To be able to hit the opposition on the counter attack when you are being penned back is an important skill to have as a team in the Premier League. If a team can go up the other end at pace and get a shot on goal it is very hard for the opposition to defend against.

Therefore, this article looks at how many shots and goals each Premier League team has had from counter attacks so far this season, as well as what percentage of their overall shots and goals come from counter attacks.

[quote]Tottenham have had 17 shots from counter attacks this season, which is more than any other team.[/quote]

Shots From Counter Attacks

Tottenham have had 17 shots from counter attacks this season, which is more than any other team. This is 6 more than Manchester City, 8 more than Arsenal and West Brom and 11 more than both Liverpool and Manchester United.

Aston Villa, Southampton and Sunderland have all had 2 shots from counter attacks this season, which is the fewest amount in the Premier League this season. Fulham, Newcastle, Stoke and West Ham have all had 3 shots from counter attacks this season, while Chelsea, QPR, Reading and Swansea have all had 4 shots on the break this season.

As well as having the most shots from fast breaks this season, Tottenham have also had the highest percentage of their overall shots from counter attacks this season as 9.2% of their shots have come from them.

West Brom have had 6.6% of their shots from breaking away, while 5.8% of Manchester City’s, 5.5% of Arsenal’s and 4.1% of Wigan’s shots have come from a swift counter this season.

Southampton have had the fewest amount of shots, with only 1.6% of their shots coming from counter attacks this season. 1.7% of Aston Villa’s shots, 1.9% of Fulham’s shots and 2.3% of West Ham’s shots have come from fast breaks this season.

Goals From Counter Attacks

Tottenham and Chelsea have both scored 3 goals on the break this season, which is more than any other team. Arsenal have scored twice and Manchester City, QPR, Southampton, Swansea, West Brom and Wigan have all scored once on the counter attack this season.

18.8% of Tottenham’s goals this season have come on the break, while 13.6% of Chelsea’s goals and 13.3% of Arsenal’s goals have come on the counter attack this season. QPR have scored 12.5% of their goals on the counter attack, while 9.1% of Wigan’s goals, 7.1% of Southampton’s goals, 6.7% of Swansea’s and West Brom’s goals and 5.6% of Manchester City’s goals have been scored by catching the opposition via a swift counter this season.

Counter Attack Chance Conversion Rates

Chelsea have converted 75% of their 4 shots via counter attack this season, which is a better chance conversion rate than any other Premier League team. Although Southampton have only had 2 shots on the counter attack this season they have converted 50% of them, while QPR and Swansea have both converted 25% of the shots on the counter attack this season.

Arsenal have converted 22.2% of their shots on the break, while Wigan have converted 20%, Tottenham have converted 17.6%, West Brom have converted 11.1% and Manchester City have converted 9.1% of their shots.

Liverpool and Manchester United and have both had the most shots on the counter attack (6) without scoring this season, while Everton and Norwich have both attempted 5 shots without being able to convert any of them.

[quote]Chelsea have scored with an impressive 3 of their 4 counter attacking shots, with two of those goals coming from Branislav Ivanovic.[/quote]

Analysis

These statistics show us that Tottenham have had more shots than any other team on the counter attack this season and scored the joint most goals with Chelsea. 18.8% of Tottenham’s goals and 9.2% of their shots have come from the counter attack this season, which is a higher percentage than any other Premier League team.

However, Tottenham have converted only 17.6% of their shots on the fast break this season while Chelsea have scored with an impressive 3 of their 4 counter attacking shots, with two of those goals coming from Branislav Ivanovic.

The main reason for Tottenham having a high percentage of their shots and goals from counter attacks this season is Andre Villas-Boas tactics. Villas-Boas likes to make the pitch as wide as possible and utilise the space created to get the wide players on the ball as much as possible and press high up the pitch trying to force the opposition into giving the ball away.

Tottenham have also only had on average 49.25% of the possession this season, which coupled with AVB’s tactics and Gareth Bale/Aaron Lennon’s pace on the wings it is no surprise that Tottenham have had so many shots from counter attacks this season.