With every club now having played over 10 matches, it felt like a good time to update the scatter graphics for the season. These are explained here if you haven’t seen them before.

Shot dominance

First of all, here is how the number of shots taken by each club compares with those they face in return. The average number of shots taken per match is on the horizontal and the average number faced is on the vertical, so bottom right (take plenty, allow few in return) is good while top left (take few, allow plenty) is bad:

We’ve had a really exciting tussle at the top of the division with first place changing hands regularly and three of the current top five are clustered in a dominant group in the bottom right. The other two – leaders Plymouth and second-placed Wycombe – are higher up the chart due to a relatively average amount of shots allowed, but we’ll see how they’re managing to place so highly a bit later on.

Yeovil in the top right are still taking an incredibly low number of shots while allowing over twice as many – and the division’s second highest number – in return, which doesn’t bode well at all. I’m afraid to say that I’d be genuinely surprised if they can avoid relegation with so few chances being created.

In the bottom left, Northampton matches are still a relative snooze-fest in shot terms, with little action taking place at either end of the pitch.

Attacking effectiveness

Now let’s look at attacking alone. The horizontal axis stays the same as in the graphic above, but now the vertical shows the average number of shots needed to score each league goal. Therefore bottom right is good (taking lots of shots and needing fewer efforts to convert) and top left is bad:

Bottom side Newport are still stretching this graphic with their poor finishing so far this season – it will be interesting to see if John Sheridan can change their fortunes. Either way I’d be surprised not to see their conversion rate improve a bit, given that they currently need twice as many chances to score as the average side.

The most clinical side at the moment is Luton, who are the division’s top scorers despite taking the fourth fewest shots. In contrast Wimbledon were part of the dominant cluster of clubs in the first graphic, but we can see here that their finishing has been letting them down.

We can see that Yeovil‘s lack of shots is slightly negated by a better than average conversion rate, although the stripes (which are contours for scoring rate) show that they’re still among the division’s lowest scorers. It’s also a worrying time for Stevenage who have taken the next fewest shots and are without a win in five matches.

Defensive effectiveness

Finally 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:

As I mentioned in the first graphic, the current top two of Plymouth and Wycombe have conceded a relatively average amount of shots, but we can see here that they have soaked up an impressive number for each goal conceded: over five more than the average.

The other side in the dominant cluster on the first graphic were Accrington, who we can see here have surprisingly allowed fewer shots than anyone except Portsmouth and Oxford. Despite being heavily tipped for relegation in pre-season, they are performing well enough for a play-off spot.

The least resilient defence in the division is Barnet‘s, with fewer than six shots repelled for each goal conceded, although they have done a respectable job of limiting the number of chances they face.