The EFL Stats Gallery: Can Birmingham lose 4-1 to Fulham and be considered unlucky? | OneFootball

Birmingham City hosted Fulham at the St. Andrew’s Stadium on Matchday 7 of the 2021/22 EFL Championship season. The visitors won 4-1 away from home to go to the top of the EFL Championship table. Troy Deeney scored a consolation goal from the penalty spot for Birmingham City, as Fulham were leading 4-0 through a goal from Dennis Odoi, two from Mitrovic and one from Harry Wilson.

We’ve broken down all the key stats for you to digest, including;

* shot maps

* xT (expected threat)

* pass networks

* xG timelines

* defensive duels

* average positions and much more!

We also try to answer some questions for you with the visuals;

Who had the higher xG in the game? What are the reasons behind Fulham’s charge at the top of the Championship?

To navigate the stats gallery simply click on the numbers to move through the pages.

At the end of the gallery, you’ll be able to download the full PDF stats report.Lee Bowyer set up the Blues in a 3-4-1-2 formation with Lukas Jutkiewicz and Scott Hogan upfront. Tahith Chong played in attacking midfield ahead of defensive midfielders Sunjic and Woods. Jeremie Bela and Maxime Colin were the wing-backs with three centre backs Harlee Dean, Marc Roberts and Kristian Pedersen. Matija Sarkic started in goal.

The average positions of the Birmingham City players showed that they were present  upfront, pressing their opponents who were playing out from the back. They did not have a lot of chances and scored a goal from the penalty spot.

Marcos Silva set up Fulham in a 4-3-3 formation with Mitrovic as the central striker in the middle of Bobby Reid and Harry Wilson. Michael Seri played in the heart of midfield with Chalobah on the left and Harrison Reed on the right. The back four included left-back Joe Bryan, centre backs Tim Ream and Oluwatosin Adarabioyo, and right back Denis Odoi. Marek Rodak started in goal for the club from London.

The average position of the Fulham players showed that they were much more composed and focused on passing the ball around. They were building their attacks from the back and scored four goals in the match. Birmingham City took 18 shots in the game and had an xG of 2.17. They had seven shots on target and were able to score only one goal through their efforts. Fulham had an xG of 1.90 and took 13 shots in the game. But, the away side had nine shots on target and were able to score four goals in the game. Both teams had almost equal possession in the match.

Troy Deeney had the highest xG in the game of 1.30 as he took four shots in the game. Mitrovic had the highest xG among Fulham players, while Harry Wilson took six shots for them. Chong and Jutkiewicz had the most dribbles in the match.

Birmingham City took a total of 18 shots in the match, most of which were shots from inside the box. They also took a few shots from outside the box and scored their goal from the penalty spot.

Fulham’s shot map showed that they took most of their shots out of 13 from inside the penalty area. They got three of their four goals from inside the box, and one right from the edge of the box.

The xT creation timeline of the game shows that the home team created more threat during the beginning and end of the match. Fulham created most of the threat during the other moments of the game. The xG creation shows the increase of xG for both teams as the match went on.

The pass matrix of Birmingham city shows that they did not have a lot of passes in the match and had a decent amount of possession. R. Woods had the highest number of passes received for Birmingham City.

Fulham had a decent number of passes in the away match, as a lot of players had more than 20 passes. Dennis Odoi has 27 received passes, which was the highest among Fulham players.

Birmingham City’s pass zones show that they accumulated a large number of passes in the midfield and left side of the attack. They put in a decent number of crosses, and Marc Roberts had the highest number of passes into the opposition box.

The passing zones of Fulham show that they had a decent number of passes in defence and midfield. They also provided a few smart passes and crosses. Joe Bryan had the most passes into the opposition box.

Birmingham City’s xT creation zones show that they created little threat from their passing in attacking and forward positions. Their goalkeeper had the highest xT from passing.

Other than the keeper, Colins had a very high xT from passing along with Troy Deeney. Lukas Jutkiewicz had the highest xT from successful dribbles for the home side.

Fulham’s xT creation zones that they created enough threat through their passing in attacking positions and scored four goals. Joe Bryan had the highest xT from passing.

Other than Joe Bryan, Harrison Reed and Nathan Chalobah had high xT from their passing in the match. Harry Wilson had the highest xT from successful dribbles.

Birmingham City faced a lot of defensive duels all over the football field. Harlee Dean had the most wins with three from the defensive duels faced by the Blues.

Birmingham City faced a very high number of aerial duels upfront in attack, due to the nature of their aerial passes. Lukas Jutkiewicz had the highest number of aerial duel victories with 12.

There were a lot of loose ball recoveries made by Birmingham City players during this match. Harlee Dean made five loose ball recoveries, while Lukas Jutkiewicz also made four.

Fulham faced a large number of defensive duels in the defensive areas and the defensive left wing. A lot of players made multiple defensive duels victories for the Cottagers.

Fulham had to face a lot of aerial duels in the defensive positions due to the aerial passes from the opposition. Chalobah won the most aerial duels for Fulham with five and Mitrovic won the most in attack with six.

Fulham had to make a lot of loose ball recoveries all over the pitch in this game. Mitrovic made five recoveries, and so did Tim Ream. Dennis Odoi made four loose ball recoveries.

It was a great Championship game between Birmingham City and Fulham, as the visitors clinched a 4-1 victory away from home to go to the top of the Championship table.

If you want to download the stats report in PDF format you can do so here:

EFL Stats gallery: Birmingham City vs Fulham