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Importance of beating teams around you | EPL Head to Head Opta Stats

For many seasons the Premier League had four teams that fought it out for the title and the Champions League places – Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. But after Man City were taken over, Harry Redknapp took over at Spurs and Newcastle’s impressive form this season this has all changed. There are now a lot more teams fighting it out for the title, the Champions League places and even the Europa League places.

So, with the Premier League being more competitive than ever, it is even more important for each team to win their matches against the teams around them and gain that much-needed advantage. We have seen this season just how important it has been to beat your rivals, as City’s last gasp winner won them the title on goal difference and Arsenal pipped Spurs by one point to what turned out to be the final Champions League place.

Therefore, we have compared how these seven teams have fared when they have played against each other this season. We have done this by looking at how many points each team has taken, how many goals each team has scored and conceded as well as taking a look at which players have contributed the most in these twelve matches.

Results/Points Taken

Man City have taken 28 out of the 36 points available against the other big teams this season, with their only defeats coming in away games against Arsenal and Chelsea. They have won all of 6 of their home games and taken 7 more points in these games than their fierce rivals Man United. Although, 6 of these 7 points were taken in the two Manchester derbies, as Man City won both games.

Man United took 21 out of the 36 points available against the other teams in this comparison, with 13 of the 21 points coming at home. United only picked up 1 point in their matches against Man City and Newcastle this season, with that point coming in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle at Old Trafford in November.

Arsenal took the third highest amount of points against the big teams this season, as they took 17 out of the possible 36 points that were available to them. Arsenal won 5 of the 12 matches that they played against the other big teams, winning 3 at home and 2 away.

Surprisingly, Liverpool took 15 points out of their games against the other big teams, taking 2 more points than Spurs, 3 more points than Newcastle and 5 more points than Chelsea.Liverpool lost 4 of their 6 away games though, and drew 3 out of their 6 home games.

Spurs had the worst away record as they failed to win away against any of the other big teams, losing 3 and drawing 3 in the process. Spurs did win 3 out of their 6 home games though, putting 5 past Newcastle, 4 past Liverpool and beating their North London rivals 2-1. Although, they took 4 fewer points in these 12 games than Arsenal who finished one point above them.

Newcastle took 12 points in their 12 games, winning 3 matches and drawing 3. They won 2 out of their 6 home games, beating Man United 3-0 and Liverpool 2-0 as well as getting a point against both North London clubs at St. James’ Park.Newcastleonly won one away game though, losing 4 out of the other 5.

Chelsea only took 10 points in their matches with the other big teams this season, which is the lowest points total out of all the teams in this comparison.Chelseaonly managed 2 wins in their 12 matches, beating champions Man City 2-1 at home and winning 3-0 at St. James’ Park in December.

In the 12 matches the home team won 50% of the matches, the away team won 26% of the games and 24% of the games finished in a draw.

Goals Scored/Goals Conceded

Goals Scored and Conceded comparison from big sides

Man City scored 28 goals in their 12 matches against the teams around them at a rate of 2.3 goals per game. They also only conceded 10 goals, at a rate of 0.83 goals per game giving them a goal difference of +18.

Man United scored one fewer goal than Man City this season but conceded 11 more. They scored on average 2.25 goals per game, but conceded 1.75 goals per game, giving them a goal difference of +6.

Therefore, Man City were 12 goals better off than Man United in these 12 games – and what was the goal difference between the sides in their respective derbies? +6 to City and -6 to United giving it a 12 goal swing. Weird how these things work isn’t it?

Spurs scored the third highest amount of goals out of the seven teams in this comparison, as they found the net 20 times. This averages out at 1.67 goals per game this season. They also conceded 23 goals though, at a rate of 1.92 goals per game, giving them a goal difference of -3.

Arsenal scored one less goal than Spurs in the 12 matches, but also conceded one less goal giving them a goal difference of -3. Arsenal scored 1.58 goals per game and conceded 1.83 goals per game in their matches against the teams around them this season.

Therefore, Spurs and Arsenal both had the same goal difference in their 12 matches as well as finishing the Premier League season on the same goal difference.

Liverpool also came out with a goal difference of -3 after their 12 matches, as they scored 15 goals and conceded 18.Liverpoolscored 1.25 goals per match and conceded 1.5 goals per match.

Chelsea scored 16 goals in the 12 matches but conceded 22. They scored 1.3 goals per game and conceded 1.83 goals per game, giving them a goal difference of -6.

Newcastle scored the fewest amount of goals in the 12 matches as they only managed to hit the back of the net 13 times. They also conceded 22 goals in the 12 matches, giving them a goal difference of -9. They scored 1.08 goals per game and conceded 1.83 goals per game.

Page 2 Quick Link: Player contribution stats against their rivals…

James Amey
James Amey
Head of the writers here on EPLIndex! Can also be found on Twitter - @jamesamey316
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