Stat Attack – AFC Bournemouth v Manchester United

Written by Matt Stevenson

Here is the xG from the Man U game, which doesn’t tell all the story in relation to the penalties given and not given. AFCB had an attacking attempt and were 1-0 inside the first 15 minutes with Solanke driving past Onana (rated 1 in 9). Shortly after Rashford had a chance that was hit poorly into the side netting (1 in 5). Bournemouth were creating little chances, but Man Utd equalised where fortunate breaks of the ball ended up with Fernandes slamming home from close range (1 in 6). Bournemouth retook the lead shortly after with Kluivert’s finish which beat Onana at his near post (1 in 35). AFCB created 3 more large chances before the break, the first two were in the same incident with Kerkez heading down but the ball bounced up to hit the bar (1 in 4) and from rebound the ball was slightly too high to control (1 in 3) and a chance from Kluivert (1 in 6). At the break, the xG was AFCB 1.27, Man Utd 0.38. In the second half, Bournemouth remained dominant, with Man Utd creating little until they were ‘gifted’ a penalty. The ball deflected up to Smith’s arm, and Fernandes equalised from the spot (4 in 5). Man Utd only had 1 more shot after this and whilst we had five, these were minor chances. The best was a 1 in 10 free kick, but not the 0.8 xg that the penalty the referee gave on the field. This was overturned on VAR with the ongoing debate about this call. The final xG was AFCB 1.64, Man Utd 1.26; the xGs produced by Understat were more in our favour being AFCB 2.39, Man U 1.52. If the penalty calls had been reversed the gap would have increased by 1.5.

Man of the match against Manchester United Solanke Vote Kluivert Vote Christie Vote Senesi Vote Kerkez Vote O. Dango Vote Cook Vote Zabarnyi Vote Someone else Vote

The average positions show that we targeted the Man Utd right-hand side. Smith (15), Zabarnyi (27) and Senesi (25) had standard positions for a high-pressing team, yet Kerkez’s (3) average position was as high as Solanke (9). Kelly (5) came on for the injured Sinisterra (19) and played as high as Kerkez, with Cook (4) and Christie (10) sitting deeper. On 70 minutes, at 202, Ouattara (11) and Smith were replaced with Faivre (8) and Aarons (37). This was a straight change at right back, but Faivre pushed higher and more central than Ouattara. In the 76th minute, Unal (26) replaced the injured Kluivert with Solanke dropping a little deeper.

Cook had the most touches with 63 with Christie second with 61. Christie had the most touches in the opposition half (40) whilst Solanke had the most in the final third with 26.

We had 32 touches in the opposition’s penalty area (a season-high) with Kerkez having 7 and Solanke 6.

Cook attempted 49 passes, with the centre-backs, Senesi (45) and Zabarnyi (43). Cook had most in the opposition half, and was joint second in the final third (along with Ouattara) with 11, with Solanke leading with 13. AFCB averaged 75% completion. From the starting eleven Christie and Kerkez had values of 85% and over. Neto only achieved 43%, again indicating that he is playing it longer.

AFCB attempted 25 crosses being successful with 6. Smith was successful with 2 out of 2.

Our players tried to take on a man 18 times being successful 9 times. Solanke was joint top with 2 successful attempts from 2 attempts.

We created 17 chances (2 big). Man U created 5 chances with none big.

We had 20 attempts (3 big) noting that chances can be provided after saves, deflections, or a defensive error and not created. We hit the target 5 times. Man U had 8 attempts, 2 big, and hit the target twice.

AFCB won 12 of 28 aerials duals. Ouatarra won 3 from 5 and Christie and Kelly both won 2 from 2.

AFCB won 19 out of 24 tackles. Zabarnyi won 4 from 4, Smith won 3 from 3 and Senesi won 3 from 3.

Senesi made the most defensive actions with 14. He made the most interceptions (3), Christie made the most recoveries (9), Zabarnyi made the most clearances (4) whilst Christie and Kerkez made the most blocks.

According to Opta, AFCB made no errors leading to a shot.

The foul count was AFCB 13, Man U 14, the first time in a while we hadn’t made most files. Kluivert and Senesi made 3 fouls each whilst six Bournemouth players were fouled twice.

The Opta expected goals had Kerkez as most likely to score for AFCB (0.63) with both Kluivert (0.37) and Solanke (0.28) being above 0.25. For assists, Christie was highest with 0.20, and with Smith (0.13), Kluivert (0.11) and Solanke (0.1) being 10% or more.

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