Goals galore: Why the return of the Champions League and Europa League is good news for fans (and bad news for goalkeepers)
The Champions League and Europa League resume this week and – *checks calculator* – that is good news for the armchair football fan.
After a lively, goal-strewn start, excitement in the Premier League has plateaued as the season has rumbled on, leading to fears that fatigue had taken hold owing to a short pre-season and minimal rest between fixtures.
But it has been a different story in European club competitions, where the goals have continued to fly in.
Goals per game in the Premier League
The Premier League season kicked off in September with an avalanche of goals: 3.68 per game, to be precise.
Three matches finished 5-2, while Leeds United alone were involved in two 4-3 scorelines in the first month.
The first 0-0 didn’t arrive until the fifth round of fixtures, when West Brom held Burnley.
October tried manfully to keep pace, with Aston Villa’s 7-2 rout of Liverpool and Tottenham winning 6-1 at Manchester United on the same afternoon.
But inevitably the scoring rate dropped, to 2.85 goals per game – and it has not hit those heights since.
From November to February, the Premier League has seen around 2.5 goals per game.
This month the rate has fallen to 1.69, although the sample size is still small.
Goals per game in the Champions League and Europa League
The Champions League and Europa League have followed a similar pattern to each other – but a different one to the Premier League – in terms of goals scored.
Where the Premier League peaked early and went downhill, in Europe the goal count started high (CL: 2.94 gpg/EL: 2.88 gpg) and increased in November (3.34/3.44).
After dipping in December (2.75/2.96), it rose again when the competitions resumed in February (3.0/3.19).
So, if fatigue is to blame for a domestic drop in goal rate, how have the Champions League and Europa League bucked the trend?
Is it that bigger clubs are filling their boots while the European wheat is separated from the chaff?
If so, you might expect there to be more than four incidences of teams winning by more than two goals in last month’s 40 Champions League and Europa League fixtures.
Perhaps it’s best not to over-analyse, then, and simply sink into the armchair and enjoy the action.