Analysis of goals in the English Premier League

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to examine the time period and league-ranking effects within different types of goals in the English Premier League. We investigate these effects through the use of six time periods (taken every 15 minutes), eight types of goals and four categories of teams. Based on the Kruskal-Wallis H test followed by the Bonferroni-adjusted Mann-Whitney U test, the key finding of this study is that different types of goals have varying degrees of time period effects and that there is a significant league-ranking effect both within all six time periods and within six types of goals (excluding throw-in and indirect free-kick). The study also reveals that the final 15 minutes of the game is the most prolific time for scoring. Our findings suggest that the top 5 teams have significant advantages in open play goals (elaborate attack and counter attack), while this overwhelming advantage is weakened in the other four types of goals (direct free-kick, corner kick, penalty, and own goal) and even absent in goals from indirect free-kicks and throw-ins. At the same time, there is no significant difference between the lower-middle 5 teams and the bottom 5 teams.

KEYWORDS:

• English Premier League
• goal analysis
• time period
• league-ranking

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China [grant number 2017XZA217].