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Fulham v Bolton - Numbers

last updated Friday 25th November 2005, 3:51 PM
Fulham's next game in the Premiership is against Bolton and takes place at 14.00 on Sunday at Craven Cottage. The game has been moved to Sunday as Bolton played on Thursday away in the EUFA Cup when they got a draw.
Top Opta Teams (after 13 games)
Aspect Top Team Fulham Bolton
Position Chelsea 1st - 14th - 5th
Points 1st 34 14th 12 5th 23
Shots Attempted Chelsea 183 6th 132 11th 118
Shots onTarget Chelsea 76 8th 50 18th 37
Goals Scored Chelsea 31 11th 14 12th 14
Passes Made Arsenal 5961 16th 4083 20th 3459
Crosses Birmingham 349 15th 278 4th 310
Goals Conceded Sunderland 27 4th 19 13th 11
Clean Sheets Liverpool 8 12th 3 3rd 7
Tackles Made Aston Villa 469 9th 402 15th 372
Tackles Won Aston Villa 338 8th 301 18th 254
Fouls Conceded Blackburn 232 8th 191 9th 191
Yellow Cards Arsenal 27 11th 20 17th 16
Fouls per yellow Aston Villa 12.6 8th 9.6 2nd 11.9
Red Cards Birmingham 3 15th 0 5th 1
Penalties Arsenal 5 17th 0 8th 1

In the Premiership Fulham have been far more positive in front of goal than The Trotters. The Cottagers are the Premierships 6th busiest squad for attempts on goal and 8th most accurate with 50 shots on target. Bolton however are only the 18th most accurate with 37 shots on target. Unfortunately for all their extra effort in front of goal Fulham have scored the exactly the same number of goals as Bolton. Bolton are also less busy than Fulham in the middle third with The Cottagers passing and tackling more frequently. However crosses seem to be of special interest to Bolton as they are 4th busiest crossers in the Premiership. With the extra effort put into crossing it might be tempting to believe Bolton are a long ball team but the split between short and long passes for both squads is similar.

It would appear that The Trotters just prefer crossing the ball into the penalty area rather than playing their way there on the ground. The fundamental difference between the two squads is their defensive records with The Trotters conceding nearly 50% less goals than the Fulham defence. Bolton's defence has also managed to achieve 7 clean sheets against the 3 managed by Fulham. The stats show that the Bolton defence perform less well away from home with just one goal being shipped at home and 10 away from home, 5 of which were scored by Fulham Broadway.

 

Fulham year on year Opta Stats comparison
(after 13 games)
Aspect 05/06 04/05 03/04
Position - 14th - 13th - 5th
Points 14th 12 - 14 - 21
Shots Attempted 6th 132 9th 137 7th 148
Shots onTarget 8th 50 8th 60 5th 70
Goals Scored 11th 14 8th 17 4th 24
Passes Made 16th 4083 19th 3970 8th 4854
Crosses Attempted 15th 278 17th 243 18th 242
Goals Conceded 4th 19 3rd 24 - 18
Clean Sheets 12th 3 13th 3 8th 5
Tackles Made 9th 402 7th 401 1st 441
Tackles Won 8th 301 7th 296 1st 331
Fouls Conceded 8th 191 14th 173 10th 193
Yellow Cards 11th 20 13th 15 - 27
Fouls per yellow 8th 9.6 10th 11.5 - 7
Red Cards 15th 0 2nd 3 - 2

The figures over the last three seasons
show that on game stats Fulham are still some way below the levels achieved in the 03/04 season. In terms of numbers, activity in front of goal has declined in each of the last two seasons although shooting activity this season is doing well relative to other squads. Midfield activity such as passing and tackling also seems to have gone backward over the same period. However this season is showing some signs that these aspects are improving in comparison to last season. Crossing is the one aspect that has seen a clear increase this season. Prior to the 3-2 defeat at Middlesbrough figures for the number of goals conceded was reducing but not now.

Source
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