Stat Attack – Brentford v AFC Bournemouth

Written by Matt Stevenson

Here is the xG from the Brentford game. I was driving, so I had intermittent radio reports and only seen brief highlights. We dominated the first 20 minutes, with first a big chance for Senesi who put it over the bar from very close range (68%) and then a goal courtesy of Brentford, with a poor back pass, latched onto by Evanilson who sat Flekken down before going round him for a tap in (97%). Brentford got back into it with unsurprisingly from a set piece, a long throw-in with two contested aerial battles ended up with Wissa heading well into the far corner (1 in 7). Not much happened between this and half time with the xG at interval being Brentford 0.34 AFCB 1.90.

The second half started with two quick goals. In the 49th minute, a well-worked AFCB corner (look at Kerkez’s block) resulted in Kluivert being played through by Cook to score at the near post (1 in 8). Immediately Brentford hit back, and with AFCB not looking organised, Mbeumo fed Damsgard, who beat both Senesi’s block and Kepa at his near post. (rated 1 in 20). Brentford had more chances with Bournemouth creating little, there was a big chance for Schade who had a header blocked (1 in 4). In injury time AFCB did create some chances, with Huijsen having a header (22%) clipping Unal and hitting the bar and Semenyo having a shot blocked right at the end (1 in 7). We hadn’t created enough in the second half. The final xG was Brentford 1.48 AFCB 2.61 with understat having it slightly it closer with Brentford 1.56 and AFCB 2.49.

MAN OF THE MATCH AGAINST BRENTFORD Evanilson Vote Cook Vote Christie Vote Kluivert Vote Tavernier Vote Semenyo Vote Adams Vote Huijsen Vote Kepa Vote Kerkez Vote Zabarnyi Vote Someone else Vote

There were 2 changes to the team that beat Man City. Adams replaced Tavernier, pushing Christie (and Cook if the forum is to be believed) forward, and Kepa replaced Travers in goal. Apart from the back 4, which was as expected, although, surprisingly, Smith (15) and Kerkez (3) were equally high, the rest looked a blobby mess, presumably as players were rotating positions. The first subs in the 67th minute were Tavernier (16) for Adams (12) with Tavernier dropping into CAM and Christie (10) and Cook (4) moving back and a straight swap with Huijsen (2) replacing Senesi (5). In the 75th minute, Brooks (7) replaced Christie (10), and Unal (26) replaced Kluivert (19). Not having watched the game, I’m not confident who was where, particularly in centre midfield, as Adams and Christie had been substituted. In the 84th minute, Araujo replaced Smith who had just been booked.

Cook had the most touches with 62. Semenyo had the most touches in the opposition half and in the final third with 42 and 28 respectively.

Zabarnyi attempted the most passes with 44, Cook attempted the most in the opposition’s half (29) and joint most in the final third (15) with Adams and Semenyo. We averaged 75% pass completion. Of the starting 11 Cook had the highest completion rate with 86%. Evanilson, Kepa, Senesi and Smith were all below 70%.

AFCB players tried to take on a man 11 times being successful 6 times. Christie was successful 2 times from 3 and Evanilson 2 from 2.

AFCB players were tackled 12 times with Christie, Kluivert, Semenyo, Smith and Tavernier and Unal being tackled twice each.

AFCB attempted 23 crosses, being successful with 6. Cook, Kluivert and Semenyo all tried 4 crosses each, although Tavernier was successful with most (2).

AFCB had 34 touches in the opposition’s penalty area with Semenyo having 6. Brentford had 29 touches in our penalty area.

AFCB created 11 chances (2 big). Brentford created 9 chances, 1 big. Christie and Evanilson created 2 chances each, with Christie and Cook creating big chances.

We had 15 attempts (3 big) noting that chances can be provided after saves, deflections or a defensive error and not created. We hit the target 3 times. Brentford had 12 attempts, 2 big, and hit the target 6 times. Semenyo had 5 attempts, with the big chances falling to Evanilson, Kluivert and Senesi.

AFCB won 18 of 55 aerials duals which is the highest of the season (previously 40 vs Nottm Forest). Zabarnyi won 4 out of 6 and Evanilson won 4 out of 10.

AFCB won 16 of 20 tackles. Adams won 4 from 4 and Cook won 3 from 3.

Zabarnyi made the most defensive actions with 15. Adams made the most interceptions (3), and Christie, Kepa and Zabarnyi all made 7 recoveries. Zabarnyi made most clearances (9) and four players made 1 block each.

The Opta expected goals had Evanilson as most likely to score (0.97) due to his ‘open goal’ chance. Senesi was next highest with 0.69. For expected assists, Christie was at 0.53 followed by Cook (0.37) and Tavernier (0.36 each).

The foul count was AFCB 16, Brentford 8. Cook made the most fouls (4) with Evanilson and Semenyo fouled twice each.

According to Opta, AFCB made no errors leading to a chance or goal (which is debatable).