Napoli 22-5 / 95-41 / 15.0 -6.0

Atalanta 12-10 / 49-41/ 9.3-7.5

Udinese 11-9 / 59-59 / 9.6-8.3

Lazio 14-10 / 53-61 / 9.1-8.4

Milan 18-8 / 81-37 / 13.5-6.7

Roma 26-2 / 78-40 / 16.6-4.9

Inter 18-8 / 77-55 / 13.6-6.8

Juventus 11-11 / 59-43 / 9.4-9.4

Torino 13-9 / 55-51 / 9.0-8.2

The three columns are BC's ( created-conceded), ITB attempts (created-conceded) and xG.

 

We can look in more detail at the most recent numbers (last 3-4 games) ahead of the next fixtures, but can cover a few points briefly today.

 

Good numbers, especially in relation to league position are highlighted in blue type, poor numbers are in red .

 

The Napoli numbers are just great and anyone who has seen them play in the last month, allied to those stats will have no argument with them as the top team in Italy right now.

 

Milan and Roma come in at second best and look certain to be title /top 4 contenders, the Giallorossi's BC and xG numbers are league best and really eye-catching, to play seven games and concede so little , whilst creating so much, highlights the improvement made under Jose Mourinho. The "Special One" lost it big time at the weekend and is set to be suspended for 1-3 games, but at least the passion remains too and it is hard to doubt the job he is doing.

 

Inter come in at 4th place and have been the best team statistically  in Italy for the last two campaigns, despite being edged to the title by Milan last season. However, they have conceded the 10th most ITB attempts and that is a bit of a concern.

 

Udinese made the notes quite a bit last season for the open nature of their games, which was in stark contrast to what we traditionally expected from them, but results have improved, whilst being more fun to watch, so what's not to like ? However, both they and Lazio, especially the Biancocelesti are conceding bottom half of the table ITB numbers and the two are probably in flattering league positions .

 

The Fiorentina lack of goals (7) is a worry and holding them back, but their ITB and surprisingly xG numbers are decent and they just need to convert them into more premium chances. They got a huge fee from Juventus for striker Dusan Vlahovic, but no one has yet stepped up, or scored more than a single goal this season. He left in the January window, at the time of his departure, he had scored 17 and Fiorentina 40 in 21 starts, subsequently just 26 in 24 games, he left behind a pile of money, but took with him more than his own goals!

 

Spezia are a team I have some time for, but hard to praise their triple red numbers and they should be treated with caution and only backed with very good reason.

 

Bologna have created 16 BC's and 9.3 xGF which are upper mid table numbers and staggering to have done so from just 40 ITB attempts, you can look at that two ways, fortunate or able to make the most of limited opportunities , but we can be rather sure they should have scored more than 7 goals and that should level out in the coming weeks.

 

Most of you know that I am very keen on Salernitana and the huge (and very positive) changes that have been made at the club since the January transfer window and their numbers make interesting reading. The three offensive figures are all best amongst the bottom nine teams, yet the defensive are amongst the worst in Serie A and that is a very unusual combination.However, they are a little lopsided as they put up awful numbers in two games, one was their opener when they introduced nine new players to the starting 11 and the other was when they led 2-0 away to an elite team and then sat back for an hour or so, so we have to cut them some slack and this is a very interesting team, just one we should not trust to keep a clean sheet!

 

Glossary:

 

Good luck!