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The Week in Stats: Liverpool outclass Cardiff

By Warren Pegg

27th October 2018, Anfield, Liverpool, England; EPL Premier League football, Liverpool versus Cardiff City; Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and Souleymane Bamba of Cardiff City compete for the ball (photo by David Blunsden/Action Plus via Getty Images)
27th October 2018, Anfield, Liverpool, England; EPL Premier League football, Liverpool versus Cardiff City; Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and Souleymane Bamba of Cardiff City compete for the ball (photo by David Blunsden/Action Plus via Getty Images) /
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We take a closer look at the numbers behind some of the past week’s soccer headlines, including Liverpool’s big win against Cardiff.

Liverpool’s humbling of Cardiff, Huddersfield’s continuing awfulness, and the Bundesliga teams and players who’ve put the most miles on the clock.

Just how bad were Cardiff?

In the opening 14 minutes of their match against Liverpool on Saturday, Cardiff made a grand total of 13 passes. By halftime, they’d managed no shots, 77 passes, 164 touches and just 15 percent possession.

Cardiff eventually ended the game having had two shots, one of which — with the help of a heavily deflected cross — produced the first home league goal Liverpool had conceded in 918 minutes, ending a run of nine successive clean sheets.

Despite that improbable strike, though, the numbers demonstrate that Cardiff were very bad indeed. Few teams in the big seven European tournaments – Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Champions League and Europa League – have been so thoroughly outclassed this season.

Only three sides had seen less of the ball over the course of an entire game than Cardiff did, although Cardiff themselves had come close during their September encounter with Manchester City. And just two clubs — Leganes and Getafe in Spain — had managed to make even fewer accurate passes.
Only three sides had seen less of the ball over the course of an entire game than Cardiff did, although Cardiff themselves had come close during their September encounter with Manchester City. And just two clubs — Leganes and Getafe in Spain — had managed to make even fewer accurate passes. /
The table above underlines just how badly Cardiff are failing to compete against the Premier League’s big boys. Of course, that could still be rendered academic if they succeed in picking up enough points against England’s lesser lights.
The table above underlines just how badly Cardiff are failing to compete against the Premier League’s big boys. Of course, that could still be rendered academic if they succeed in picking up enough points against England’s lesser lights. /

And just how bad are Huddersfield?

The short answer to that question is: even worse than Newcastle. A fairer reply would be that in recent weeks they’ve looked better. Huddersfield’s likable coach David Wagner is clearly trying to make his side play more on the front foot, and they were unfortunate to only draw with Burnley and then lose to Liverpool.

Even on Saturday, despite being two goals down at Watford within 20 minutes, Huddersfield actually started very brightly. However, a closer look at their underlying numbers shows that the Yorkshire club still could be on track for a historically bad season.

Let’s start with what seems to be Huddersfield’s sole glimmer of hope: Their defense isn’t that bad. In expected goals (xG) terms, 14 other sides in Europe’s top five leagues have conceded higher-quality chances than Huddersfield. That’s pretty much where the good(ish) news ends, though.

Only two other teams in those divisions have also failed to win a match so far — Newcastle and Chievo — while as the table above demonstrates, no side has created poorer chances than Huddersfield. And the bad news just keeps coming.
Only two other teams in those divisions have also failed to win a match so far — Newcastle and Chievo — while as the table above demonstrates, no side has created poorer chances than Huddersfield. And the bad news just keeps coming. /
Just one club have failed to score in a greater proportion of their games, Stuttgart, and only one side have lost more matches without scoring (Stuttgart again).
Just one club have failed to score in a greater proportion of their games, Stuttgart, and only one side have lost more matches without scoring (Stuttgart again). /
But it’s in terms of the time that Huddersfield have spent leading and trailing in games that things become really depressing for their fans. Hudderfield have been ahead for an average of 1.6 minutes — that’s 96 seconds — per game. And to make matters even worse, they’re one of only two clubs in the major European leagues to have on average spent an entire half of their matches behind.
But it’s in terms of the time that Huddersfield have spent leading and trailing in games that things become really depressing for their fans. Hudderfield have been ahead for an average of 1.6 minutes — that’s 96 seconds — per game. And to make matters even worse, they’re one of only two clubs in the major European leagues to have on average spent an entire half of their matches behind. /
As we can see from the tables above, should Huddersfield continue to post such numbers, then they’ll be assured of a place in the history books. So far, they’ve picked up the gauntlet thrown down by that Aston Villa team in 2015-16, and they’ve run with it.
As we can see from the tables above, should Huddersfield continue to post such numbers, then they’ll be assured of a place in the history books. So far, they’ve picked up the gauntlet thrown down by that Aston Villa team in 2015-16, and they’ve run with it. /

Next. The Week in Stats - Arsenal are the luckiest team in Europe. dark

Pace setters

The Bundesliga is the only major European league that regularly shares distance data for its matches, which will provide extra insights as the season progresses.

As we can see from the table above, grunt work alone isn’t necessarily enough to succeed in Germany. Just one of the teams who’ve covered the most ground in a single match have won the game in question, Hoffenheim against Hannover, and among them only Dortmund currently sit in the top third of the table.
As we can see from the table above, grunt work alone isn’t necessarily enough to succeed in Germany. Just one of the teams who’ve covered the most ground in a single match have won the game in question, Hoffenheim against Hannover, and among them only Dortmund currently sit in the top third of the table. /
There’s been a clearer correlation between not putting the yards in and losing, though. All of the teams who’ve posted the lowest single-match distance stats have been defeated, most of them heavily.
There’s been a clearer correlation between not putting the yards in and losing, though. All of the teams who’ve posted the lowest single-match distance stats have been defeated, most of them heavily. /
Finally, eight players have so far run 13km or more in a game. Having managed that feat on three separate occasions, the title of the Bundesliga’s workhorse seems to belong to Gladbach’s Jonas Hofmann, who’s enjoying a fine season to date with four goals and three assists.
Finally, eight players have so far run 13km or more in a game. Having managed that feat on three separate occasions, the title of the Bundesliga’s workhorse seems to belong to Gladbach’s Jonas Hofmann, who’s enjoying a fine season to date with four goals and three assists. /
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