The Times - UK (2020-07-28)

the times | Tuesday July 28 2020 2GM 63

Sport

he risks leaving it too late

67

66

61

56

51

51

49

Most goals

Man City

Liverpool

Chelsea

Leicester

Man United

Tottenham

Arsenal

Wolves

Southampton

West Ham United

102

85

69

Shot conversion % (number of shots)

Liverpool (591)

Arsenal (406)

Tottenham Hotspur (444)

Manchester City (745)

Leicester City (540)

Manchester United (544)

West Ham United (417)

Burnley (387)

14.38%

13.79%

13.74%

13.69%

12.41%

12.13%

11.75%

11.11%

Top goalscorers

Jamie Vardy (Leicester)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)

Danny Ings (Southampton)

Raheem Sterling (Man City)

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Sadio Mané (Liverpool)

Harry Kane (Tottenham)

Marcus Rashford (Man Utd)

Raúl Jiménez (Wolves)

Anthony Martial (Man Utd)

23

22

22

20

19

18

18

17

17

17

Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester)

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Man Utd)

Ricardo Pereira (Leicester)

Declan Rice (West Ham)

Serge Aurier (Tottenham)

João Moutinho (Wolves)

Most tackles

93

93

115

118

129

130

Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)

Vicente Guaita (Crystal Palace)

Martin Dubravka (Newcastle)

Dean Henderson (Sheffield Utd)

Average age of starting XIs What changed before

and after restart

Days top of the league

346 7

29y 336d

Oldest

25y 96d

Youngest

Proportion of minutes

by English players

Appearances by English

players under 21

35.6%

419 262

30%

This season Last season

Most goals prevented by

goalkeepers

Penalties

(Based on the expected goals figure of

how many they should have conceded)

Proportion of passes

hit long (35yds+)

Highest

Burnley 21.0%

Sheff Utd 18.5%

Lowest

Man City 7. 5 %

Chelsea 9.2%

Most shots

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Raúl Jiménez (Wolves)

Gabriel Jesus (Man City)

Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

Raheem Sterling (Man City)

Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

132

118

101

99

99

99

Goals per game

Shots per game

Passes per game

Dribbles per game

Interceptions per game

Tackles per game

Errors Leading to

goals per game

Fouls per game

Wins by away team

Goals in second half

2.72 2.72

25.2

912.4

39.7

21.8

33.7

0.36

21.2

40.3%

54.5% 52.8

40.3%

22.3

0.28

33.7

20.6

32.4

922.5

23.2

Before After

Mo Salah

Possession Man City 67%

Liverpool 63%

Chelsea 61%

Newcastle 37%

Burnley 41%

Watford 42%

Least Most

61

56

51

51

49

Liverpool

Chelsea

Leicester

Man United

Tottenham

Arsenal

Wolves

Southampton

West Ham United

Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)

Vicente Guaita (Crystal P

Martin Dubravka (Newca

Dean Henderson (Sheffie

Most goals prevente

goalkeepers

Penalties

(Based on the expected

how many they should

Manchester United ( 54 4)

West Ham United ( 417 )

Burnley ( 387 )

12 .41%

1 2.13%

1 1.75%

11.11%

19

8

8

Serge Aurier (Tottenham)

João Moutinho (Wolves)

93

93

Is What changed before

and after restart

Highest

Burnley rnley 21.1.0%0%0%%

Sheff UtdShe 18.18.5%

Lowestst

Man Cityy 7. 5 %7. 5 %

Chelsea 9.2%92%%

Most shots

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Raúl Jiménez(Wolves)

Gabriel Jesus (Man City)

Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

Raheem Sterling (Man City)

Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

132

118

101

99

99

99

Goals per game

Shots per game

Passes per game

Dribbles per game

Interceptions per game

Tackles per game

Errors Leading to

goals per game

Fouls pergame

Wins by away team

Goals in secondhalf

2. 
   

   72 2. 72

   
   


3. 
   

   2

   
   

912 .4

39. 
    

    7
    21. 8

    
    


40. 
    

    7

    
    

0.3 6

21 .2

40.3%

5 4.5% 52. 8

40.3%

22. 3

0.2 8

33. 7

2 0. 6

32. 4

922 .5

23. 2

Before After

Mo Salah

City 67%City 6%

63%63% 63

Least Most

Leicester after their 9-0 victory at Southampton

P28 W12 D6 L10 GD9 Pts 42

Southampton after their 9-0 defeat against Leicester

P28 W13 D5 L10 GD7 Pts 44

9.5

9.4

8.7

7. 5

Most

Fewest

14 (10 scored)

Scored

11 (6)

8 (7)

1 (1)

1 (1)

1 (0)

Saved/missed

Manchester United

Manchester City

Watford

Everton

Sheffield United

Newcastle United

the saviour and sexy crosses - stats behind longest season

than 40. Instead, teams preferred to

play their way out from the back,

averaging 206 passes in their own

half — an all-time high. That meant

more opportunities for high-pressing

forwards: on average, teams regained

the ball in the final third 4.06 times

per game, also a new high watermark.

jekyll and hyde teams

It was a season of two halves for

Wolves and Southampton — quite

literally in Wolves’ case. If all matches

had ended at half-time, Wolves would

have been relegated in 19th place,

with 35 points. After their half-time

oranges, they were a team

transformed: if only second halves

counted, they would have finished

third, behind City and Liverpool.

Southampton, meanwhile, had the

second-worst home record, taking 21

points, but were Champions League

material away from St Mary’s. Their

away haul of 31 points was the third

best, bettered by City and Liverpool.

old guard’s golden touch

Five players were involved in at least

25 goals: the Liverpool duo Mohamed

Salah and Sadio Mané, both 28; the

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De

Bruyne, 29; the Arsenal forward

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 31; and

the Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy,

33. Not once in the previous 15

seasons were none of the top five

players for goals plus assists younger

than 25.

pep roulette

Pep Guardiola made a total of 144

changes to City’s starting XI — the

most by a manager in a Premier

League season. Guardiola made

only nine changes fewer than

Nuno Espírito Santo, the Wolves

manager, Chris Wilder, the Sheffield

United boss, and Burnley’s Sean

Dyche combined (153).

ayew the real mvp?

Vardy may have won the Golden Boot,

but his 23 goals only earned Leicester

nine points more than they would

otherwise have obtained. By contrast,

the Crystal Palace forward Jordan

Ayew found the net nine times, but

his goals earned Palace 14 points —

subtract those points and they would

have been relegated in 19th place.

ole’s baby faces, roy’s old boys

With an average age of 25 years and

96 days, Manchester United had the

youngest starting XI in the league,

while their fellow Champions League

qualifiers Chelsea also had a fresh-

faced look, with an average age of 26

years and 10 days ranking them third.

Manchester City had the fifth-oldest

team in the division, but by far the

most superannuated were Crystal

Palace, with an average age a month

shy of 30. Palace were the oldest team

in the top flight since Fulham in

2012-13 — they went down the next

season.

summer sameness

After all the worries that football

might be fundamentally different

without fans, the average number of

goals per game (2.72) and the

percentage of away wins (40.3 per

cent) were exactly the same before

and after restart. There was only one

symptom of midsummer madness:

four of the nine latest goals of the

season were scored after the restart.