Clang! Liverpool Lead League In Shots Off The Woodwork

Liverpool are joint Premier League leaders with Manchester City in hitting the post.

In past Liverpool sides, seeing a cracking shot beat the goalkeeper only to rattle off the woodwork was a harbinger of one of those days. You could check it off of your Liverpool Bingo card, along with “opposition goalkeeper has a worldie” and “screwed by an incorrect offside call,” as reasons why the Reds would not be walking away with all 3 points that day.

This season is slightly different. Sure, there have been quite a few times when Liverpool have hit the woodwork—16 of them in the Premier League, in fact—but they haven’t quite been as bothersome as in years past.

Those 16 times when the Reds have rattled the woodwork are enough to put Liverpool as joint-leaders, along with Manchester City, for this stat of dubious distinction. Southampton are third, with 14 clangers, Arsenal are fourth, with 13, and Tottenham, Manchester United, and West Ham round out fifth, with 11 efforts off the post a piece. Hudersfield, for what it’s worth, are dead last with shots of the woodwork, with a mere 4.

Considering the quality of teams near the top of this list, plus Manchester United, it could be argued that hitting the post this much is a good thing. It certainly indicates a high number of shots, and shots that are (almost) on target.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com