The lull created by the international break is as good an opportunity as any to crank out some updated attack and defence scatter graphics for the major European leagues, looking here at Ligue 1.

There are two graphics: the first showing attacking performance and the second defensive performance. Both are based on simple shot data and give a high-level view of how each club is doing relative to the others, with the axes centred on the divisional average. You can click on a graphic to bring up a full-sized version in a new tab.

Attacking

Looking first at attacking, the average number of shots taken per match is on the horizontal axis and the average number of shots needed to score each goal is on the vertical. Therefore bottom right is good (taking lots of shots and needing fewer efforts to convert) and top left is bad:

• Marseille are comfortably out-shooting the rest of the division – firing in almost twice as many efforts as Evian or Bastia – and are among the sharpest sides in front of goal.
• Despite creating the third most chances, relegation-threatened Lorient have been frustratingly wasteful, with only four sides needing more attempts on average to convert.
• Bottom side Metz have needed over twice the number of chances to score each goal on average as leaders PSG, who have been the most clinical.

Defending

Now let’s look at the defensive situation – basically take the above chart and replace the word “taken” for “faced” on both axes. Now top left is good – facing fewer shots and able to soak up more per goal conceded – and bottom right is bad:

• While Lille have allowed opponents the fewest shots per match so far this season, a cluster of sides above them here have performed better overall due to a superior ability to keep efforts out. Monaco‘s defence leads the way here, requiring just under twice as many efforts to be breached as one of the division’s relegation-threatened sides.
• Marseille may create plenty of opportunities but they also face a reasonable number themselves. Like Montpellier and Bastia, they appear to rely on soaking up the efforts of their opponents rather than preventing them in the first place.