Hi there and welcome to part 8 of my review of the 2011/12 EPL season. Today we will be taking a look at shots on targets per game +/- for both home form and away form. I will be using information from the previous 2 posts and presenting the individual teams numbers to see who was outshot, who was doing the outshooting and also looking to see if any teams were able to record a + figure for shots on target, away from home.
Join me after the jump
2011/12 EPL table by shots on goal per game +/- (home)
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So, here we are, the +/- shots on target table. Our beloved Man City are top of the pile, and deservedly so, They were 5th best in shots on target conceded at home and 2nd best (with a very high number) in shots on target for at home. When we do work out the calculation, Man City are 1st by a distance ( almost 1 shot per game). Man City were a truly dominant team at home this season and except for a slight statistical wobble at home in mid season, they were outshooting their opponents by a wide margin.
Man Utd and Arsenal come in just behind and this fits their respective EPL positions in the table. Just after, we have Spurs and Chelsea together, again this fits the EPL table very well. Newcastle are the missing piece of the top 10 EPL table. They finished 5th in the EPL but by this shots on target +/- they come in at a lowly 15th. This is a strange number if we think of their league position.
Newcastle, solely by stats, were not a 5th placed side, they had strikers who were so unsustainably good that Newcastle were able to cheat and go against the grain of some of the statistical evidence. Will they be 5th next season? Bet the farm that it ain't so.
We have 12 teams below the mean line by shots on target +/-, West Brom, QPR and Wigan just scrape a + figure. After those teams we have a group who were out shot at home, which is never a good sign, and will lead to poor home form. Swansea were outshot, despite the plaudits for their style of play, Aston Villa and Norwich are down there. Stoke, our old friends are a bottom 3 EPL side by this measure. Yet again, more evidence against the supposed myth of being hard to play against. Wolves bottom out at 20th with a hideous number of -2.64, over one whole shot per game worse than any other EPL side.
2011/12 EPL table by shots on goal per game +/- (away)
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Here is the shots on target per game +/- by away form.
We see that 5 of the EPL's top 6 featured at the top of the table. Arsenal lead the pack +1.89 number, testament to their ability not so much to prevent shots on target away (6th) but to get shots on target away from home (1st). It's an excellent number.
Man City are in 2nd place by this measure, which underlines their impressive away form, which,despite the mid season slump, held up statistically for all 19 games (take away the Arsenal away defeat).
Liverpool are 3rd and mightily impressive by this number, I really do think that Liverpool will be much improved next season, their underlying numbers were strong in 2011/12 and with a touch more luck in terms of scoring % I think they will challenge for a top 4 place.
Chelsea and Spurs round out the only six teams to record a positive +/- figure for shots on target away from home. It is an incredible difficult thing to do, outshoot the opposition over 19 away games. Only 6 sides managed it.
Man Utd the EPL's #1 away team by points gained managed a + 0.9 shots on target per game number, only 5th best in the table above.
Newcastle drop below the mean, Sunderland and Swansea are down there. Wolves and QPR being in the bottom 3 suprises nobody considering their season long away form. Stoke fail again with a -3.21 number, 2nd worst in the EPL.
Further reading
Part & of the 2011/12 EPL season review
Twitter @benjaminpugsley