The Premier League season is eight matches old and the table is starting to shape up quite nicely.
We look to be in for a real treat of a title challenge, with Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool all flying high, unbeaten at the top of the league, while three teams remain without a win in the lower reaches of the table.
Though City, Chelsea and Liverpool are building their title challenges on positive, attacking football, the three sides have also been defensively solid throughout 2018/19 so far.
They've conceded 11 goals between them in a combined 24 matches, but have City, Chelsea and Liverpool actually been the best defensive teams in the Premier League this season?
The statistic expected goals (xG) has grown in prominence in football circles over the past few years, and is now used widely to determine if a team is getting results at the level at which they are actually performing.
The basic usage of expected goals is that every shot taken in a match is given an xG value based on the difficulty of the shot.
Based on a number of factors including distance from goal, type of shot and number of defenders, the 'expected goal' value reveals the likelihood a specific shot will end in a goal; the higher the value, the more likely a goal should be scored from that shot.
The 'expected goal' value of every shot in a game is used to calculate the 'expected goals' of a match. Click here to find out more about the calculations used to work out xG.
Should a team end with a higher xG than actual goals scored, it is probable they were wasteful in front of goal due to poor finishing or an in-form opposition goalkeeper. If the real goals scored is higher than the xG, the team may have been lucky to score so many in that match, or come up against a poor defence.
You can use a team's xG numbers over an entire season to determine both attacking and defensive strength, with expected goals against (xGA) revealing how many goals a specific team should have conceded.
So, which teams have been the best defenders in the Premier League so far this season? We reveal the top 10 sides based on xGA, below, using data from Understat...
10. Manchester United - 10.98 expected goals against
9. Arsenal - 10.95 expected goals against
8. Everton - 9.76 expected goals against
7. Tottenham - 9.66 expected goals against
6. Bournemouth - 9.25 expected goals against
5. Chelsea - 8.59 expected goals against
5. Leicester - 8.58 expected goals against
3. Wolves - 6.15 expected goals against
2. Liverpool - 5.90 expected goals against
1. Manchester City - 4.00 expected goals against
Pep Guardiola's side might be all about attacking football, but Man City's defence isn't half bad either
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