 [Blog] Ten Games Into The SeasonWritten by Guthrum on Friday, 8th Oct 2010 21:19 So how are Ipswich Town doing in the nPower Championship? What do the statistics say? Five wins, only two losses, 18 points and fifth in the table - in fact, Town have only spent four days (28th September to 2nd October) outside the top five. Home record, at 10 points, is marginally better than away, at eight. However goal difference is surprisingly low at just +4, equalling Norwich as the lowest in the top seven. It's not like Ipswich have been hammered at any time, worst margin being 3-0 against QPR, but we haven't been handing out drubbings either, winning by one or two goals each time (as opposed to QPR's spectacular results sheet). So much is fairly obvious from the table and results. Now for some more detailed analysis, much of it gleaned from the match reports and stats on the official ITFC website. Ipswich score an average of 1.3 goals per game, against 0.9 conceded. While our attack is pretty-much bang-on average for the Championship (1.35 goals per game), the defence is joint-third best in the division (with Reading and Forest, behind QPR, Cardiff and Burnley). Town fired in an average 4.8 'shots on target' per game, plus 5.6 'shots off target' (whatever that means). It took an average of 3.7 'on target' shots for each goal Ipswich scored. This compares quite favourably with our opponents, who took an average of 5.4 'on target' shots per goal. Our most prolific 'on target' shooters are Edwards, Wickham, Leadbitter and Scotland, with six each. Scotland has an enviable 50% ratio of shots to goals, so for every one of those painful, head-in-hands misses, one goes in the net. Can't complain too much about that, can we? Priskin and Smith are even better, both having two goals from just three 'on target' shots, while Peters has one from two. Ipswich have had an average of 48.9% of possession in the games so far. Not dominating, but neither is it constantly winning against the run of play. On to a rather vexed question - corners. Many have grumbled at how ineffective ITFC have been in this area. Town have been awarded 60 corners so far this season, scoring just the one goal (Norris, against Burnley). But it should be noted that our opponents have also only scored once (also against Burnley) from the 53 corners they've taken against us. Not that much better a record, really. In terms of discipline, Ipswich are, on average, 'dirtier' than their opponents, with 106 fouls committed against 87 suffered. The worst offenders are Norris, Wickham and Leadbitter, who've all racked up more than 10. However, they are obviously (mostly) quite mild infractions, as the yellow card ratio is in our favour at 12 to Town and 13 to the opposition. The red card ratio is even better at two to five. In penalty goals, Town are currently one for and one against. Now to look at the team and players. In the league so far this season, Roy Keane has used 24 players on the field, including substitute appearances. Four have taken part in every match: Fulop, Peters, McAuley and Leadbitter. In addition, Scotland and Wickham have featured in every game since their arrival/return from injury. Norris (almost certainly denied a 100% record by suspension), Smith, Edwards and Priskin have all played nine and Hyam has appeared eight times this season. Least likely to be seen were Murray, Ainsley, Lambe, the departed Walters and recently arrived Livermore, who only made it onto the pitch once or twice in the first ten league games. Top scorer so far is Scotland, with three, followed by Priskin and Smith, who have scored two each. Peters, Edwards, Leadbitter, Norris and Stead have all chipped in with one goal each. So, as you might expect from a consistently top-six team, the stats are generally in our favour. The shot-to-goal ratios for some of Town's players are encouraging for the rest of the season - and a big improvement on the last one. But Ipswich are still not really scoring enough goals, our salvation being in a solid defence and good goalkeeping. Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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