It has been three weeks since Premier League football has returned. In these three weeks, we have seen some amazing performances by the big names in the league as well as some surprising performances from teams like West Ham United who have raised a number of eyebrows.
Let’s have a look at the overall stats of how the teams have performed defensively and which side has had the toughest defence to penetrate. Table-toppers Spurs are the only side in the league who have not conceded a goal yet. With teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United were expected to have a good defensive record, it is Brentford who are on this list with the big names. The newly-promoted side have only conceded one goal in their opening three fixtures of the league.
While these are the teams who have conceded the lowest number of goals, it is Norwich who have conceded the most number of goals. Arsenal are second to last in this list after conceding 9 goals in their opening fixtures.
Manchester City have an impressive record as they have had only allowed 3 attempts on goal against them. West Ham are in second place as they have allowed 6 attempts on goal against them, but have had a low save percentage as they have conceded 5 goals out of the 6 attempts.
Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris has a 100% save percentage, as Spurs have had 10 attempts on goal against them, but their keeper has managed to keep out all these attempts. It is their keeper who has played an important role in keeping three consecutive clean sheets for his team. Teams such as Brentford, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United have also have a higher save percentage since they have conceded few goals but have more shots attempted against them.
Leeds United have a poor defensive performance so far as Marcelo Bielsa’s men have had the highest number of shots against them with the majority of these shots coming in their first game against Manchester United in which they conceded five goals.
Manchester City enjoy the best success rate for defensive duels as they have won 28.3% of the defensive duels that they have attempted. Southampton and Brentford are second and third in this list with a success rate of 26.7% and 26.6% respectively. Surprisingly, being the only team who have not conceded a goal, Tottenham Hotspur have a very low percentage of defensive duels won with a success rate of only 15.3%. Manchester United have the worst success rate in defensive duels as they have won only 14.3% of their attempted duels.
So far, Manchester City have probably had the most superior defence in the league. City only conceded the one goal against Spurs when they started without Aymeric Laporte in their backline. But since they have turned to Laporte and Dias, they have not conceded a single goal and are looking rock solid defensively.
Spurs have been impressive as well, but they have been heavily reliant on the brilliance of Hugo Lloris in order to keep their clean sheets.
Chelsea showcased their defensive prowess when they kept out Liverpool despite being down to 10 men and can be one of the strongest defensive sides in the league.
Liverpool also look very strong defensively with captain Virgil Van Dijk back in the starting eleven and look all set to compete for this year’s title.
Newly promoted Brentford have been impressive and will look to keep the momentum going as they will face tough opponents in the coming weeks of the Premier League.
