Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up
All Scores
Odds by

Premier League open play shots leaders: Who’s fun? Who’s good? Who’s both?

Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth sides used to get post-beatdown pats on the back from opposing managers like Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola because the Cherries tried to play open, attractive football even when faced with the daunting proposition of Premier League powers across the field.

It felt more than a little disingenuous at times since those bosses were hoping everyone would ignore that the Cherries were also making it easier for big attacking teams to make chances rather than shutting up shop and making games a slog for the Klopps and Peps of the world.

But it was true that the Cherries were fun, with Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser among the players challenging opponents even when it felt likely they’d be on the receiving end of a beatdown or three.

[ MORE: Premier League Power Rankings — Week 6 ]

And it was true that Howe’s Bournemouth being on a neutral viewer’s screen meant more fun than watching, say, a relegation-threatened side stacking the back in hopes of winning on a counter attack (Steve Bruce and Tony Pulis, wyd?).

Some of my favorite statistics to monitor when seeing if my eyes are deceiving me regarding a side’s quality are total shots in open play. If you’re attempting a lot, you’re fun. If you’re conceding a lot, you could be pretty bad. But if that latter number is high while the former number is trying to meet it, well, sign us up when your club is on our screen.

We’re six matches into the Premier League season for all but two of the teams — at least for a few days, as Burnley and Luton Town play their Week 2 game just three days after Week 7 (Sports! Math! Sequencing!) — so we thought we’d take a look at who’s putting the most fun on screen so far this young season.

There are some disclaimers when it comes to competition — Everton’s had a pretty nice fixture list to start the season, Newcastle’s faced a brutal run, and teams including Liverpool have faced significant time down a man — but we trust you’ll find these numbers tell just as decent a story, if not a more true one, than xG and xGA.

Some quick takeaways:

  • Man City, duh, is far and away the most complete team in the league
  • Tottenham and Brighton are good and fun
  • Fulham is getting by on guile (and putting teams to sleep) and it may not be sustainable
  • Chelsea’s been extremely unlucky
  • West Ham’s success is probably on borrowed time
  • Luton Town doesn’t deserve to be so low on the table, and is fun!

Top five Premier League clubs in open play shots +/- through Week 6

1. Man City, +49
2. Spurs, +31
3. Brighton, +29
4. Liverpool, +21
t5. Arsenal, +19
Chelsea, +19

Bottom five Premier League clubs in open play shots +/- through Week 6

1. Sheffield United, -59
2. West Ham, -36
3. Wolves, -28
4. Burnley, -25
t5. Fulham, -21
Forest, -21

Top five Premier League clubs in open play shot attempts through Week 6

1. Spurs, 87 shots
2. Brighton, 85 shots
3. Man City, 78 shots
4. Liverpool, 74 shots
5. Manchester United, 71 shots

Bottom five Premier League clubs in open play shot attempts through Week 6

1. Fulham, 35 shots
2. Burnley, 37 shots (one fewer game)
3. Sheffield United, 38 shots
4. Forest, 41 shots
5. Luton, 47 shots (one fewer game)

Premier League clubs in open play through Week 6

Man City — 78 shots, 29 shots against (+49)
Liverpool — 74 shots, 53 shots against (+21)
Brighton — 85 shots, 56 shots against (+29)
Spurs — 87 shots, 56 shots against (+31)
Arsenal — 66 shots, 47 shots against (+19)
Aston Villa — 64 shots, 53 shots against (+11)
West Ham — 49 shots, 85 shots against (-36)
Newcastle — 62 shots, 57 shots against (+5)
Man Utd — 71 shots, 68 shots against (+3)
Palace — 61 shots, 54 shots against (+7)
Fulham — 35 shots, 48 shots against (-13)
Forest — 41 shots, 62 shots against (-21)
Brentford — 55 shots, 56 shots against (-1)
Chelsea — 68 shots, 49 shots against (+19)
Everton — 58 shots, 53 shots against (+5)
Wolves — 54 shots, 82 shots against (-28)
Bournemouth — 61 shots, 76 shots against (-15)
Luton — 47 shots, 48 shots against (-1, one fewer game)
Burnley — 37 shots, 62 shots against (-25, one fewer game)
Sheffield United — 38 shots, 97 shots against (-59)