Liverpool’s Shooting Gallery, Super Subs, and Omar Marmoush ...Middle East

Stat, Viz, Quiz is the Opta Analyst football newsletter. This week’s edition looks at Barcelona, Martin Ødegaard, and metres run per touch.

It’s one of the most annoying things in football, let’s be honest.

When a player, any player, even a centre-back with zero career goals, gets the ball within 35 yards of goal, some fans in the stands cannot help themselves but to urge them to “Shooooot!” Either they sensibly ignore the cries and get booed, or they give in to peer pressure and shoot, inevitably getting stick anyway when the ball ends up in the car park.

That said, shooting is quite an important part of scoring a goal (it’s this kind of insight you expect from Opta, right?) and Liverpool were certainly not shy in trying their luck against Brentford at the weekend. It worked, eventually, and after their shot-filled display, we’ve taken a look at record games in the Premier League for lots and lots of shots.

Our quiz is suitably tricky yet again, while the latest Ask Opta question queries the credentials of one of Manchester City’s potential new arrivals.

We’ll kick SVQ off this week by looking at sub goals, though, of which there were plenty over the weekend, and have been plenty in recent seasons.

If you haven’t done so already, you can subscribe below for free to receive SVQ every Tuesday.

STAT – Super Subs

No player wants to be a substitute, but they are increasingly playing a significant part in games these days.

Last season saw 13.2% of goals (excluding own goals) in the Premier League scored by subs, the most in the competition’s history. That has reduced slightly to 12.6% this season – the fourth most – but this latest matchday in England’s top flight upped that number.

Seven goals were scored by players who emerged from the bench over the weekend, the most on a single Premier League matchday since MD 26 of the 2022-23 season (8).

None were as dramatic as Darwin Núñez putting Liverpool ahead in the 91st minute at Brentford as the Premier League leaders avoided dropping points for what would have been a third straight game.

The Uruguayan even added a second before the end, but of all sub goals on MD 22 in the Premier League, his first was the only one that altered the result/outcome.

Adama Traoré doubled Fulham’s lead in their 2-0 win at Leicester City in the only other goal from a substitute on Saturday, while Georginio Rutter gave Brighton a two-goal cushion in their 3-1 win at Manchester United on Sunday as all four games that day featured a sub goal.

Richarlison and Paul Onuachu brought Tottenham and Southampton back to 3-2 in stoppage time against Everton and Nottingham Forest respectively, albeit in vain in both instances, while James McAtee added even more gloss to Manchester City’s 6-0 win at Ipswich Town.

With more added time and five changes allowed these days, the bench is being utilised more and more. Some managers like to call their subs “finishers”, which is probably just a diplomatic way of saying “You’re dropped, son” but maybe we should see the bench as those who could come on and make an impact.

Wear that bib with hope and pride, lads.

VIZ – Shooting Gallery

As mentioned above, there was late drama at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

In second-half stoppage time with the score still 0-0, Darwin Núñez swept home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s low cross to give Liverpool the lead. It felt like a huge moment in the Premier League title race, especially as Arsenal then dropped two points against Aston Villa just a few hours later.

The relief from Liverpool was palpable, not least because had they not managed to find the net, they will have been scratching their heads as to how given the number of shots they managed.

Núñez’s first goal in the 91st minute was Liverpool’s 36th shot of the game. His second moments later to seal things was the 37th and final effort from the visitors as they ran out 2-0 victors.

It was the most shots recorded by a Premier League team in an away game on record, four more than the next most (33 – twice by Chelsea, vs Everton in Feb 2005 and vs Bolton in Oct 2009).

It was also Liverpool’s joint-most shots in a Premier League game on record (since 2003-04), also managing 37 against Everton at Anfield in a 4-0 win in April 2016.

There have been five instances of a team having more than 37 shots in a Premier League game on record. In Manchester City’s infamous 3-2 win over Queens Park Rangers on the final day of the 2011-12 season when Martin Tyler shouted Sergio Agüero’s name so loudly the Manchester United players heard it up in Sunderland, City had 44 shots as they desperately tried, and succeeded, in forcing the win they needed to clinch the title in the most dramatic of circumstances.

