Football writer Adrian Clarke looks at the key tactical trends that have emerged across the 2024/25 season so far.
Teams are getting better on the break
The last two Premier League seasons have arguably been the most attack-minded in the competition’s history, with managers at both ends of the table trying to implement increasingly positive tactics.
A lower degree of caution across the board has understandably left more space open to exploit on counter-attacks.
Consequently, we have seen a remarkable rise in the number of shots and goals scored from fast breaks.
With 91 Premier League matches still to play, we have already beaten last season’s totals in both departments.
PL fast breaks shots and goals compared
| Statistic | 21/22 | 22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 |
| Matches | 380 | 380 | 380 | 289 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shots from fast breaks | 358 | 382 | 526 | 532 |
| Goals from fast breaks | 54 | 83 | 81 | 88 |
Who are the strongest sides at this aspect of the game?
Under Arne Slot, Liverpool are head and shoulders the best counter-attacking side in the division, using the pace of Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz to great effect.
Chelsea, AFC Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest have lots of speed in the wide areas too, so it is not surprising they create the most chances from breakaways, outside of the leaders.
How teams and players rank for fast breaks
| Teams with most shots from fast breaks | Players with most shots from fast breaks | ||
| Liverpool | 56 | Mohamed Salah | 22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 42 | Matheus Cunha | 12 |
| Bournemouth | 37 | Luis Diaz | 11 |
| Nottingham Forest | 36 | Liam Delap | 11 |
Who scores the most goals from fast breaks? Liverpool; they punish opponents with the most frequency, scoring 13 goals, with Salah netting six of them.
Errors are proving costly
It has not been a vintage season for Premier League goalkeepers, who have made a combined 36 errors leading to goals.
That has already equalled last season's tally and is way in excess of what we witnessed in the previous two years.
Ipswich Town goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez have made five each, with Brighton & Hove Albion stopper Bart Verbruggen just behind them on four.
Individual errors which lead to goals are decided subjectively, but this season has seen a record high without any change in the criteria.
With pressing such a dominant tactic, we have perhaps seen an increase in forced mistakes, but even so, a running total of 150 errors leading to goals is exceptional compared with previous years.
Errors leading to goals compared
| Statistic | 21/22 | 22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 |
| Errors leading to goals | 77 | 118 | 122 | 150 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper errors leading to goals | 23 | 34 | 36 | 36 |
Chelsea, Aston Villa and Southampton, with 12, 13 and 19 respectively, are the teams who have made the most errors that have led to concessions.
Early goals on the rise
Fast starts have been rewarded plenty of times in 2024/25.
We have seen 0.43 goals per game scored inside the first quarter of an hour of matches this season, which is a noticeable leap from recent seasons where it plateaued between 0.38 and 0.39.
The overall share of goals scored inside the opening 15 minutes is just shy of three per cent higher than it was in 2023/24.
PL goals in the opening 15 minutes compared
| Statistic | 21/22 | 22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 |
| Share of goals in opening 15 minutes | 13.5% | 13.8% | 11.5% | 14.4% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goals in opening 15 minutes | 145 | 150 | 143 | 124 |
| Per match | 0.38 | 0.39 | 0.38 | 0.43 |
Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, with 12 and 10 respectively, are the teams who have caught opponents cold most often, with Forest and Chelsea just behind on nine.
Brentford, who made a habit of scoring very early goals in the first few months of 2024/25, are next on eight.
Thomas Frank’s Bees have scored the most goals with their first shot this season, just ahead of Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
This efficiency is not too surprising as statistically they are the most lethal side in the division, converting 14.79 per cent of their chances into goals.
Teams with most goals scored from their first shot
| Team | Total |
| Brentford | 9 |
|---|---|
| Nottingham Forest | 8 |
| Wolves | 8 |
| Brighton | 5 |
| Chelsea | 5 |
| Fulham | 5 |
| Spurs | 5 |
Who has been most vulnerable to concessions?
