With two home games in the space of five days, our stats cup truly runneth over this week!
Adelaide United are first up at nib Stadium on Wednesday evening (grab your tickets HERE), so here’s a combination of some key numbers from our good friends at Opta and one or two extra factoids of our own thrown in to complete the pre-match picture.
Distance Debate
Adelaide United have conceded the highest percentage of goals (25) from outside the box of any team this season (4/16), but Glory are one of only two Hyundai A-League teams (Newcastle being the other) not to have scored from outside the box yet this term
Key Man Keogh
Andy Keogh has scored six times in his last seven A-League appearances against Adelaide and needs another two in order to take his total league tally for the club to 50
Reds Eye Record
The Reds won at nib Stadium on their most recent visit in Round 14 last season, but they have not managed consecutive victories here in the West since the first A-League campaign of 2005/2006
Sharp Shooters
Glory lead the league in terms of both percentage of shots on target (55.6%) and percentage of goals to shots (25.0%), while Adelaide are ranked eighth in the first of those categories with 42.9% and seventh in the second with 12.3%
Early Exchanges
The scorer of Glory’s first ever A-League goal against Adelaide was actually Reds defender (and subsequent Head Coach) Michael Valkanis who put through his own net when the two sides met in Perth in September 2005
Nicky Ward then became the first Glory player to score against the South Australians on home soil when the cross-border rivals clashed again in January 2006
Pass Parity
Glory and Adelaide boast almost identical records in terms pf passing accuracy this term, with the men in purple on 79.7% and the Reds on 79.0%
Melbourne City have the highest percentage in the league (80.8%), while the Mariners have the lowest (70.7%)
Fast Finishers
Glory remain the league’s strongest side when it comes to late goals having scored 12 in the final 15 minutes of games this season
Melbourne Victory are next best on nine, while Adelaide have the poorest return in the competition with one
Creative Influence
Neil Kilkenny remains Glory’s creator-in-chief having been responsible for 31 chances this season, four of which have been goal assists
Adelaide’s main man in this department, meanwhile, has been Craig Goodwin who has created 44 chances, four of which have also been goal assists
Andy Keogh photo courtesy of Fotoenzo
#OneGlory
