven sides that stayed up at their expense.
9. Arsenal – 1998-99
Goals Scored: 59
Goals Conceded: 17
Average Goals Per Game: 2.00
It feels harsh ever calling Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal boring. The side that nearly scuppered Manchester United’s treble in 1999 was mostly just very decent, maintaining that steely side that could grind out tense yet forgettable narrow wins.
Almost half of Arsenal’s matches (18 of 38) featured one goal or fewer in 1998-99. Had they made it over the line, the commemorative VHS wouldn’t have made great viewing.
8. Crystal Palace – 1994-95
Goals Scored: 32
Goals Conceded: 43
Average Goals Per Game: 1.98
Newly-promoted Palace actually enjoyed a memorable campaign in 1994-95. They made a decent fist of staying up, but ultimately went down, while making it to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and League Cup.
Top scorer Chris Armstrong scored more goals in the cup competitions (11) than he did in the Premier League (eight) and ultimately their profligacy in the final third cost them.
7. Burnley – 2017-18
Goals Scored: 36
Goals Conceded: 39
Average Goals Per Game: 1.97
Remember Burnley’s great European odyssey? Whereby they faced Aberdeen in July and didn’t quite make it past the qualifiers to make it into the Europa League proper. Ah well.
That was all thanks to the season they finished seventh, their best placing in the English pyramid in over 40 years. That was all thanks to Sean Dyche’s well-structured defence and gameplan.
Their attack was relatively miserly and they weren’t any neutrals’ favourites but they invariably got the job done.
6. Blackburn – 2004-05
Goals Scored: 32
Goals Conceded: 43
Average Goals Per Game: 1.97
Mark Hughes’ first season at Ewood Park doesn’t live long in the memory.
But Sparky actually turned them into a very watchable team in the end.
READ: An ode to mid-2000s Blackburn, the peak Barclays mix of silk and steel
5. Arsenal – 1993-94
Goals Scored: 53
Goals Conceded: 28
Average Goals Per Game: 1.93
Ian Wright scored 35 goals in all competitions (23 in the Premier League) in 1993-94. But George Graham’s Arsenal had little goal threat elsewhere and scored considerably less than Manchester United, Newcastle and Leeds that year.
Still, Wright plus a well-organised defence was an effective enough combination that resulted in the Gunners finishing fourth that season.
4. Man City – 2006-07
Goals Scored: 29
Goals Conceded: 44
Average Goals Per Game: 1.92
When Joey Barton’s your top scorer with six league goals, something’s gone wrong somewhere. Given that Stuart Pearce once resorted to throwing David James up front, it’s safe to assume that he wasn’t the best coach in the world at building an attack.
In 2006-07, City stayed up relatively comfortably despite scoring just 29 goals. They didn’t score at home after New Year’s Day. But they had a relatively well-organised defence – 44 goals conceded – to thank for their 14th-place finish.
3. Fulham – 2008-09
Goals Scored: 39
Goals Conceded: 34
Average Goals Per Game: 1.92
One of very few teams in Premier League history to neither score nor concede 40 goals, Roy Hodgson’s Fulham averaged just over a goal-a-game in the 2008-09 campaign – which was somehow enough to see them finish seventh, qualify for the Europa League, and embark on a hell of an adventure.
The Cottagers conceded just 34 goals that year.
2. Arsenal – 1992-93
Goals Scored: 40
Goals Conceded: 38
Average Goals Per Game: 1.86
Arsenal finished the inaugural Premier League season in a distinctly underwhelming 10th place. Graham’s men finished behind the likes of Norwich, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday.
Back in the 42-match era, they averaged scoring and conceding less than a goal a game and through the middle of the season went on a 12-match run in which neither themselves nor the opposition scored more than one goal.
🗣"I laughed at Graham… I didn't play for two months" 🤣
Paul Merson recalls a time he laughed during a training session under George Graham at Arsenal pic.twitter.com/ROgEgOoFdx
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) August 4, 2020
1. Leeds United – 1996-97
Goals Scored: 28
Goals Conceded: 38
Average Goals Per Game: 1.73
Him again. George Graham’s magnum opus. Leeds kept 20 clean sheets in 1996-97, conceding just 38 goals in total.
Their top scorers, Brian Deane and Lee Sharpe, scored just five goals apiece. Just 28 goals in total. Only one other side – Huddersfield Town in 2017-18 – have remained in the division with such a low goalscoring tally.
Funnily enough, the campaign actually started with a six-goal thriller against Derby County under Graham’s predecessor Howard Wilkinson. That afternoon accounted for nine percent of goals scored in Leeds matches that season.
READ NEXT: Recalling Leeds United’s dire 1996-97 season: ‘The most boring PL team ever’
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