´Billycopper´ from the GrandOldTeam fan forum seems to have too much time on his hands and has inspected the league table beyond the points tally and has deciphered some interesting points…
Whilst it might seem like we´ve had a mediocre season at best, the league table tells a slightly different story.
We´ve lost 8 games. That´s only one more than Chelsea, the same as City and four fewer than Liverpool.
We´ve scored 45 goals, which is one more than Spurs, the same as Liverpool and just five less than City.
We´ve conceded 41 goals. That´s less than everyone below us in the league bar Fulham.
We´ve been beaten three times at home, which is the same as Arsenal and only one more than Chelsea or City. We´ve won a game more than Newcastle on home turf and scored four more goals at Goodison than Spurs have at the Lane.
We´ve won four times on our travels, which is only one fewer than United. We´ve suffered five defeats on the road, which is the same as Chelsea and Spurs and one fewer than City. We´ve conceded 19 goals on our travels, which is four less than United. Only Arsenal and Chelsea have a meaner defence away from home.
Our problems are quite obvious though. We have only ten wins, which is half as many as United. Only Fulham and Birmingham can match our record of fourteen draws. We´ve won just six times at Goodison compared to Man United´s fifteen victories. Away from home our record compares reasonably well with the top teams although, with four wins, we have collected all three points half as many times as Arsenal.
At home we´ve conceded nearly twice as many goals as any of the teams chasing European football. Our away record is quite close to the big guns but, to be a top team, we´d need to find the back of the net about another ten times.