Liverpool, Spurs, and The Value Of Balanced Scoring

Ahead of their match this weekend, I've been taking a look at Liverpool and Tottenham's goal scoring stats in the Premier League this season. Frustratingly from a Red point of view, they're remarkably similar.

Liverpool: Scored 53, conceded 34 with eleven clean sheets, 42 points.

Tottenham Hotspur. Scored 49, conceded 33 with seven clean sheets, 54 points.

Doesn’t seem fair, does it?! Needless to say, it is the balance of the scoring and conceding that has tipped the balance in Spurs’ favour.

Despite scoring four fewer goals, Tottenham have only failed to scored three times (compared to five for Liverpool), and have scored two-or-more on sixteen occasions to the Reds’ thirteen.

Whilst Liverpool have won eight matches by three-or-more (which is obviously no bad thing as such) and Spurs only two, with a commanding lead of fourteen one-or-two goal wins to three it’s clear why Tottenham are higher in the table.

Liverpool are swatting aside the minnows, with their last six wins being by three-or-more goals to nil, but they are not performing well enough in the more tricky fixtures. Remarkably, the Reds are yet to win a league game this season by exactly two goals; they tend to cruise past teams or struggle, with very little middle ground.

It’s a similar story at the back. The Reds may have the clean sheet edge, but Spurs have only conceded two-or-more on seven occasions, a figure which sadly Liverpool have doubled this season. As teams lose 73% of the time when conceding two-or-more, it’s no wonder that the Reds are trailing their north London rivals in the Premier League table.

Liverpool are scoring enough overall, and are shutting their opponents out nearly half the time, but they don’t yet have the balance that Spurs do, and have paid the price. Fingers crossed Liverpool score at least one more than Spurs on Sunday!

Please check out my other articles, and follow me on Twitter or via Facebook. Thanks.