Christie had most touches in total (69) ahead of Cook (64). Smith had the highest number of touches in the opposition half (42) whilst Christie had the highest in the final third with 30.
AFCB had 43 touches in the opposition’s penalty area, the third highest behind Shef Utd at home and Fulham away. Scott had the most (11) followed by Solanke with 7.
Cook attempted most passes with 49, Scott attempted most in the opposition’s half (26) and in the final third with 18. We averaged 74% completion with only Cook and Christie having values over 85%.
AFCB created 15 chances (1 big). Christie and Scott set up 4 chances each. Wolves created 11 chances, none big (although Hee-Chan’s disallowed goal would have been a big chance.
We had 21 attempts (5 big) noting that chances can be provided after saves, deflections or a defensive error and not created. The 5 big chances is joint second for the season after Shef U home (and level with Shef U away). We hit the target six times. Christie, Kluivert and Senesi had four attempts each. Wolves had 15 attempts, 0 big, and hit the target 3 times.
Christie made most defensive actions with 17. He made most interceptions (5). Travers made most recoveries (13). Zabarnyi made most clearances (5) and Unal made most blocks (2).
According to Opta, AFCB made no errors leading to a chance.
The foul count was AFCB 17, Wolves 9. Christie made most fouls (4). Kluivert was fouled three times.
The Opta expected goals had Kluivert (0.76) but Senesi (0.37), Semenyo (0.27) and Christie (0.2) all were at 0.2 or over. For assists, Christie (0.28) was top, followed by Solanke at 0.11.
Another away win boosts us to about 9 points to the good against this tracker:
Today's Opta projections have AFCB probably finishing 11th or 12th, but the probability of a top 10 finish has jumped up to about 30%.
Here is the xG from the Brighton game. Despite AFCB being largely dominant the visitors had a chance in the first minute which Igor put wide (1 in 11). AFCB grew quickly into the game with Solake having a shot blocked (1 in 10) before the opening goal. It was a corner flicked on by Unal (rated 1 in 5) with the ball bouncing up for Senesi to head in (nearly 3 in 5). The game quietened down by Brighton had a flurry of chances midway through the half the best of which was Buonanotte’s shot that was charged down by Travers (1 in 4). AFCB had one more good chance before the break with Scott pulling the ball back for Unal who dragged it wide. This was rated 1 in 6, although live looked a better chance although Dunk was probably covering one side of the goal and the keeper the other. At half time the xG was AFCB 1.21, Brighton 0.46. Bournemouth opened the second half strongly with Kluivert having a big chance (over 1 in 4) but he hit the side netting. The next real action was AFCB going 2-0 up, Ouattara doing excellently to dig out a cross that Unal headed home strongly (1 in 5). Brighton’s best spell was in the 60th to the 72nd minute where they had three shots all about 1 in 10, and then another clutch of small chances. After this storm AFCB came back with three chances around the 1 in 11 rating, with 2 from Solanke and 1 from Kluivert who scored with a powerful shot from inside the box. The final xG was AFCB 2.11, Brighton 0.94; the xGs produced by Understat had a similar margin of victory being AFCB 2.48, Brighton 1.36.
The average positions of our players can be misleading as the centre backs Kelly (5) and Senesi (25) switched sides during the game. Ouattara (11) started as left back with Cook (4) playing more advanced of Scott (14). Unal (26) led the line with Semenyo (24) and Kluivert (19) nearby. Solanke (9) was much deeper at level with Cook. In the 67th minute, Unal was replaced by Christie (10) who played level with Cook and Solanke. 10 minutes later Scott (14) came off for Aarons, who played on the right-side supporting Smith (15). In injury time Iraola made the final substitutions, with Senesi (who had been booked and was possibly struggling with injury) replaced by Hill and Kluivert coming off providing Sadi with his Premier League debut. Neither was on the pitch long enough to get a valid average position.
Cook had most touches with 49. Semenyo had most touches in the opposition half (27) and Kluivert the most in the final third with 19. The 442 touches were the second lowest number in a game since Burnley away.
We had 23 touches in the opposition’s penalty area with Kluivert having 7.
Travers attempted 34 passes, with Senesi making 28. Kluivert attempted most in the opposition half (13) and the final third (9). AFCB averaged 74% completion. From the starting eleven Kelly, Senesi and Unal had values over 85%. The 248 passes were the second lowest number in a game since Burnley away.
AFCB attempted 21 crosses being successful with 3 (from Cook, Ouattara and Semenyo).
Our players tried to take on a man 26 times being successful 7 times. Semenyo and Solanke had the most successful attempts (2) from 7 and 4 attempts respectively
We created 12 chances (3 big). Brighton created 11 chances with one big.
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 6 times. Brighton had 3 attempts, 0 big, and hit the target twice.
Cook made most defensive actions with 15. Ouattara made most interceptions (5), Semenyo made most recoveries (8), Kelly most clearances (6) and 6 players made 1 block each.
According to Opta, AFCB made no errors leading to shots
The foul count was AFCB 14, Brighton 10. Scott made 4 fouls with Semenyo and Solanke fouled three times each.
The Opta expected goals showed three players with xG greater than 0.3: Senesi (0.58), Kluivert (0.40), Unal (0.38) and Solanke (0.34). Semenyo had the highest xA with 0.46 followed by Cook with 0.23.
Another win puts us about 10 points to the good against this tracker:
These last two wins against teams around us in the table have boosted our probability for a top 10 finish to about 60% in the latest Opta season simulation. The lowest projected finish is 13th. Block 6, which at one time looked daunting, may prove to be one of our most productive. I don't expect anything from a trip to Arsenal, but those last two could both be wins. Wouldn't it be fun to put a bow on Chelsea's season?
Another solid set of xG and xGA figures added to the record:
I get these figures from FBREF (who get them from Opta). That site listed yesterday's formation as 4-4-2, which is what I thought I saw. That is only the fourth different formation for us from that source this season. Of course the predominant setup is 4-2-3-1, but they list 4-3-3 at home to Palace, and of course the ill-fated 5-4-1 away at chronic cheaters Man. City. Given some of Matt's summary of touches and passes from yesterday, I think it serves maybe as proof of concept for another approach that the team can execute when appropriate.
