8 CPL Stats: from East Coast passing gurus to West Coast xG kings
This year's Canadian Premier League table is tight. Extremely tight.
Overall, this bodes well for the league at large but — entering Week 7 — makes it hard to make sense of clubs not named Forge or Pacific FC. Three points currently separate third placed Cavalry and the last placed Halifax Wanderers who, until last week, boasted identical records.
All of this begs the question: how can we differentiate the messy middle clubs?
Here are eight CPL statistics to help identify the pretenders from the contenders.
2911 total passes
The narrative around the Halifax Wanderers heading into their match last Saturday was that they were undefeated and coming to grips with newly anointed head coach Patrice Gheisar's system. Following a thrashing to York United, the tone has shifted: they are now winless in six matches. However, the seeds of Gheisar's philosophy have clearly taken root on the East Coast as his squad has faired well on possession and currently sits at a total of 2911 passes, the most in the league. Although not a sure indicator of goals, the high number of passes is a sign of control — the principle at the heart of Gheisar's attacking philosophy. Delving a little deeper, it's of note that newcomers Lorenzo Callegari and Daniel Nimick account for roughly 24 per cent (697/2911) of the Wanderers passing numbers. It's no mistake that Forge, who play a similar style to Halifax, is ranked second with 2906 completed passes. The next closest is Valour with 2681.
45 per cent possession
It's been a strange start to the season for Atlético Ottawa. Be it the improvement of the rest of the league or a lack of execution, head coach Carlos Gonzalez's side finds themselves tied for last in the table with five points. What's most worrisome is that other clubs seem to have figured our Ottawa's counterattack, meaning their payoff for sitting back has been minimal. The club seemed to be on the right track after a bright 5-0 victory over Vancouver but went right back to their disjointed ways by losing handedly to Cavalry. This is exemplified in their 45 per cent possession average, including a meagre 42 per cent possession when away from home. Only newly minted Vancouver have worse possession numbers.
0.67 goals per match
It was never going to be easy for expansion club Vancouver FC to be competitive. From the beginning, this year was slated to be a season of firsts; their first goal, their first win and their particularly heartwarming first home match at Willoughby Park on May 7. But one thing they haven't done a lot of is score. They currently rank last in the CPL with 0.67 goals per match and have scored just four times to date. Attacker Shaan Hundal leads the line with three goals but more is needed from the rest of the squad. Injuries to key players like Kadin Chung and Gabriel Bitar certainly haven't helped. It's no coincidence Vancouver has the second lowest amount of shots in the league at 43 and only 26 per cent shooting accuracy. Simply put, they need to be more dynamic in the final third of the pitch and put shots accurately on target to give themselves a chance to score. If they don't, their metrics indicate they will continue to slide down the table.
1.59 xG, 1.59 xGA
York United head coach Martin Nash challenged his squad following an embarrassing loss to Pacific in Week 5. They answered in a big way by defeating Halifax at the Wanderers Grounds with a convincing 3-0 win. Between the ownership transfer and some shaky opening matches, York needed a strong performance to help right the ship. Still, the squad is one that is fighting to find its footing. To date, they have both an expected goals for and goals against of 1.59 per match. The numbers indicate they've been a bit unlucky as they've only actually scored an average of one goal per match. Hopefully, their three goals against Halifax are a sign of things to come instead of an outlier.
67 interceptions
Despite their growing list of injuries, Valour continues to perform admirably. Their backline has been decimated to start their campaign with the likes of Guillaume Pianelli, Matthew Chandler and veteran Andrew Jean-Baptiste missing time. The good news is Valour is a well coached football club and it starts with their robust midfield. Between the stalwart play of Dante Campbell (13 interceptions) and Matteo de Brienne (who has filled in on the backend but has 18 interceptions), Valour lead the league in interceptions with 67. Valour's sound positioning and relentless style have helped them secure a record of 1-5-1 while being wounded so expect them to become more aggressive once they return back to full health.
97 fouls conceded
They've only got one win but Tommy Wheeldon Jr.'s Cavalry squad is still undefeated in league play in 2023, finding themselves third on the table with eight points. Until recently, Cavalry had a very similar trajectory to Halifax this season but earned their first win in convincing fashion by beating Atlético Ottawa 2-0 on Sunday. One interesting thing to note is Cavalry has conceded 97 fouls so far, 15 more than the next in line (you guessed it, the Wanderers are second). Cavalry are frustrating to play against, scrappy, and as strange as it may sound, are tactical in the fouls they take. They have the second least amount of yellow cards with 10. It'll be interesting to see where they stack up with York United as both clubs are coming off essential wins.
1.83 goals per match
Pacific have found their offensive touch and until dethroned, are the CPL's xG kings. They lead the league in goals per match with 1.83 and generally bring the heat in dangerous areas. The statistics indicate that their goal scoring prowess is sustainable as their expected goals (1.77) is relatively near their actuals. They lead the league in shots with 65 and have potted 11 goals to date. What's really encouraging is the number of goal scorers they have; a total of seven different players have found the back of the net, indicating squad depth. Although they were knocked out of the Canadian Championship, expect Pacific to shift their focus and feast on some weaker squads in the coming weeks.
3 clean sheets
Currently atop the table with 12 points, Forge are undefeated and have looked strong to start the campaign. What's been most impressive, aside from their consistency, is their defensive game. They currently lead the CPL with three clean sheets and have conceded a mere five goals. Kudos to keeper Tristan Henry, who has looked cool and collected in five matches. Forge were obviously deeply invested in reaching the Canadian Championship final so, similar to Pacific, expect them to lean heavily on their regular starters moving forward after their loss to CF Montreal in the semis. What's most striking about Bobby Smyrniotis and his squad is they've hit the pinnacle where they have beautifully combined a deadly attacking game while being clinical defensively. They are a delight to watch.
Stats taken from canpl.ca and footystats.org.
Cover Photo Credit: Canadian Premier League
