Spurs Suffer Krul Defeat

It might seem a long time ago but it’s worth looking back at the last round of Premier League fixtures because there were some peculiar results.

Fans may have reconciled with Tottenham’s home loss to Newcastle and Swansea’s high scoring draw with Stoke but we shouldn’t forget the manner they were achieved.

Using shots on target as a proxy for performance produces a completely different picture.

Negative supremacy = away team supremacy

Krul Luck
Not for the first time at White Hart Lane, Tottenham had the misfortune of running into an inspired goalkeeper. The home team dominated with 65% possession, 31 shots on goal, 14 on target. Newcastle mustered just 8 shots, 4 on target. 

Under ‘normal’ circumstances, Tottenham would have won the match 4-1.

One criticism of Spurs is they shoot too frequently from poor positions outside the box, but on this occasion it doesn’t hold water.

Of Tottenham’s 31 goal attempts, 16 were in the box. To put this into context Liverpool had 17 shots in the box from 32 goal attempts against Fulham - they scored four times. 

Swansea Denied
It was a similar story at the Liberty Stadium where Swansea bossed Stoke but could only manage a draw. The Swans had more shots (17 v 6) and more on target (6 v 3) but Stoke had an eye for goalscoring with every shot they had on target counting.

Michael Laudrup’s men will be unlucky to come up against such clinical finishing every week and are 11/8 (BetVictor) to beat Fulham on Saturday.