Shoot on sight? Where goals were scored

Brains in their feet - How the ball hit the net

The danger zones - positions from which teams score

The long and the short of it - approach play uncovered

Who are the most attacking teams in the Barclays Premiership and who are the dullest? Which sides favour the long ball or commit the most fouls? Debate rages over these matters, so, today and tomorrow, we will provide some answers, or at least some ammunition for those taking part in such arguments.

For each team we will show the average position in which their players touched the ball in two recent league matches — one at home and one away — to give an indication of their real formation rather than merely stating, say, that a 4-4-2 system was used in which each player theoretically lined up exactly level with those team-mates who operate in his third of the pitch.

We have chosen a home match and an away game so that we can demonstrate how formations differ between the two. Either for tactical reasons or because of an advantage to playing at home, the graphics for away matches tend to show less advanced touch positions than for those at home.

These graphics often tell several stories. A winger who tends to drift inside to look for possession may be shown to have a fairly central average position, while a central defender might occupy a wide position; rather than through tactical indiscipline, he is helping out an inept full back.

For example, in Chelsea’s match away to Tottenham Hotspur, Ricardo Carvalho often had to move wide to cover for Khalid Boulahrouz, the hapless right back, having earlier been required to assist Paulo Ferreira, whom Boulahrouz had replaced at half-time.

Today, we will show a home and away touch graphic for each of the present top ten Premiership clubs, with the remaining teams highlighted in the same way tomorrow.

Also, charts reveal what part of the body (head or feet) has been used to score goals, where the successful efforts were made (inside or outside the penalty area) and how they originated (from free kicks, throw-ins or open play, etc).

Portsmouth and Sheffield United have specialised in finding the net with their heads, in stark contrast to Arsenal and Manchester City.

We discover that Arsenal like to carry the ball close to the goal before shooting, as their frustrated supporters sometimes complain, while Chelsea are willing and able to score quite frequently from outside the penalty area. The two London clubs are supreme at converting direct free kicks, while Portsmouth are kings of the corner.

Arsenal and Watford often seem to be playing a different game from each other and our figures support this observation of their styles of play. Arsène Wenger’s side play the greatest proportion of short passes, while Adrian Boothroyd’s men prefer to move the ball with great distance out of defence.