Granted, I don’t think I saw a complete Spurs match last season, so mistakes like that are expected. But can I learn how Spurs play just by looking at stats?

That looks like a cool challenge.

We already know the most common passing sequences for Spurs. What we don’t know is the patterns it uses to attack. So we looked at the passes that directly lead to shots and goals, using Manchester City and Arsenal as benchmarks (the teams that finished directly below and above them).

Categorizing plays

Using a simple clustering technique, we took all passes and crosses made within 10 seconds of a shot — let’s call those “a play ”— and classified all plays as one of four types: