Susu Graham writes: Charting Bournemouth’s wild ride up the standings

Bournemouth are the team to watch this season. The Cherries have caught the eye with wins over traditional powerhouses like Arsenal and Manchester City whilst also thrashing fellow upstarts Newcastle and Nottingham Forest in back-to-back weeks.

It is safe to say that Bournemouth are a team no one wants to face. The question is what makes them so good and how has head coach Andoni Iraola elevated a club that has never finished higher than 9^th in the topflight into a genuine contender for Champions League football.

Bournemouth’s obvious strength is their defensive ability. However, in comparison to Nottingham Forest who defend very passively, and deep Bournemouth are an active pressing team who smother opponents and win the ball back quickly.

They currently have the 3^rd best defence in the league with 26 goals conceded, their xG against is a bit higher, it stands at 7^th with a figure of 28.7 which is not too far from the actual figure which shows there is very little luck and even if they regress to the mean they will be in good standing.

This active defensive style has them leading the league in ball recoveries with 50.5 a game a mammoth figure 4 more than Crystal Palace in second. They are also 2^nd in interceptions with 9.65 and 5^th in tackles won showing that this is a team that loves to suffocate their opponents and this has led to teams completing only 78.7% of their passes against Bournemouth the second lowest figure in the league, this is aided by the fact they also block 8.65 passes per game 3^rd in the league.

Bournemouth players are not afraid to get dirty and physical with their opponents, they lead the league in fouls with 13.4 a game and are 4^th in yellow cards with 2.57. This means that teams they face struggle to get into an attacking rhythm and when they do get shots away, the shots are low quality as they face 0.09 xG per shot, the 3^rd lowest mark in the league.

When that fails it seems every Bournemouth keeper is having a great season when it comes to shot-stopping. Their 3 keepers have prevented 9.7 goals this season more than any goalkeeping core, Neto now at Arsenal prevented 2.3 goals in his two games which currently ranks 9^th, first choice keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has prevented 2.9 which ranks 3^rd and deputy Mark Travers has managed to prevent an impossible 4.5 goals in 5 games with only Mads Hermansen of Leicester having done a better job in this statistic.

This seems to be the most unsustainable part of their success but Kepa’s per 90 numbers are still good enough for 5^th amongst keepers who have played at least 8 games. Kepa’s goal prevention numbers strangely have been positive at every club except Chelsea, which has meant the perception of him as a keeper has fallen drastically to the wider audience, but he seems to be rebuilding his career at the Vitality stadium and has been a solid last line of defence.

Their defensive style is part of how they attack. Despite being active off the ball their possession numbers are quite low at 46.6%, the 6^th lowest in the league. Despite this, Bournemouth have taken the 3^rd most shots in the league indicating a direct team that does not waste time with intricate build-up.

They have played the 2^nd highest percentage of their passes forward with 38.91% which explains their low pass completed numbers and percentages which are 17^th in both categories. Bournemouth have the most defensive shot-creating actions in the league with 17, this means that a tackle, interception, clearance or block is one of the last 2 actions before a shot, indicating they are quick at turning turnovers into shots. This is complemented by the fact they have forced the most errors from opponents in the league with 29. They have also won 7 penalties 6 of which have been converted by Justin Kluivert.

Bournemouth have not taken those chances efficiently enough though. In xG terms, they are one of the worst-performing teams scoring 3 fewer goals than their xG indicates. This is the next step in this team’s progress to become efficient. Taking your chances can be the difference between 4^th and 6^th throughout a season and will be more important going forward.

Whatever happens against Liverpool this weekend Bournemouth will undoubtedly be one of the stories of the season. Their abrasive and direct style has made them a joy to watch and a pain to play against. They have shot up the table and are having a historic season for a club that has lower attendance than anyone in England’s top two tiers.

European football will be an amazing achievement.