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In terms of ball possession when the game is tied, Everton is 4th in the English Premier League. But somehow, they're in last place in the table, with zero wins in six games. What's going on?
Week | Opponent | Mins | GF | GA | ShF | ShA | PassF | PassA | Result |
1 | Blackburn | 13.9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 21 | L |
2 | Wolves | 57.7 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 250 | 103 | D |
3 | Aston Villa | 9.4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 63 | 15 | L |
4 | Man Utd | 46.8 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 178 | 165 | D |
5 | Newcastle | 45.4 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 148 | 163 | L |
6 | Fulham | 95.0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 11 | 411 | 345 | D |
Total | 268.1 | 2 | 4 | 46 | 33 | 1105 | 812 | ||
Per 90 | 0.67 | 1.34 | 15.44 | 11.08 | 371 | 273 | |||
Ratio | 33.3 | 58.2 | 57.6 |
In five of their six games thus far, Everton has, for the most part, controlled the play when the game was tied, which has given them a huge lead over their opponents in the shots department. With average luck, they'd probably be 5th in the table today. But they gave up two goals on three shots against Blackburn and Aston Villa, which made it fairly difficult for them to come away with many points in those two games. At the same time, they dominated Wolves, Man United and Fulham and didn't win any of those games.
Make no mistake - Everton is a good team. You're welcome to think that Tim Howard will keep giving up goals at this rate, but I'd bet against it. At the same time, their next three games are against tough opponents, and it isn't until October 30 that they get an opportunity to absolutely dominate a team (Stoke). Despite their dominance, they could very easily find themselves going into that game 0-4-5.
Update:
Here are the league-wide possession numbers through Saturday's games. Everton isn't quite as good as Chelsea, but it's close:
Team | Pos% |
Arsenal | 63.2 |
Chelsea | 60.0 |
Man City | 59.6 |
Man Utd | 59.1 |
Everton | 57.6 |
Aston Villa | 54.8 |
Spurs | 54.6 |
Liverpool | 52.2 |
Birmingham | 51.7 |
Newcastle | 50.2 |
Blackpool | 50.0 |
Fulham | 49.9 |
West Ham | 48.4 |
Wigan | 48.0 |
West Brom | 44.0 |
Wolverhampton | 42.6 |
Bolton | 42.1 |
Sunderland | 39.8 |
Blackburn | 35.0 |
Stoke | 31.9 |