Over-achievers...

This year's PL he no longer has a favorite, he has surprises, shocking results, goals, penalties and empty stands, events that affect this year's marathon! Yes, after 20 games the difference of the champion City from the 9th is at 11 points and nine times the top of the Premier League changed team, something… unique!

Undoubtedly, from the new order of things and the differentiated conditions in the middle of Covid, some teams benefited more and emerged as pleasant surprises of the season. After 20 games, West Ham is in 4th place. Everton, even if they won the two matches they owe, would catch Leicester in 3rd place. Likewise Aston Villa in 4th and Southampton (one game less) in 5th.

These four groups look like the pre-eminent over-achievers of the first half. The Londoners were considered one of the teams that would fight for the stay. And yet, with David Moyes on the bench, they transformed into a team that scores the same at home and away (1,5 goals average), with freshness, consistency and character. What's more, the Villans, who were saved from relegation last year, suffered the most memorable crash of the decade (7-2 with Liverpool) and started the year with the 3x3 away, shocking Arsenal and Leicester.

The 2020/21 season It automatically became the first in history to start with indoor stadiums and this was a fact that was to prove decisive for many of what we saw so far in its first half. The most "tangible" and obvious consequence was that the term "headquarters" lost its value.

After 195 matches, the doubles have skyrocketed, reaching 37,3% of the total results. What is the highest percentage in a season in the Premier League? 33,7% (!), 3,6% less than the current season, from the 2018/19 season.

The empty platforms, although temporarily there were few matches with 2.000 fans in London and Liverpool, caused a great change in the rhythm of the games. They deprived the pulse, which changes the way players act and make decisions. As a result, we see games with a more relaxed concentration, with a character that approaches the coaching dilemma and this change is reflected in the average. of 2,74 goals per game (2,66 average in PL history). Index that in the first races had approached up to 3,5.

The unprecedented condition an entire season without fans affected, of course, the psychology of the players. And maybe that partly justifies the unpredictable scores, the most goals, the erratic performance of teams and players.

Psychologist Andy Burton, founder of "Sporting Mind", highlighted the lack of people as an antidote to the "fear" that strikers can sometimes feel, especially in home games under the weight of thousands of supporters of their team.

"I have worked with PL players who have told me that in addition to the benefits of home games, it is the reaction of their own fans that they fear most. "Especially if they are in a period of bad form and think that they will disappoint 50.000 fans in the stands."

On the other hand, of course, the confidence of the attackers translates synonymously as more risks on the part of the defenders. Defensive errors have also been a factor in a large percentage of goals this season.

After one season which ended in August, as expected the preparation period has shrunk. Just seven weeks have passed since the start of the current season, which is characterized by an unprecedented loaded calendar. The plan for the temporary cancellation of the Carabao Cup never went through, there was no winter break this year and in the weeks leading up to the knockouts of European competitions, they usually cover inoculated matches, FA Cup games or postponed match results of the coronary crises that have occurred so far between the 20 teams (Aston Villa, Fulham, Manchester City the most serious cases).

Something like that, and with the constant and persistent request of Klopp, Guardiola, and several other coaches (Solskier, Moyes, etc.) for five changes to meet resistance, the number of injuries has multiplied compared to last season, a factor that changes the balances of the games. Typically, the former physiotherapist of the national team of England and Arsenal, stated about the scene we are watching this year:

"If you have not fully recovered from the previous race, then the stress accumulates and the muscle injuries increase sharply. If you have tired muscles and you burden them again, they will collapse ".

Until the end Last November (9th game), 133 muscle injuries were recorded (6,6 per team), a percentage 23% higher than the corresponding period of last season.

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