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Man City And Liverpool By The Numbers: How They Took Over The Premier League by ekeleboy(m): 12:39am On May 12, 2019 |
The end of the Premier League season is upon
us, and barring something extraordinary with the
Champions League places, there is just one
meaningful thing left to decide. And boy, is it
meaningful: Manchester City go into their trip to
Brighton a point ahead of Liverpool, who face
Wolves at home, therefore knowing that a victory
will guarantee the retention of the title.
These two sides have more or less been playing
a different sport than the rest of the division this
season and will finish at least 20 points ahead of
their nearest challengers. So let's look at how
their campaigns compare going into the final
day.
Goals, goals, goals
Let's start with the basics: Manchester City have
91, Liverpool 87. Mohamed Salah is the biggest
proportionate contributor, his 22 strikes
representing around 25 percent of Liverpool's
league total, but Sergio Aguero and Raheem
Sterling are just behind him: they have 20 and
17, respectively, chipping in 41 percent of City's
tally between them.
City like to be on the front foot, too: They've
scored the first goal in a whopping 83 percent of
their games, with Liverpool trailing (just 68
percent) and the rest of the division in the dust.
However, Liverpool is your team if you want late
drama: 24 of their goals have come after the
75th minute of games, the most in the division
by a distance. (Chelsea are next with 19, while
City have 13.)
Both sides are fond of an old-fashioned
thumping, too: They've each won by four or
more goals on six occasions and have only failed
to score four times between them, two of which
are accounted for by the 0-0 draw at Anfield in
October.
If at first you don't succeed, shoot
again
It goes without saying that these two sides have
scored the most goals in the Premier League
this season, but it's also a lot to do with their
overall style of play. City have taken 662 shots
for those goals, but Liverpool's total is exactly
100 fewer, meaning they score once in roughly
every six attempts as opposed to City's once
every seven.
Analytic-phobes look away now, but City are
more or less matching their expected goals (xG)
projection, which is 91.5, while Liverpool are
outperforming it: Their xG is 77.8.
Stingy at the back
Both teams have conceded an impressively
miserly 22 goals; if both teams keep it tight on
Sunday, it'll put them level for third in the
Premier League's all-time best defences,
alongside Manchester United in 2007-08 and
Chelsea in 2005-06, and behind the 17 that
Arsenal conceded in 1999 (when they finished
second) and Jose Mourinho's first season at
Chelsea in 2005, which saw them let in a
remarkable 15.
Furthermore, both sides are outperforming their
xG against, which stands at 25.14 for City and
28.26 for Liverpool. It's not just for their kicking
and play out from the back that Ederson and
Allison are considered two of the best
goalkeepers in the world.
Of course, money talks
It's a slight curiosity that both teams spent north
of £50 million on players last summer who have
been relatively peripheral, with Naby Keita and
Riyad Mahrez combining for just 29 league starts
between them.
The two teams' most frequently used first XIs
cost plenty, but it's no surprise that City's cost
more. With the caveat that reported transfer
fees are often tough to be 100 percent accurate,
City assembled theirs for a total of £422.4
million, while Liverpool's set them back £289.8
million, nearly half of which -- £141.8 million --
went on Alisson and Virgil van Dijk, also featuring
two free transfers (Joel Matip and James
Milner), an academy product (Trent Alexander-
Arnold) and two players purchased from
relegated sides (Andrew Robertson and
Georginio Wijnaldum).
Second place is the first loser?
With the clubs on 95 and 94 points, respectively,
whoever finishes second will have the biggest
points total for any runner-up in English top-flight
history. The Manchester United side that got 89
points but lost the title on goal difference to City
in 2011-12 currently holds the Premier League
record, just ahead of the 86 Liverpool and
Tottenham got when finishing second in 2009
and 2017. To delve into the archives, the only
real comparable figures -- when adjusted for a
38-game season with three points for a win --
are Middlesbrough, with 83 in 1902, and Leeds
United, with 82 in 1971.
Real Madrid still hold the record for the top five
leagues in Europe, when Manuel Pellegrini's side
finished on 96 points but still finished behind
Barcelona (99) in 2009. Another current Premier
League manager, Maurizio Sarri, guided Napoli to
91 points last season but trailed Juventus.
Is there still some drama ahead?
It sounds wild, but there could be a twist ahead.
The two sides could finish level if City lose to
Brighton and Liverpool draw with Wolves. Even
then, City would probably still win the title on
goal difference, but consider this: If it's a 4-4
draw at Anfield and City lose 4-0, the teams
would finish on the same points, the same goal
difference, the same goals scored and the same
goals conceded. Thus, a single game playoff
would be required to decide the champions.
It's unlikely, to say the least -- the odds on both
of those happening are 63,000-1 -- but what a
thing it would be... |
Re: Man City And Liverpool By The Numbers: How They Took Over The Premier League by EbukaHades10(m): 3:46am On May 12, 2019 |
Team LFC
|
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