Welcome to the 13th edition of The Alternative Premier League Table, where each Thursday, Anantaajith Raghuraman analyses the entire division through a specific lens.
After studying injuries suffered by each club last week, this week we will examine defensive errors that have led to shots and/or goals.
As usual, the article that follows is long but detailed, so please settle down and enjoy it all — or use the index at the bottom of the page to jump to a specific club.
Matchday 12 saw 14 errors leading to a shot across the league, the second highest in a set of games behind the 20 made by teams on matchday eight.
Overall, teams have made 180 errors leading to a shot or goal across the first 12 rounds, the highest at this point since 2018-19, eclipsing the 170 such errors made in 2024-25.
With that in mind, this week’s Alternative Table is ordered by errors leading to a shot conceded (including goals) as the primary column and errors leading to goals conceded. You can sort the table by clicking a column header, while Opta’s definition of an error is at the foot of the chart.
Key takeaways include:
- Tottenham Hotspur lead the league in total errors with 15, three of which have resulted in goals.
- Brentford have seen their error rate decline significantly this season under Keith Andrews
- Bournemouth come out best with just three total errors and only one goal conceded from them.
- Rock-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers have seen the highest proportion of errors resulting in goals, with opponents scoring from five of their 12 mistakes.
- Aston Villa have conceded the most possessions in their own third but have made just five errors leading to a shot, the same as Arsenal.
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs’ season has frequently been viewed through the lens of prioritising defensive solidity while they wait for their attack to return to full fitness. That is harder to do when you lead the league in errors leading to a shot or goal.
Each of their three goals conceded from errors has proved decisive, too.
Chelsea’s only goal in the win in early November came from a Micky van de Ven giveaway near his own box. The other two errors came in the lead-up to Yasin Ayari’s goal for Brighton & Hove Albion in a 2-2 draw. Lucas Bergvall gave the ball away to Ayari on the edge of the box, while Guglielmo Vicario reacted late to the swerve on the Brighton midfielder’s shot.
Against Arsenal at the weekend, Cristian Romero’s turnover nearly led to Eberechi Eze adding to his hat-trick late on. Chelsea and Aston Villa could have increased their slender margins of victory with two shots apiece from giveaways at the edge of their own area. Leeds United were handed three opportunities that could have changed a 2-1 defeat to a draw or win.
Spurs’ errors have often come while using Pedro Porro (top image) as their outlet while building up from the back, resulting in the Spaniard making the joint-most errors leading to a shot (four) among all Premier League players.
Arsenal
Against Spurs on Sunday, Arsenal conceded their first goal of the season from an error. Given their defensive solidity, it needed to be a showstopper, with Richarlison lobbing David Raya from more than 35 yards out after Joao Palhinha had dispossessed Martin Zubimendi relatively easily.
Richarlison punishes Arsenal for making a rare error (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Arsenal have made five errors that have resulted in shots, with three coming in the nervy 1-0 win against Fulham in October. All three, though, were stray passes in midfield against a passive team, giving them ample time to get bodies back and limit the quality of the shot.
That defensive work rate means Mikel Arteta’s side are averaging just 7.0 shots and 1.9 shots on target conceded per 90, comfortably the best in the league. Manchester City, with 9.3 shots conceded, and Chelsea, with 2.8 shots on target conceded, are the next best in those categories.
Bournemouth
The season-on-season improvement under Andoni Iraola can be seen from Bournemouth’s drop in errors. Iraola’s first 12 games in charge in 2023-24 saw them make eight mistakes leading to a shot or goal. That dropped to four in the first 12 matches of 2024-25 and to a league-best three this season.
The only goal they have conceded from an error came against Brighton & Hove Albion when James Hill and Djordje Petrovic misjudged Yankuba Minteh’s cross, resulting in Kaoru Mitoma scoring from a free back-post header.
Their improvement in not giving the ball away in dangerous areas has been a factor, too. The first 12 games of Iraola’s tenure saw Bournemouth concede possession in their own third 6.8 times per 90 minutes. That dropped to 3.2 in the first 12 games of 2024-25 and to just 2.9 per 90 this season. The sort of steady improvement that catches the eye.
Andoni Iraola: increasingly error-averse (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Wolverhampton Wanderers
In contrast, Wolves are trending in the opposite direction. They made three errors leading to a shot or goal in the first 12 matches of 2023-24, rising to nine in 2024-25 and 12 this season.
Five of those errors (42 per cent) have resulted in goals, the highest ratio in the league. The latest of those was Yeremy Pino’s strike for Crystal Palace at the weekend, following a Hwang Hee-chan pass that deflected off Daichi Kamada to reach Adam Wharton.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde has made two high-profile errors leading to match-winners for Burnley and Bournemouth, getting dispossessed high up the pitch. Emmanuel Agbadou was similarly culpable against Leeds United and Manchester City, passing to the opponent after Wolves committed players forward, resulting in goals from Noah Okafor and Tijjani Reijnders.
Aston Villa
Villa’s only error resulting in a goal will be fresh in their fans’ memories. Emiliano Martinez passed the ball straight to Mohamed Salah, who scored to help Liverpool to their only victory in the last seven matches.
Villa have been the architects of their own problems at times, with a league-high 4.9 possessions conceded in their own defensive third per 90.
But for errors that have led to a shot, they have allowed just five, two against Liverpool, with Boubacar Kamara and Ezri Konsa giving the ball away cheaply. Konsa did make a goal-line clearance to stop Sasa Lukic from scoring after Martinez gave the ball away in the 3-1 win over Fulham.
