Bonkers stat shows ball is in play for just 54 minutes per game in the Premier League
A bonkers stat has shown the ball has been in play for an average of just 54 minutes and 39 seconds across the first two Premier League gameweeks.
The start of the 2022/23 season has been welcomed with open arms by most fans – Manchester United supporters excluded. But they’ve all been getting less bang for their buck so far.
Courtesy of data from Opta, the Prem has seen less than 55 minutes of action per game. Surprisingly, the low number is still more than Ligue 1 (54:19), Serie A (54:18), Bundesliga (53:19) and La Liga (52:31).
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Despite coming out on top of Europe’s top five leagues, it means Prem officials are so far failing to meet an objective which they set for themselves this season.
A pre-season get together at St George’s Park earlier this month had led to them targeting a higher ball-in-play time for this campaign. Last time out it was only 55 minutes and seven seconds per game – the lowest for a decade.
Have you noticed a difference this season? Let us know in the comments section.
(Image: Paul Currie/REX/Shutterstock)
Former referee Mike Dean, who is now a VAR official, said in his Daily Mail column: “We may be more proactive in trying to let the games flow when possible.”
It appears that is yet to materialise with the average time 28 seconds lower at the start of the new season than it was in the 2021/22 campaign.
There have been some calls for matches to be made 60 minutes long with the clock stopped each time the ball goes out of play. Mark Clattenburg is one to have backed the proposal, with the Portuguese Football Federation one to have considered trials.
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