Who are the Premier League’s comeback kings this season?
The Premier League is the most popular league in the world, and has been sold on paper and the most entertaining show on earth. In fact, one of the reasons of why the Premier League is considered so entertaining is because of the memorable comebacks that occur in the Premier League.
What is a comeback?
A comeback is when a team overcomes a disadvantage in a game, and the disadvantage that’s overcomed in this case is points & goals. In this case, a comeback is measured by scoring the final goal that changes the result from a loss to a win or a loss to a draw.
The characteristics of a comeback
- Extra Motivated
One of the potential reasons that could explain why the team performs better when they are trailing is because the players are extra motivated to perform. When they’re trailing, the team has more to lose and are at a higher risk of getting no point from the match, therefore amping up their performance when trailing. This is be explained through a motivator like points & money a critical factor. Because points & money are forms of extrinsic motivation, this means that most players will perform in the hope of gaining points or money, rather than self-motivation.
2. Attacking ability
Why is it that Manchester United in 2 of their last 3 games have completed a comeback from 2–0 down? Because they have the attacking ability alongside other factors to completely turn the game around. For example, against league leaders Manchester City, Manchester United’s 2nd half performance strong highlights their attacking ability when trailing. Because at that stage of the match, Manchester United had to be more attacking in their approach, this meant that they had more players going forward and creating chances, as seen with Paul Pogba’s 2 goals. Sometimes in football, it’s not just motivation & determination but also possessing attacking talent.
3. Opposing team’s defensive vulnerabilities & weak mentality
As good as the team looking to complete a comeback may be going forward, a the opposing team may also have defensive vulnerabilities to help contribute to a comeback. Despite the fact that Manchester City have completed 5 comebacks this season, none of their comebacks have occurred against the top 6 sides and only against teams that currently lie in the bottom half of the table. As good as Manchester City have been the season, the only times they trailed against a top 6 side resulted in defeat both times, which could highlight the other team’s defensive vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the teams that Manchester City have completed a comeback against this season (Everton, Bournemouth, Huddersfield, and West Ham), each of those teams have conceded more than 50 goals this season. What this stat proves is that for comebacks, it’s not just the attacking team’s quality, but also the opposing team’s defensive flaws.
The comeback kings this season
Whether this surprises you or not, but AFC Bournemouth are in fact the team this season that have completed the most comebacks. Bournemouth when trailing are simply a much more motivated team that not only playing with attacking intent, but are also able to exploit the other team’s defensive flaws. This season, they’ve earned 19 points (5 wins, 4 draws) this season when they conceded the first goal.
The comeback kings over the past 3 seasons
Over the past three seasons, Spurs have completed the most comebacks, earning 47 points from conceding the first goal in a match. Despite Spurs’ infamous reputation of being “bottle jobs”, under Mauricio Pochettino they’ve started to progressively dissociate themselves from that image, which has definitely helped them. Their attacking quality alongside other critical factors is what ultimately plays a critical role in why Spurs complete so many comebacks.
Comeback of the season
The comeback of the season definitely has to be the Manchester derby as it contains all the factors of a comeback with the added ingredient of a derby match & the match that could have won Manchester City the league. It was one of the most entertaining matches of the summer and definitely will be remembered for the many years to come.
