League Focus: Premier League Half-Season Statistical Review

With the season now at the halfway point, the Premier League table has a familiar feel to it. Title favourites Chelsea currently lead the way having lost just the once so far, while defending champions Manchester City are hot on their heels. Manchester United have shown remarkable consistency of late to haul themselves back into the title race as rank outsiders, while Arsenal sit outside the top 4 on goal difference only. 

At the other end of the table, newly promoted trio Burnley, Leicester and QPR are among those hoping to stave off relegation. Hull, West Brom and Crystal Palace join them in the battle to consolidate their Premier League status. Perhaps the biggest shock has been the downturn in form of Merseyside pairing Liverpool and Everton. The duo finished 2nd and 5th, respectively, last season, with big things expected of the two teams. However, it goes without saying both the Reds and the Toffees have underwhelmed so far this term. 

Both teams returned to European action this season and have struggled to balance both domestic and continental duties, with Liverpool and Everton currently sitting 8th and 12th, respectively. Everton’s 3-2 defeat at Newcastle at the weekend was their 8th already this campaign, the same number of losses from 38 matches last season. Despite strengthening over the summer, the Toffees have struggled to match the performances of the 2013/14 campaign, even with the permanent additions of Romelu Lukaku and Gareth Barry, not to mention Samuel Eto’o and Christian Atsu both arriving at Goodison Park. 

While the attack has been bolstered, the Toffees are averaging fewer shots per game this season (13) compared to last (14.8). Meanwhile, Everton’s defence, previously one of the best in England’s top tier, has let them down this term. They are shipping an average of 1.6 goals per game this season, a significant rise on last season (1). Part of that has been down to the disappointing performances of previously consistent pairing Tim Howard and Phil Jagielka. At this stage last campaign, Jagielka’s WhoScored rating (7.40) was enough for him to feature in the team of the season, the England international at the time Everton’s only representative. His rating this term, however, has dropped considerably to 7.01. 

Sticking with the defence, at this stage last season Everton had kept a commendable 8 clean sheets, one of the better returns in the League. However, no team has kept fewer clean sheets this season than the Toffees (3), with Howard’s dip in form cause for concern. The drop in concentration levels should also worry manager Roberto Martínez. Everton have committed more errors that have resulted in an opposition goal than any other team in the Premier League this season (10). It’s little wonder they have developed a statistically calculated WhoScored weakness of ‘avoiding individual errors’. 

Liverpool, despite a 4-1 thumping of Swansea on Monday night, have not fared much better when compared to expectations. The victory lifted the Reds to within 5 points of 4th placed Southampton, but having finished just 2 points off top spot last term, Brendan Rodgers’ side have regressed in their admittedly unlikely attempts to better their finish from the 2013/14 season. Part of that is down to Luis Suarez’s move to Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge’s continued absence. It’s perhaps telling that at this stage last season, Liverpool had netted 42 league goals. The 4-goal haul against Swansea lifted that figure to 26, with the team failing to sufficiently replace Suarez, while Sturridge’s absence has certainly been felt - the pairing between them by New Years Eve had bagged 28 league goals. 

Suarez was the highest rated player in the Premier League last season (8.43), so replacing him was always going to be a mountainous task. Nevertheless, his exit has fans debating who is now the best player in England’s top tier. According to WhoScored, Eden Hazard (7.98) is currently the Premier League’s top performer. The Belgian has completed 28 more successful dribbles (89) than any other player in the Premier League this season and it’s no surprise to see the 23-year-old feature in WhoScored’s top-flight team of the season so far. 

Hazard is 1 of 4 Chelsea players to feature in the XI, along with Branislav Ivanovic, Cesc Fàbregas and Diego Costa. Fàbregas, whose rating (7.92) means he is the second best rated player in the Premier League so far, has registered more assists (13) that any other player this term, though that is no shock when taking into account the Spaniard has played the most key passes thus far (61). To put his assist return into context, however, Steven Gerrard provided the assist for the most goals in the Premier League in the whole of last season with an identical tally of 13. 

Costa, meanwhile, has also excelled in his debut season, netting 13 league goals in 16 appearances - only Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero (14) has bagged more. A conversion rate of 25% is also the 4th best of the 26 players to have scored at least 5 goals in the Premier League this campaign and it’s fair to say Costa has adjusted to the rigours of English football with ease. 

One Chelsea player who has impressed this season, but is not in WhoScored’s team of the campaign so far, is Nemanja Matic, with Mile Jedinak ahead of the powerful Serb in the XI. While Crystal Palace currently sit in the bottom 3, Jedinak has once more impressed at Selhurst Park. The Australian has made more interceptions (69) than any other Premier League player this term, while his number of tackles and interceptions combined (133) is also better than any other performer in England’s top tier so far. 

When looking at the summer arrivals, along with Fàbregas and Costa, Alexis Sánchez has also impressed in the opening half of the campaign. Only Agüero (17) has directly contributed to more goals in the Premier League this season than Alexis (16), while the Chilean has scored the first goal in a game more times than any other Premier League player this season (7). Without his goals, Arsenal would have 7 fewer points, with many of the opinion that Alexis is now the Gunners’ most important player. 

With the calendar year drawing to a close, Chelsea lead the chasing pack by 3 points and their impressive performances are echoed in that they are represented by 4 players in WhoScored’s Premier League team of the season so far. The Blues are favourites to secure the title and having fallen to just 1 defeat from the opening 19 games, one would not bet against the west London side topping the table come May.

Do you think Chelsea deserve to top the Premier League at the halfway stage? Who do you think has been the best player in the league so far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below