Where have all the goals gone?

The start of the season saw a flurry of goals. The first weekend of the Premiership season saw a 6-1 scoreline. So far this season, as a league, the premiership is averaging 3.01 goals per game. This sounds great until I point out that the average went down by .05 with this current midweek round of matches. The peak month this season was September when there was an average of 3.57 goals per game, but so far this month, and it was improved by this weeks matches, the league is averaging 1.91 goals per game. This has been an incredibly high scoring season so far, but where have all the goals gone?

Let me give you a bit more background information first. With games spanning seven months so far, 3 months averaged higher than 3.00 goals per game, five months have averaged more than 2.50 goals and of the two averaging less than 2.50, only one month averages less than 2. So again, where have all the goals gone?

I think the most obvious answer that I have heard is false. Many people blame the switch to winter as players would be slightly desensitized by the cold. I think this may be a very minor factor, but I see two obvious things where I feel we can lay the blame. The first is fixture congestion. As soon as we entered the new decade, we were stricken with rapid fire weekend and midweek fixtures each week. This is really exacerbated by the fact that due to this year's World Cup, the season has to end a bit earlier this year. This forced games to be stacked up before we got to the second problem with the fixtures which was the weather problems which caused a large number of matches to be postponed at the beginning of this year. This congestion is causing teams with smaller squads to become tired which may also explain why some of the teams in the lower end of the table are getting some upsets.

The second reason for the lower goal per game averages is Arsene Wenger. His inability to buy players in the transfer windows is why there are many fewer goals being scored. As a spurs fan, I couldn't be happier about this, but since Wenger refused to stump up the cash and buy a striker that Arsenal desperately need right now. Arsenal are averaging 2.40 goals per game but this average has been plummeting since they lost Robin Van Persie to injury. They have scored four or more goals in a game 7 times and only twice since the first week of November. Since the beginning of November, they have been held goalless six times.

This finally leads us to an important question. Will the goals come back? I would have to say yes. I think as the fixture congestion continues though may, player will become more tired and the ones who need to cement spots on their national teams will step up to do so. I don't expect that we will see another month with an average above 3.50, but I think we will see some more as the season winds down especially since this seems to be one of the tightest races for the title and for the Champions League places.