Taking stock of the top trends...
Wednesday 25th March 2020
In your Across the Leagues email today:
- Top Trends - in more depth...
- Sheffield United...
- Defence is the key...
Taking stock of the top trends...
The pause in the football means we have a rare opportunity to stop, look & listen at what the stats on our website are telling us…
Throughout the season my Top Trends email updates have highlighted some of the highest-ranked stats and streaks showing on your Across the Leagues site.
With no new numbers going into the formbook right now, we can take a look at the top-performers in the league and stats categories on our website, with more time to pay attention to who’s best at what.
Then, when the football returns, we’ll be armed & ready to hunt out opportunities across a variety of markets.
Starting with the Blades...
We’re kicking off this series in the Premier League, with a look at Sheffield United.
In their first season back in the top tier of English football, the Blades have been impressive.
Before a ball was kicked in the 2019/20 campaign, Sheff Utd were odds-on favourites to go straight back down, as short as 4/6 (1.67) to be Relegated.
But with Chris Wilder’s side sitting 7th in the Premier League and also in the quarter finals of the FA Cup, it’s clear that the Bramall Lane club have been one of the success stories of the season.
On the League Stats pages on your members-only Across the Leagues website, Sheff Utd stand out in two key areas…
- 1st place for Under 2.5 Goals with a 79% overall record (22 out of 28 games)
- Only one team (Man City) have a stronger home strike-rate than Sheff Utd’s 87% record for Most Corners bets
The Blades are strong corner-winners at home, landing that bet in 13 out of 15 outings at Bramall Lane. That’s a cracking trend to hold on to, and one we can look to monitor and profit from next season, too, if Chris Wilder stays at the helm and the playing personnel doesn’t change too much.
The low Goals stats are where Sheffield United really come into their own…
They are No.1 in the Premier League for Under 2.5 Goals payouts, including an 87% record on the road (11 out of 13 away games with 2 Total Goals or less).
Scroll through the other divisions on our site, and the League Stats tables show that Sheff Utd’s 79% overall record for Under 2.5 Goals in the strongest strike-rate from all eight leagues that we cover.
Defence is the key...
On the Totals tables on the website, the Blades are pretty blunt when it comes to putting the ball in the net. They sit 15th of 20 teams in the Premier League for Goals Scored, with just 30 goals to their name from 28 games played.
Both the Total Shots and Shots On Target tables have Sheff Utd rock bottom of the division.
However, those stats are far less of a negative when you counter it with the Goals Conceded figures…
Sheff Utd have the second-best figure in the division, with only league leaders Liverpool able to boast a lower Goals Conceded stat than the Blades’ total of 25 goals against.
Flip over to the Clean Sheets table on the Totals screen, and you’ll see that only Liverpool (12) and Burnley (11) have kept more Clean Sheets in the Premier League than Sheff Utd this season (10).
For more detail and comparison, the Team Stats page for the Yorkshire club tells us that while the Blades are below the Division Average for Shots, they are better than the average for Shots Against.
In conclusion:
It’s their solid defensive record that’s allowed Sheffield United to reach the heights of 7th in the Premier League, where they’re pushing for a European place.
In 11 of their last 12 games before the Premier League was suspended, Sheffield United produced payouts in the Under 2.5 Goals market.
With this team looking stable in terms of the manager and squad, we should keep Sheff Utd very much in mind for ‘low goals’ betting. And that means not just the Under 2.5 Goals market, but related areas such as Clean Sheets and Correct Scores, too.
- I’ve referred to our website a lot here. All the stats are on the site for you to view and use. The screenshot below shows the bottom half of the Premier League table for Total Shots:
View more by logging-in at: www.acrosstheleagues.co.uk
I’ll be back on Friday with more top trends for you. It’s all good preparation as we work towards when the football is back.
And remember, while times are very tough right now - the football will be back.
P.S
Ray can help...
When I’m in my Publisher’s offices, I often bump into a guy called Ray Collins, who is based in the same building...
Ray is a health writer. And right now, with a global health crisis underway, Ray could be a useful person to listen to.
Ray has been producing his free Good Life Letter newsletter for 15 years now. He’s even written a couple of health books, too. And over the last week or so, Ray has broken his silence on the coronavirus and given his take on the situation.
I for one found the article a fascinating read. You can read it by clicking on the link below. If you’ve never heard of a ‘salt inhaler’ before, then you may well learn something new for the day, too…
Click on the link below and you’ll also receive Ray’s follow-up emails for free. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Read Ray’s coronavirus article here
Take care.
Best wishes,
Shaun Humphris
Across the Leagues |
