Liverpool are the Premier League’s best first-half team, while struggling Everton are the worst

Paul Okey
2 March 2022

Planet Sport has taken an in-depth look at the stats from the first halves and second halves of this season’s top-flight games and they make for interesting reading.

If this season's Premier League matches had finished at half-time, Liverpool would be four points clear at the top of the table and Everton would be rock-bottom.

What's more, Ralph Hasenhuttl's Southampton would be in a Champions League place.

Reds have more reasons the most to enjoy half-time

It is no surprise to see Liverpool lead the way, with the Reds yet to be behind at half-time in any Premier League game this season.

However, while you would expect that to be on the back of goals from Mohamed Salah, it is actually Diogo Jota who is the main driving force behind their impressive first-half showings.

Jota has scored nine of his 12 Premier League goals this season in the opening 45 minutes.

First half table (1-45 minutes)

		GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	26	16	10	0	34	9	+25	58
2	Manchester City	27	15	9	3	30	4	+26	54
3	Chelsea	25	11	14	0	23	7	+16	47
4	Southampton	26	11	10	5	18	15	+3	43
5	Arsenal	24	11	8	5	20	9	+11	41
6	Manchester Utd	27	9	13	5	15	14	+1	40
7	Tottenham	25	8	13	4	18	13	+5	37
8	Wolverhampton	26	6	16	4	10	7	+3	34
9	West Ham Utd	27	7	13	7	18	16	+2	34
10	Newcastle Utd	25	6	12	7	16	18	-2	30
11	Crystal Palace	27	7	9	11	13	21	-8	30
12	Aston Villa	25	6	10	9	13	19	-6	28
13	Leeds Utd	26	6	10	10	13	27	-14	28
14	Leicester City	24	5	11	8	17	23	-6	26
15	Brighton	26	6	8	12	10	16	-6	26
16	Burnley	25	4	10	11	12	17	-5	22
17	Brentford	27	4	10	13	11	24	-13	22
18	Watford	26	3	12	11	11	21	-10	21
19	Norwich City	26	3	12	11	8	20	-12	21
20	Everton	24	3	10	11	8	18	-10	19

Salah has also scored nine in the first half, but has ten after the break. Similarly, Sadio Mane has more second-half goals than first-half strikes (6 to 5).

Manchester City sit second but have been behind at the interval in three of their league fixtures this term. Crystal Palace, who led 2-0 at the break, were the only team to hang on to their advantage, with Southampton pegged back to 1-1 and Arsenal suffering injury-time heartbreak in a 2-1 defeat.

Along with Liverpool, Chelsea are the only other team not to have been behind at the interval this season. However, of their 25 fixtures, 14 have been level going into the break.

Next come Southampton, who have also been ahead at the interval in 11 of their 26 games.

At the other end of the first-half table, just eight goals scored from 24 matches have resulted in Everton starting the second half ahead in just three of their top-flight encounters.

Norwich's 26 games have also seen eight first-half goals from the Canaries but have gleaned two extra points.

Meanwhile, you'd be excused for missing the first half of Wolves' matches. Their 26 fixtures have only featured 17 goals in the opening 45 minutes, some way behind next lowest Brighton (26).

Same again in the second half for Liverpool

Michail Antonio, West Ham, Premier League

When it comes to a league table based entirely on second-half showings, it is again Liverpool at the summit.

Manchester City are second, with West Ham third thanks to an improvement of ten points on their first-half showings.

That is off the back of Michail Antonio who has scored an amazing seven of his eight Premier League goals this season after the break.

It is Everton, though, who boast the biggest improvement from the first half to the second half, with the Toffees 16 points better off when it comes to points gained based on their final 45 minutes.

Second half table (46-90 minutes)

		GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Liverpool	26	16	7	3	36	11	+25	55
2	Manchester City	27	15	7	5	34	13	+21	52
3	West Ham Utd	27	12	8	7	28	18	+10	44
4	Manchester Utd	27	13	5	9	29	20	+9	44
5	Chelsea	25	12	7	6	26	11	+15	43
6	Crystal Palace	27	11	7	9	24	17	+7	40
7	Aston Villa	25	10	7	8	20	18	+2	37
8	Brighton	26	9	10	7	15	14	+1	37
9	Tottenham	25	10	7	8	17	19	-2	37
10	Wolverhampton	26	9	9	8	14	14	0	36
11	Everton	24	10	5	9	20	23	-3	35
12	Leicester City	24	8	8	8	22	20	+2	32
13	Arsenal	24	8	8	8	18	18	0	32
14	Brentford	27	6	13	8	16	20	-4	31
15	Burnley	25	6	11	8	10	15	-5	29
16	Southampton	26	6	8	12	16	22	-6	26
17	Watford	26	5	9	12	14	26	-12	24
18	Leeds Utd	26	5	9	12	16	33	-17	24
19	Newcastle Utd	25	4	10	11	12	27	-15	22
20	Norwich City	26	2	5	19	7	35	-28	11

In contrast, the largest drop-off comes from Southampton, who would have won just six of their games if it was based on second-half performances alone, gaining 17 points fewer than they did on first-half displays.

Brighton are 11 points better off when comparing their first-half performances to the second half, thanks in part to a 50% increase in goal output.

And, it's bad news at the bottom for Norwich, who were already 19th in the first-half table. The Canaries would pick up just 11 points from their 26 games based on their performances after the break, 11 fewer than the next worst, Newcastle.

Breaking the stats down even further, it makes worrying reading for Arsenal fans too, with the Gunners second bottom when it comes to second-half showings away from home.

Of the 11 away fixtures the Gunners have played this season, Mikel Arteta's men have only outscored their hosts in one after the break.

With visits to Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham still on the agenda, it is a failing they will need to overcome if they are to grab the fourth Champions League spot.