Tottenham Lead Premier League in Shots on Target

With a third of the Premier League season played, Tottenham best any team in England in terms of shots of target and even begin to rival the best teams in Europe.

Compare Tottenham’s haul of 87 shots on goal with Europe’s elite, and you’ll see that they aren’t far behind the likes of Barcelona (88) and Paris Saint Germain (91).

Indeed, considering that Tottenham have taken 211 shots total per WhoScored, they also has the best accuracy rate in the England with 42 percent. If Spurs managed to take as many shots as Arsenal and Manchester City – 232 – while also maintaining the same accuracy rate, they would be second in Europe only to Bayern Munich (111).

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To any veteran Tottenham fan, this seems like the stuff of science fiction. How has a team that notched the fifth most shots on target in the Premier League last term with 171, at a 32% accuracy rate, managed to improve this much?

Well, the first answer to this query should be pretty simple: 13 games isn’t exactly a robust sample size. Sustaining this kinds of numbers all season will be a genuinely massive feat. Along with the club’s impressive defensive numbers, it would be enough to propel Tottenham into the stratosphere of elite clubs.

As tempting it is to believe that such a thing is possible, let’s be realistic and say that at some point these numbers will begin to come back down to earth.

Nevertheless, there’s something to be said for why these numbers are so high right now to begin with.

It starts with the quality of shots that Tottenham have been taking. A look at shot maps and the numbers season over season shows that Tottenham have been taking more shots from inside the penalty area – 6 per game last season, 8.6 so far this. More of those shots are coming from in and around the D at the top of the box, frequently the most dangerous area for the opposition to concede shots.

Tottenham’s success in those areas is the natural result of a concerted effort to shuttle play through that area. It’s been most obviously expressed by just how narrow Mauricio Pochettino has had his teams play, with Christian Eriksen and Érik Lamela often drifting in from the wide areas to make plays, draw defenders and take shots. Meanwhile a central attacking midfielder often pairs vertically with a midfield runner to overload that area even more – think how well Mousa Dembélé and Dele Alli compliment each other.

At times, particularly early in the seasons in games like the 1-1 draw with Leicester City, that narrowness has threatened to be too one-dimensional and easily to defend against. With more and more minutes on the pitch, however, the players are growing into the system.

Next: How Will Tottenham Line Up Against Chelsea?

The high water mark for this shot-funneling tactical approach came against West Ham last weekend. Almost all of the 11 shots on target from open play came from within that narrow corridor stretching from the six-yard box past the D at the top of the penalty area. West Ham proved especially vulnerable there, a deficiency that this Tottenham side were built to exploit.

This increase in shot production and efficiency has had the most obvious effect of increasing Tottenham’s goal haul so far this season. At the current rate of 1.85 goals per game – up from 1.53 last season –  Tottenham will end the season with 70 goals. That’s not prolific by any means, but combined with a resolute defense it could be enough to send Tottenham back into the Champions League.