This Week in Stats: Liverpool halt the Manchester City juggernaut

Liverpool ended Manchester City’s unbeaten start, Chelsea were lucky to get a point and Tottenham rolled over Everton all too easily.

Chelsea and Leicester drew 0-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, and the home fans were vociferously displeased with their team’s performance. Boos rang around the ground even before the end, but they also greeted the final whistle.

A glance at the statistics might suggest the Blues should’ve won. But at ‘This Week in Stats’, we know that the devil is in the detail.

Chelsea edged the shot count by 17 to 14, and had seven on target to Leicester’s one. However, prior to the 68th minute, when the Foxes’ Ben Chilwell was sent off, it was the visitors who dominated. Leicester were 14 to eight up on shots when it was 11 vs. 11.

Chelsea had all of the goal attempts thereafter, as Leicester understandably sat deeper. Antonio Conte shifted from 3-5-2 to their title-winning 3-4-3 formation in the second half, but it made little difference to his side’s potency.

The shots on target figures are a touch misleading too. Yes, Leicester only had one, but it was from the center of the box. None of Chelsea’s were, and three of them were from long range. Claude Puel’s team also had eight shots in the box to the Blues’ six, and the only clear-cut chance.

Despite playing the full match, Alvaro Morata didn’t have a single shot. The Spaniard is out of form, with only two league goals in the last two months. Morata is not used to playing a full season; with four months of the season remaining he is under 300 minutes shy of playing his most club minutes in one season.

Chelsea’s manager lamented that all of his players were tired. It may have been the case, but Leicester were well worth their point and probably all three.

Tottenham march on, and where do Everton go from here?

For all the talk of a Wembley curse, Tottenham are ticking along nicely at home. Spurs have won seven and drawn four of their 12 home league matches in 2017-18.

Everton might have provided sterner opposition had Wayne Rooney not been a shade offside when he put the ball in the Tottenham net with the score 0-0. But by the end, the Toffees were lucky to lose only 4-0.

Despite Sam Allardyce’s reputation for defensive solidity, his team’s back line were often all over the place. One of the back four was often deeper than the rest, allowing Spurs time and space to get behind them.

Tottenham had seven clear-cut chances, which is rare in the Premier League. There have been nearly 1,000 top flight games since August 2015, and this was only the seventh time a side has had so many clear-cut opportunities.

Spurs also had 10 shots on target, a tally Everton hadn’t conceded for almost two years. These opportunities added up to 4.7 expected goals, the third highest figure posted in the Premier League this season.

It’s hard to know where Everton go from here. They appointed a relegation firefighter as manager when they didn’t need to. After a bounce when Allardyce took charge, the results have since slumped.

Everton’s season is effectively over. They won’t get relegated or qualify for Europe, and thanks to Liverpool, they can’t win a trophy.

The Toffees’ defense is too porous, and they don’t look like scoring. Since the start of 2015-16, Everton have failed to have a shot on target seven times. The problem is, it has happened three times in their last five matches. There’s plenty for Everton to ponder right now.

Next: 5 replacements for Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez

Liverpool defeated Manchester City … just

Where to start with Liverpool 4-3 Manchester City? It simply has to be included in the roundup this week, but mere statistics do not do it justice.

You read that tweet correctly. The chances in the seven goal thriller at Anfield came from just 1.8 expected goals (xG). Of course, like any stats, expected goals are flawed in a small sample. But then a lot of the goals were pretty soft and avoidable.

Liverpool will have been disappointed to go in level at halftime, after largely dominating the opening 45 minutes. Indeed, almost one third of the time City have spent behind this season occurred in the first half of this match. But that didn’t matter in nine mad second-half minutes, when the score went from 1-1 to 4-1.

Liverpool were happy to let City have the ball, and then attack at speed when they turned it over. The home side’s pressing forced the Citizens into making five on-ball errors leading to shots. That’s the most by any team in a Premier League match this season. Impressive work by Liverpool.

The Reds possession figure of 36 percent was very low for a match at Anfield. City only completed 13 more final third passes than their hosts, though, so the Reds were using the ball where it counted.

The visitors had just 16 touches in the Liverpool box, which is their fewest in a league match in 2017-18. Klopp will be frustrated that his side conceded three goals from such little activity in their box. The German manager’s team got the job done, though, and he has an impressive record against Pep Guardiola.

Considering the spending power of the clubs the two managers have faced each other with, that’s no mean feat. Liverpool demonstrated here they can go toe-to-toe with City. They’re not as consistent as their Manchester rivals yet, but the Reds showed there’s plenty of life after Coutinho.