That remains the most on record. City had 43 attempts against West Bromwich Albion in a 3-0 home win in March 2015, while Chelsea had 42 in their 2-1 win over Stoke City at Stamford Bridge in January 2009.

As we mentioned in SVQ a few weeks ago, Chelsea hold the unwanted record of the most shots in a Premier League game without winning, attempted 39 against West Ham in January 2014 but having to settle for a 0-0 draw, while Man Utd had 38 against Burnley in October 2016, but again were unable to find the net in a 0-0 stalemate.

If you don’t shoot, you don’t score… OK, except for own goals, but Liverpool boss Arne Slot, while relieved, will likely be hoping his players don’t need to get 36 shots away before they next find the net.

QUIZ – Darwin Delight, Eze Does It, and Ruthless City

It’s another five questions from the latest Premier League action. How many can you get right? Answers at the bottom of the page.

1. Since Darwin Núñez’s first Premier League campaign in 2022-23, who is the only player to have scored more goals as a substitute than him (7)?

2. Eberechi Eze has provided eight Premier League assists for Jean-Philippe Mateta, with only one Crystal Palace player assisting a teammate more often in the competition’s history. Who assisted eight goals for Eze when an Eagles player?

3. Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal for Everton against Tottenham was his 57th in the Premier League overall, moving him above Tim Cahill (56) and into third for the Toffees. Who are the only two Everton players ahead of him?

4. Bruno Fernandes has now scored 22 penalties in the Premier League, the most of any Manchester United player in the competition’s history. For all Premier League clubs, who is the only player to have scored more from the spot since Fernandes’ United debut in February 2020?

5. Manchester City have won 21 of their last 22 Premier League games against promoted sides (D1). Who was the last such team to beat them?

Ask Opta

This week’s question comes from Timo Schöning, who asks: “With Omar Marmoush heading for the Premier League, is he really that good or just lucky? Any other player in the big five leagues with a better goals-per-xG difference than him?”

Do you have a stats-based football question you want to Ask Opta? If so, send it to [email protected] and we’ll do our best to provide you with the answer in a future edition of SVQ.

Answer:

Indeed, with Omar Marmoush seemingly on his way to Manchester City this week, we’ve already taken a deep dive into the Egyptian’s fine numbers this season on the Opta Analyst website.

As outlined in that article, Marmoush has somewhat come from nowhere to be one of the most potent goalscorers in Europe this season, albeit not entirely from obscurity. He did manage 12 goals and six assists in the Bundesliga in 2023-24, as well as scoring five more in 12 games in other competitions.

He has 24 goal involvements (15 goals, 9 assists) in the league this season, with only compatriot Mohamed Salah (31) having more in Europe’s top five leagues. Marmoush also has 33 goal involvements in all competitions (20 goals, 13 assists), also second behind only Salah (38), and he remains one of just two players from Europe’s top five leagues to have reached double figures for both goals and assists.

In answer to the xG difference question, only Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo had overperformed his xG (6.2) by more than Marmoush’s 6.1 in Europe’s top five leagues this season. Marmoush has 15 Bundesliga goals from 8.9 xG.

Read all about Marmoush here.

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Quiz Answers

1. Since his first Premier League campaign in 2022-23, who is the only player to have scored more goals as a substitute than Liverpool’s Darwin Núñez (7)?

Jhon Durán (8)

2. Eberechi Eze has provided eight Premier League assists for Jean-Philippe Mateta, with only one Crystal Palace player assisting a teammate more often in the competition’s history. Who assisted eight goals for Eze when an Eagles player?

Michael Olise

3. Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal for Everton against Tottenham was his 57th in the Premier League overall, moving him above Tim Cahill (56) and into third for the Toffees. Who are the only two Everton players ahead of him now?

Romelu Lukaku (68) and Duncan Ferguson (60)

4. Bruno Fernandes has scored 22 penalties in the Premier League, the most of any Manchester United player in the competition’s history. For all Premier League clubs, who is the only player to have scored more from the spot since Fernandes’ United debut in February 2020?

Mohamed Salah (23)

5. Manchester City have won 21 of their last 22 Premier League games against promoted sides (D1). Who was the last such team to beat them?

Leeds United (2-1 at the Etihad in April 2021)

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Liverpool’s Shooting Gallery, Super Subs, and Omar Marmoush Opta Analyst.

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