How have Premier League teams actually started the season?

Manchester United and Chelsea both have one of the top five attacks in the league, but worryingly they also rank fifth defensively.

Liverpool’s back-to-back defeats after five straight wins gives a more accurate picture of how they play, while Spurs need to be very clinical to make up for their lack of dominance in matches.

Aston Villa’s early season struggles are no longer about finishing – they have now scored six goals without penalties from 6.0 – but simply because they have not played well.

While promoted sides Leeds and Sunderland have adapted well to the Premier League, Burnley have struggled to make the leap so far with their worst attack and worst defence.

Looking specifically at the teams’ attacks in the following graphic, United, Arsenal and Liverpool have the most shots by a wide margin, averaging around 15 per game.

But the reason City and Crystal Palace have the better attacks overall is because they create much better chances, averaging 0.14xG per shot.

What that means is that Premier League teams have historically converted chances created by City and Palace at a rate of 14%, compared to 10% of shots created by United, Arsenal and Liverpool.