Lethal attack

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A couple of weeks ago, before the start of the season, this column mentioned ‘an abundance of goals’ as one of the things that can be expected this campaign.

In the two weeks that have followed, 20 matches have been played, 467 shots have been fired out of which 259 have been on target and a total of 57 goals have been scored.

That’s an average of 2.85 goals per game as compared to last season’s average, 2.81. Of course the sample is much smaller for this season, however all signs indicate that this goal-per-match average is set to increase.

There has been a clear trend shown by the Premier League clubs in their recruitment policies over the course of this transfer window.

Eden Hazard, Shinji Kagawa, Oscar, Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud, Santi Cazorla are all prolific attacking players that have migrated to the Premier League this season.

However, this trend is not limited to the top teams. Teams like Fulham (Petric) Southampton (Gaston Ramirez), Sunderland (Steven Fletcher, Louis Saha), West Brom (Romelu Lukaku) and Swansea (Michu) have all spent their resources on attacking players rather than shoring up their defence.

Indeed, apart from Stoke City, no team has approached the start of this season with the objective of physically dominating their opponents.

All the teams have played attractive football, keeping the ball on the ground and making incisive passes in the final third.

Even while Maroune Fellaini was tormenting Manchester United in the air, it was the triangular passing between Nikica Jelavic, Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar which kept United on their toes.

Such a brand of football is not only more pleasing to the eyes, it increases the odds of chance creation.

Hoofing it long to the big man up front seems to be a gamble most teams aren’t willing to take anymore.

And as we have witnessed already, teams are not settling for a 1-0 victory, setting up more open matches.

All in all, it seems a guarantee that by May next year the record for most number of goals scored in a season will have been broken. And that is good television!