English premier league 2020

Image 1. English Premier League logo

The English Premier league is arguably the highest standard of soccer across the world, with many of the best players in the world playing for clubs in this league. In any game the team that scores more goals than their opposition will come out on top therefore, attacking statistics are pivotal to a teams success. In recent years sports data analysis has become increasingly prevalent in soccer and especially at the top level leagues such as the English Premier League. Data such as expected goals scored is now seen as a key performance metric for all teams as the higher a teams expected goals number is, the higher amount of chances they are creating throughout the game which as a result increases the teams chances of scoring more goals. However teams are also aware that they need to keep the opposition teams expected goals to a minimum as well. It is important to note that this data set was based on the data collected on the season before the break for covid 19.

The following table highlights the total points that each team picked up across the 2020 epl season. The scatter plot shows that Liverpool finished 1st, with Norwich, Watford and Bournemouth finishing in the bottom 3 teams meaning that they are relegated to the Championship for the 2021 season.

The following data shows the expected goals for league leaders Liverpool in comparison to the goals they are expected to concede from their home games during the 2020 EPL season. These results indicate that Liverpool were expected to score over twice as many goals as they were expected to concede highlighting that to be the best team in the premier league teams have to be strong in both attack and defense.

Image 2. Liverpool FC logo

    Avg_xG   Avg_xGA
1 2.104402 0.9892887

    Avg_xG  Avg_xGA
1 1.114627 1.842607

In comparison to Liverpool. Norwich found themselves at the opposite end of the table in last place. Results from this Bar Chart shows that Norwich were expected to concede nearly double the amount of goals as they were expected to score indicating the difference in quality between 1st place team and last place team in the English Premier League both offensively and defensively.

The following bar chart highlights the total goals scored by teams in thee premier league. Although expected goals is a good performance indicator for creating chances, it doesn’t mean much if teams cant actually score from the goal scoring opportunities created therefore total goals scored and conceded are the most vital performance indicators. Results show that both Man City and Liverpool are the two top scoring teams in the league with Norwich and Newcastle united joint bottom of the total goals scored.

This table highlights the difference in expected goals between the top 4 teams from the English Premier League in the 2020 season.

The above dot plot shows that Liverpool conceded the least amount of goals during the 2020 English premier league season whereas Norwich who were relegated conceded the most goals. The dot plot goes in the direction of the team that conceded the least goals to the team that conceded the most.

The above dot plot shows the total chances missed for every team in the premier league. The result highlights that Liverpool were the most clinical team in the league, this data may indicate why Liverpool finished higher than man city with less expected goals as they missed less of their scoring opportunities and were the most clinical team in the league. Aston villa missed a significant amount of chances and if they had of been more clinical they would likely have finished in a much higher position in the table.

The above figure indicates that Man City were expected to be 1st place in the league based on expected points ‘xpts’ however Liverpool are performing above expectations. Likewise we can see from this figure that Chelsea are under performing their expected points.

The data gathered and provided in this document is a valuable insight into different key performance metrics in elite level soccer. These statistics provide a comprehensive insight into teams attacking and defensive metrics as well as seeing how teams are performing based on their expectations for the season.