Dundee are the Premiership new boys this season – how do they stack up against the rest so far?
We’re only four games into the new campaign but patterns are beginning to emerge across the division.
The Dark Blues have a new manager in Tony Docherty and have made a steady start to life in the top flight, despite major squad upheaval.
The Dee find themselves smack bang in the middle of the league table with five points from their four games so far.
Five goals scored, five goals conceded – there has been plenty to be positive about at Dens Park but also areas to improve.
Looking beyond the league table, though, how do Dundee stack up against the rest?
Courier Sport has enlisted the help of our partners StatsBomb to dig out some telling numbers behind the start to the season.
Matches
The Dark Blues have so far faced Motherwell, St Mirren, Hearts and St Johnstone – they finished seventh, sixth, fourth and ninth respectively last season.
One win, two draws and one defeat have followed.
After a good win over Hearts, Docherty’s side stepped up their play at St Johnstone last time out but failed to see out the win, conceded twice in a sloppy finish to leave the result 2-2.
So far, there is yet to be a Dundee player score twice in the league – Amadou Bakayoko, Ricki Lamie, Luke McCowan, Josh Mulligan and Lyall Cameron have all been on target.
And we are yet to see any player pick up more than one assist as well – Owen Beck, Scott Tiffoney, Bakayoko, McCowan and Fin Robertson have all laid on one goal so far.
Defence
The basic measure of any defence is goals conceded, Dundee are right in the middle of the table with their five goals let in.
Beyond that, though, they have shaped up reasonably well compared to their Premiership counterparts.
Their xG conceded total (a measure of quality of chances conceded) is 4.33, just below the current league average of 4.51.
For comparison, Celtic have conceded 5.07 xG while St Johnstone have given up considerably more chances than anyone else with 8.62. Rangers are the best in that table with just 2.12.
Again they are below average in terms of overall shots faced, sixth in the table on that metric with 46 faced – Ross County (68) and St Johnstone (65) have conceded the most shots.
In terms of getting the ball back, Dundee currently lead the way in ‘pressure regains’ and ‘aggressive actions’ as well – how many times a team gains possession within five seconds of pressurising an opponent.
And they top the ‘aggressive actions’ table as well, that’s tackles or pressure within two seconds of opponents gaining possession.
Attack
So far, Dundee have been pretty good at creating chances, good at creating shooting opportunities but the eye tells you finishing has let them down.
However, they aren’t underperforming xG like we’d usually see from a misfiring team – they have scored five with an xG of 5.06. And that includes missing a penalty, too.
Compare that to the rest of the division and it makes pretty good reading for Docherty and his team.
Only Rangers and Celtic currently boast a better xG than Dundee after the first four games.
And overall shots sees the Dark Blues fifth with 48, behind Rangers (82), Celtic (59), Hearts (52) and Kilmarnock (50).
St Johnstone trail that list with 35.
Top performers
Luke McCowan has impressed plenty of observers this season and the stats bear that out.
He’s the top creator of chances across the entire division so far and is the only man to have double figures for key passes in open play. He has 10, team-mate Bakayoko has seven alongside Elie Youan of Hibs, Graham Carey of St Johnstone and Conor McMenamin of St Mirren.
McCowan has also had more shots than any of his team-mates with nine.
At the back, among the busiest defenders is Owen Beck with only Jamie Brandon of Livingston and Aberdeen’s Graeme Shinnie performing more defensive actions (tackles, presses and fouls).
Joe Shaughnessy has made more blocks than any player in the Premiership while Malachi Boateng is behind only Callum Slattery in pressure regains.
Style
Manager Docherty has spoken of his ‘fire and ice’ ideal – fire without the ball, intense and aggressive, ice with the ball, composed and measured.
The fire we can see from the defensive stats.
What we haven’t seen from them this season is much possession of the ball.
Dundee are one of the most direct teams in the division, second only to Rangers.
So we can spot the style beginning to emerge – happy without possession but seizing their chance to win the ball back and spring a counter-attack.
McCowan’s fine goal against Hearts was a prime example of that working, Tiffoney’s chance to make it 3-0 at St Johnstone on Saturday another.
Against the Jambos, particularly in the first half, Dundee were happy to allow Hearts the majority of possession in certain areas but were far more effective when they got the ball.
After the Hearts win Docherty described his desire to lead a team “comfortable in shape and when not in possession”.
That slipped in the closing stages at McDiarmid Park, where they conceded two late goals, but it’s clear how Docherty wants his side to play this term.
And the early signs suggest it’s a strategy that can bring success.
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