English Premier League’s rare statistics, Liverpool’s bad luck
There was much chin-wagging and finger pointing about the inclusion and exclusion of players from Fabio Capello’s provisional 30-player squad for the World Cup. But one man’s exclusion did not raise any eyebrows whatsoever, that man being, Kevin Davies of Bolton. The Bolton front man, the barrel-chested marksman has been one of the most effective strikers in the Barclays Premier League for more than a few seasons now. Yet, Capello like other coaches, preceding the Italian did not even consider him for a training run with the others.
One would have to delve into the details filed by the fine men at Opta Stats to come up with a reason. Last season the Bolton front man committed more fouls that any other player in the Premier League, yet again. For the sixth time in seven seasons Davies topped the unwanted stat list, with Aston Villa John Carew disrupting his dominance back in 2006. But the man responded emphatically last season and made 121 fouls last Season. Way to push for a World Cup spot.
But to the poor man’s defense, he was also the player to have suffered the most fouls, only behind Everton’s, Stephen Pienaar. But his uncanny knack of giving away silly free kicks all over the park is surely a liability.
Stats, however, do not paint the full picture with fine details. But for those of us with an unashamedly geeky disposition of delving into the fine details presented here are some of the vital stats of the season.
We all know the top goal scorer, and, who came second, so barring that and starting with the chance creation, who else can it be than the Barcelona-target, Arsenal playmaker Cesc Fabregas. With a chance created every 23.1 minutes played, this is no surprise. But what is indeed surprising is the number 7 on that list behind the likes of Giggs, Florent Malouda, Lampard, Kalou, and, Luis Anontio Valencia is the Wigan midfield schemer, Chris Iwelumo. With a chance created every 29.1 minutes played. Of course he did it over a shorter period of time than his peers but who ever created more than 10 chances was eligible for the list, and the Wigan man featured above the likes of Robin Van Persie and Nani of Manchester United.
The Opta stats also helped in finding out the answer to the mind boggling question of what is Lucas Lieva for. The fact that the Brazilian outcast put in more tackles than any of the other players barring only three in the league is a fine testament to that. Lieva put in 148 tackles out of which he won 102. Ahead of him in the list are Javier Mascherano (178 won 144) Muhammad Diame (176 won 125) and Fabrice Muamba (152 won 102).
There are four Liverpool players in the list of top 30 tacklers in the league this season while Arsenal has only one (Song at the 23rd spot). But that can be explained by the fact that the Gunners tended to have the ball most of the times and did not tackle as much. The Opta stat for the most possession is a testament to that statement as the gunners had 59.3% average possession throughout the season only marginally behind Chelsea’s 59.8%. Surprisingly, Liverpool averaged 59.1%. It is true that they may have the ball at their feet most of the time, but they also had their head in their hands more often than not. The Liverpool Club was denied by the frame of the goal 20 times this season, more than any other team in the league.
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