Here is the xG from the Sunderland game, which was ultimately one-sided. Bournemouth went ahead in the 4th minute with a disguised cross from Evanilson finding Tavernier to head into an empty net (rated 3 in 4). Before that, Adams hit a shot wide (1 in 9). Whilst AFCB had the majority of the possession, there were no real attempts for 30 minutes, although Sunderland had Danso sent off in the 17th minute when he impeded Evanilson, who was through on goal. After the half-hour mark, AFCB put on the pressure and Smith had a good chance following a rebound from a Rayan shot but put the ball wide (1 in 2). We had lots of chances but nothing clear-cut, and the xG at the break was AFCB 1.91 Sunderland 0.04.

AFCB went further ahead early in the second half with a dreadful back pass from Alderete, who played Evanilson in, who tricked the keeper and rolled it into an empty net (4 in 5, which seems low). It was then all AFCB dominance, with the highlights being attempts from Evanilson (two 1 in 10x), Tavernier (1 in 3), Rayan (1 in 11), Adli (1 in 6), and Kluivert (two 1 in 10s). The final xG was AFCB 4.23, Sunderland 0.07, with Understat having a wider margin of 4.39 vs 0.09. It was AFCB’s highest xG total and highest xG winning margin to banish memories of the freak result (xG-wise) at Chelsea.

Man of the match against Sunderland

Evanilson

Antonio

Hill

Tavernier

Cook

Rayan

Smith

Adams

There was only one change from the defeat at Chelsea, with Cook (4) coming in for Brooks, with Rayan (37) moving back to the right side and Cook playing in the middle. The first substitution came in the 62nd minute with Cook, who was on a booking, replaced by Kluivert (19). In the 79th minute, Evanilson (9) and Tavernier (16) were replaced by Rodriguez (30) and Adli (21) in like-for-like swaps. With 1 minute left of normal time, there was a double sub, with Gannon-Doak (11) replacing Rayan (37) and Diakite (18) replacing Adams (12). Interestingly, during this time, it was Silva (14) who was pushed up into the CDM role.

Silva attempted the most passes with 85 and attempted the joint-most passes in the opposition’s half (35) with Smith; Tavernier attempted the most in the final third with 22. We averaged 83% pass completion. Of the starting 11, Adams, Silva, Evanilson, Hill and Smith had over 85% success.

AFCB attempted 27 crosses, being successful with 7 (3 from Smith).

AFCB created 18 chances (3 big). Sunderland created 2 chances, 0 big. Christie created 4 chances, with Christie, Cook, and Evanilson creating the big chances.

We had 29 attempts (2 big), noting that chances can be provided after saves, deflections, or a defensive error and not created. We hit the target 6 times. Sunderland had 3 attempts, 0 big, and hit the target 0 times. Our big chances fell to Evanilson and Tavernier who both scored.

The Opta expected goals had Tavernier as most likely to score (1.19) followed by Evanilson (1.11) and Smith (0.54). For assists, Evanilson was top (0.35), followed by Cook (0.33) and Smith (0.29).

AFCB won 8 of 10 tackles. Both Christie and Evanilson won 2 from 2.

AFCB won 26 of 41 aerials duals. Hill won 7 from 8, and Silva won 7 from 10.

Hill and Silva made joint-most defensive actions with 14. Silva made most clearances (11). AFCB made no blocks. Adams made 2 interceptions, and Tavernier and Truffert made joint-most recoveries (8).

The foul count was AFCB 16, Sunderland 7. Rayan and Truffert both made 3 fouls, and Evanilson and Rayan were fouled 2 times each.

Your say…

Fritter

In the PL this season, we have had 206 shots with 36 on target and 9 goals.
Our xG is 13.02.

Our opponents have had 67 shots with 26 on target and 12 goals, with an xG of 7.96.

Quite an imbalance.
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