Goals galore as Premier League scoring rates soar

LONDON : Goals late in games have resulted in the biggest season-on-season scoring rate rise in England's top flight for nearly 100 years as Premier League defences take a hammering.

With the season reaching its climax, the average goals per game currently stands at 3.24 compared to 2.85 last season, an increase of 13.7 per cent. It is the biggest jump since 1925-26 when the offside rule was tweaked to favour attacking players.

Statistics website soccerstats.com reveals that more than 25 per cent of the goals scored this campaign have come after the 76th minute, many arriving deep into the lengthy periods of stoppage time that have become a feature of the season.

The latest goal scored this season was Ollie McBurnie's 103rd-minute penalty for Sheffield United against West Ham United in January while numerous other goals have come past the 100-minute mark.

Teams towards the middle of the table have also been more effective attacking units this season.

According to Simon Gleave, head of analysis at Nielsen's Gracenote, the eight teams currently ranked 10th to 17th in the league table are averaging 1.45 goals per match, compared to their equivalents last term with 1.04 per game.

The current top nine teams, seven of which finished last season in the top nine, are recording a 5 per cent increase.

Certain clubs have clearly worked on their attacking effectiveness too, none more so than Wolverhampton Wanderers whose average per game of 1.5 is an 84 per cent rise on last season.

Chelsea are up 74 per cent, Aston Villa 54 per cent, Bournemouth 50 per cent and West Ham United 44 per cent.

Champions Manchester City, however, are averaging fewer goals than they were last season, as are Manchester United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford.