Goals, Goals, Goals – It’s a Numbers Game in Fight FOUR It!

Posted on February 26, 2014 in Articles

By Adam Barker. Well, talk about fighting for the title! This weekend consisted of a whopping 14 goals over the four games played between the "Top Four". To be fair, eight of them were scored by two of them whilst the other two barely managed a single goal, BUT goals aside, they all won. Meaning the top of the table had no change, except for the points.

Arsenal smashed four past Sunderland whilst Man City took a while to sneak one past Stoke. Liverpool came out on top in a seven-goal thriller against Swansea whilst Chelsea stole a one-goal victory past Everton.

So, the table looked like this as of week ending February 23, 2014:

#	Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Chelsea	27	18	6	3	49	21	28	60
2	Arsenal	27	18	5	4	52	27	25	59
3	Man City	26	18	3	5	69	27	42	57
4	Liverpool	27	17	5	5	70	35	35	56

The fight for the title hasn’t been this tight in years. With just four points between the top four, it’s wide open and anything can happen in the coming months. Who knows, maybe Man Utd will go on a surge and pile pressure on the top four or even Spurs might pull their finger out and win the remainder of their games 10-0 and overtake to win the title in epic fashion… OK, don’t blame a Spurs fan for being overly-optimistic/stupid (delete as applicable).

So, how have the teams faired on the scoring front this season? Between the four of them, they have all scored a whopping 240 goals and let in only 110. The goals for and against is a big margin and on average that’s two goals scored to every 1 goal conceded (it’s not proper maths, I only got a C in maths at GCSE, so just go with it). That kind of proves their consistent form in the top four doesn’t it really?

If you look at fifth-placed Tottenham’s goal difference it is a measly 36 scored to 33 conceded. With a goal difference of three, that’s pretty pathetic compared. That means for nearly every goal scored, they conceded another goal.

This just goes to prove how free scoring these top four have been this season.

The age old saying goes:
“If you score more goals than your opponent, then you will probably win” – My Dad

My Dad is a straight-talker when it comes that advice.

I thought this week, I would look at the top scorers from each team and see whether or not they are the key to their success this season and whether the pressure is down on them to keep the goals coming in.

Chelsea

Eden Hazard has excelled at Chelsea since joining from Lille

Eden Hazard – 12 Premier league goals so far

The Belgian wizard seems to be over shadowing Torres, Ba and even Eto’o in the Chelsea team this year. Notching up an impressive 12 goals, in what many consider a more midfielder’s role, goes to show how much Chelsea rely on creativity in the middle of the park. Hazard seems to benefit from having a very creative team around him, but I suspect without him other players can still step up and replace him.

Arsenal

Oliver Giroud hasn’t been without his critics at The Emirates

Olivier Giroud – 12 PL goals so far

The Frenchman has been a consistent threat for Arsenal this season. He is proving to be a decent striker that Arsenal have been craving, but is he THE striker they want/need? I don’t think so. Seeing that he has scored 12 goals is great, and much like Hazard at Chelsea, it shows that other players are taking to scoring too. Ramsey and Cazorla are players helping put a good graft in this season too.

Man City

The Argentinian forward has been limited to just 17 league appearances so far

Sergio Agüero – 15 PL goals so far

The Argentine is actually injured at this present time, but he’s managed an impressive 15 goals in 17 games so far this season, proving that he a massive influence for City. Aguero is a striker who can win games, set goals up and dictate play in the attacking areas. With some amazing talent in the midfield from the likes of Yaya Toure, there’s always a guarantee he will score. With his injury, it’s recently proved a big blow for City who have struggled to score many goals in their last three games. Can Dzeko or Negrado step up?

Liverpool

England will be worried at the prospect of defending against this man at the World Cup

Luis Suarez – 23 PL Goals so far

The Little Biter from Uruguay is scoring for fun it seems this season. He’s banged in an impressive 23 goals in the league so far – that after you consider that he was banned for the start of it and shrouded in transfer rumours. Liverpool love having this controversial striker on the field as he always performs and it seems he has created a great strike partnership with Daniel Sturridge who is not far behind him in the scoring ranks. Only downfall for Suarez is the controversial nature of his game, but if he is kept focused and injury free he can continue to fire Liverpool back into the big time.

And just for fun…

Tottenham

The former Arsenal and Man City striker has found form and playing time under Tim Sherwood

Emmanuel Adebayor – 8 PL Goals so far!

And this is in 12 games! Pretty Impressive… but still not good enough for a team that’s only scored 36 goals altogether.

So, the fight FOUR the title continues. Which team has the ability to continue scoring more goals? Will Aguero’s injury prove a huge dent in Man City’s title bid? Will Chelsea finally get a striker to score? Do Liverpool have the best strike partnership since Shearer and Sutton at Blackburn? Do Arsenal need another striker?

Until next week..

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