That statistic is shared by West Ham United and Man City, who have both let in 10 goals in the first 15 minutes.
In terms of conceding from the first shot against them, Pep Guardiola’s side are ranked joint-second with Southampton and West Ham. Newcastle United are the team who are punished most often in this manner.
Teams with most goals conceded from first shot against
| Team | Total |
| Newcastle | 9 |
|---|---|
| Man City | 7 |
| Southampton | 7 |
| West Ham | 7 |
| Aston Villa | 6 |
| Ipswich | 6 |
| Liverpool | 6 |
| Wolves | 6 |
Throw-ins become increasingly more dangerous
Christian Norgaard’s winning strike in Brentford’s 2-1 success at Bournemouth in Matchweek 29 was the 12th goal scored from a throw-in this season.
Norgaard's goal v Bournemouth
It is the most we have seen in a Premier League campaign since 13 were recorded in 2018/19.
Not all these goals stem from long throws, but there is no doubt more clubs are using specialists to launch balls into the opposition box.
In the 10 seasons that preceded this one, the average number of goals per campaign scored from throws was just six.
Brentford are kings of the long throw, scoring four times from those situations this season.
Yoane Wissa has been the chief beneficiary, notching against Everton, Bournemouth and Southampton from throw-ins.
Goals are down from last season’s record high
It was never going to be easy to eclipse 2023/24’s phenomenal total of 1,246 goals, averaging 3.28 per game.
That was way more than anything we had seen before.
Coaches have reacted by focusing harder on defensive organisation, but this time around we are still averaging 2.99 per match, which remains the second-highest on record.
It does though mean we are on course for 110 fewer goals by the end of the season.
Goals in a PL season compared
| 21/22 | 22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 | |
| Goals/90 | 2.82 | 2.85 | 3.28 | 2.99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shots/90 | 25.7 | 25.3 | 27.6 | 26.1 |
| Penalties/90 | 0.27 | 0.26 | 0.28 | 0.22 |
| Conversion | 10.99% | 11.28% | 11.88% | 11% |
| Avg. ball in play (mins) | 55.08 | 54.52 | 58.12 | 57.07 |
Why? That is not easy to explain.
We have lost an average of almost two minutes of stoppage time per match compared to last season, which may be a factor.
Average stoppage time compared
| Season | Total |
| 21/22 | 7 minutes 29 seconds |
|---|---|
| 22/23 | 8 minutes 27 seconds |
| 23/24 | 11 minutes 36 seconds |
| 24/25 | 9 minutes 43 seconds |
The ball has also been in play one minute and five seconds less per match.
Fewer penalties have been awarded, and shot conversion is not quite as impressive as it was last season, but most of the stats are very similar to previous campaigns.
We have had more goalless draws (24) than we saw in the entirety of five of the last six seasons, but last season’s 11 was a record low by a full 10 matches!
Fewer passes
A lot of the Premier League’s fastest improving sides, like Forest, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Everton, are not possession-based teams.
While every Premier League side can move the ball around with quality, it feels like there is more focus this season than ever before on making turnovers and counter-attacks pay.
It is a strength many teams share right across the division.
This could be part of the reason why we have seen the fewest number of passes for eight seasons, averaging 899 per game.
Passes in a PL season compared
| 21/22 | 22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 | |
| Games | 380 | 380 | 380 | 289 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passes per game | 907 | 906 | 941 | 899 |
| Long passes per game | 111 | 104 | 101 | 94 |
| Short passes per game | 797 | 801 | 840 | 805 |
| Long passes share % | 12.2% | 11.5% | 10.8% | 10.4% |
| Short passes share % | 87.8% | 88.5% | 89.2% | 89.6% |
It is a big drop off from 2023/24 (42 passes) with the percentage of longer passes continuing a long-standing decline.
A greater number of head coaches seem to be urging their players to move the ball a little quicker through the lines.
Finding penetration, rather than showing patience, is on trend.
