Analytics Report: Premier League Match Of The Week – Matchday 12 – Manchester United vs Tottenham

Having performed well in the big games season, Manchester United hosted Antonio Conte’s Spurs at Old Trafford. Overall, Manchester United dominated Spurs as the away side didn’t pose any offensive threat.

United’s captain on the day, Bruno Fernandes, was instrumental in the win as the Red Devils scored twice in the second half to secure the three points. Fred scored right after the restart, while the Portuguese midfielder doubled their lead in the 69th minute.

Also read: Winners And Losers: Premier League Gameweek 12

In the chart below, we have the analytics data from the game.

Manchester United had the higher share of possession but not by a huge margin, with 52% in their favour. However, United’s use of the ball was more incisive as compared to Spurs, with the home side completing 32 progressive passes to Spurs’s 26. United also completed an imposing 26 key passes, while the away side recorded an underwhelming 9 key passes in the whole game.

The United players are now getting used to what Ten Hag asks them to do on the pitch and are also getting better at it. United registered 51 shot-creating actions, while Spurs had only 17 SCA  and Tottenham ended the game with 0 goal-creating actions to Man United’s GCA of 2.

Huge differences were also observed in the shots category as United registered 29 shots with 10 on target, with Tottenham getting just 2 on target out of 9 shots.

It’s in the defensive statistics where Spurs outperformed United. However, their defending from the front was poor throughout the game. Manchester United completed 10 interceptions while Spurs completed 22, but the difference in the number of tackles is where we understand the level of aggression and quality of pressing by the Red Devils.

Conte’s side completed 15 tackles, while Ten Hag’s side completed 19 tackles. This further shows that the players were excellent in ball recoveries and defensive transitions. Man United completed 99 recoveries, while Tottenham registered a total of 82 recoveries.

When it comes to xG and xA, Tottenham’s xG and xA were 0.6, while United had an xG of 1.7 and an xA of 1.6.

In the chart below we have the xG progression from the game.

It’s clearly evident that United were the better and more aggressive team and were also more of an attacking threat as compared to Spurs as shown in the above xG chart where their xG was much higher throughout the game.

This was very visible in the first half as United created a lot of chances, represented by high xG and they stayed consistent and got the goals in the second half. Spurs had a brief spell where they were dangerous in the second half, as seen in the chart, but other than that, United’s domination was clear.

Erik Ten Hag Praised His Players’ “Magnificent” Performance

After the win, United boss Erik Ten Hag said, “It was magnificent from all 11 players. I have to correct myself. It was also a performance from the substitutes who came on. Once again, it was a squad performance. I think what we have seen is 11 players who defend and 11 who attack. I was pleased.”