Manchester City
Both of City’s two goals conceded from errors were caused by goalkeeper mistakes.
James Trafford made the first against Tottenham in August, with Pape Matar Sarr intercepting his pass to Ruben Dias inside their box and Joao Palhinha eventually scoring. Gianluigi Donnarumma then flapped at a corner against Bournemouth, which fell to Tyler Adams for an easy finish.
Donnarumma flaps during Manchester City’s game with Bournemouth (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Donnarumma nearly made another at the weekend against Newcastle United, with Joelinton seizing on his poor pass to Phil Foden at the edge of the box. The Italian was also nearly culpable against Arsenal, flapping at another corner only for William Saliba to head over.
Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol made crucial errors against Everton and Brentford, but neither team’s striker could take the opportunity.
Brentford
Brentford made 28 errors leading to a shot (eight of which led to goals) in 2024-25 but have reduced the mistakes, with only four in 12 matches.
Vitaly Janelt’s loose pass outside his own box led to Salah scoring a late consolation at the Gtech Community Stadium in a 3-2 win over Liverpool in October. The other came on matchday one with Sepp van den Berg passing straight to Elliot Anderson, who set up a running Chris Wood to put Nottingham Forest 3-0 up.
Nathan Collins has looked shaky, making errors that do not show up in this statistic, but Brentford have largely been secure at the back. They have given possession away just 2.6 times in their own third per 90 (third lowest behind Arsenal’s 2.1 and Everton’s 2.5) — largely due to their direct style — while they have conceded just 3.8 shots on target per 90.
Liverpool
The reigning champions’ two errors leading to goals this season came against Bournemouth and Newcastle, before the malaise that grips the club had taken hold. Incidentally, they were 2-0 up in both matches when those errors occurred.
Alex Scott intercepted Dominik Szoboszlai’s flick to help send David Brooks on his way and set up Antoine Semenyo in their Premier League opener. At Newcastle, Milos Kerkez did not challenge Bruno Guimaraes as the Brazil international headed a cross home at the far post.
Liverpool’s bigger issue has been lapses in concentration that allow teams to build momentum.
Against Manchester United, they made two mistakes leading to shots less than 30 seconds apart in the first half when already 1-0 down, while their 3-0 defeat to Forest last weekend saw goalkeeper Alisson roll a pass straight to Omari Hutchinson, who got a shot away, as seen below.
Ibrahima Konate has particularly struggled, making three errors that have led to a shot. The mistakes have often come due to Konate not finding easy passes forward, pointing to a larger systemic issue for Arne Slot to solve.
Nottingham Forest
Forest have made 14 errors leading to shots (including three goals), already more than the 13 they made in all of 2023-24 and on the way to breaking the 24 they committed last season.
Eight of their errors this season came in five matches under Ange Postecoglou as the squad struggled to adjust to his in-possession demands. Three of those, including one for Pedro Neto’s free-kick goal, came in Postecoglou’s final match in charge — a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Forest have made three errors in four games under Sean Dyche.
Matz Sels misjudged Marcus Tavernier’s corner to concede an ‘olimpico’ in the 2-0 loss to Bournemouth. Morgan Gibbs-White made his third error leading to a shot in the same game, playing a terrible pass straight over Murillo to David Brooks.
Ange Postecoglou saw his Forest side make three errors in his final game in charge against Chelsea (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Brighton & Hove Albion
Forest’s weekend opponents Brighton have made the third fewest errors leading to a shot or goal (five), a significant improvement on 2024-25, Fabian Hurzeler’s first season, which yielded 29.
Brighton are exercising better territorial control, allowing fewer shots (10.6 per 90, down from 11.3 in 2024-25) and shots on target (3.5 per 90, down from 4.0) despite averaging lesser possession (50 per cent, down from 52).
Their only goal conceded to an error came in the 1-1 draw with Wolves. Danny Welbeck’s weak clearance from a free kick fell to Marshall Munetsi, whose volley resulted in a Bart Verbruggen own goal.
Leeds United
Leeds have been excellent in limiting defensive errors, making just five across 12 matches, with two of those ending in goals.
One of those was in the 3-0 defeat to Brighton this month, with Jayden Bogle giving the ball away to Georginio Rutter, who squared for Diego Gomez. The other proved more decisive as Gabriel Gudmundsson’s poor control was seized upon by Mohammed Kudus to score the winner in Tottenham’s slender 2-1 victory.
Defending has been one of Leeds’ overall strengths, though, as they are allowing the eighth-fewest shots per 90 (10.9). Finishing their chances at the other end has been a bigger concern. They have forced eight errors leading to a shot but scored just one of them.
West Ham United
Struggling West Ham have similarly kept errors to a minimum, despite conceding 25 goals in 12 matches.
Their troubles from corners have been the starkest, with nine goals conceded from these situations, four more than next-worst Forest. Goalkeeping has been a concern too, with Alphonse Areola (against Burnley) and Mads Hermansen (versus Chelsea) making their only errors that have led to goals.
Areola did make up for that mistake by covering for Aaron Wan-Bissaka during the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, denying Amine Adli the winner with this save.
Burnley
Burnley have conceded the most shots (17.3 per 90) and shots on target (5.9 per 90), with only Wolves (27) and West Ham conceding more goals than their 24.
Scott Parker has set his team up to sit deep and counter-attack but that can place attacking players in unfamiliar areas, resulting in more mistakes. Jaidon Anthony and Loum Tchaouna have each made two errors leading to a shot, while Josh Cullen and Hannibal Mejbri have added one each.
Their two errors leading to goals both came for Erling Haaland’s second goal for Manchester City. Maxime Esteve, who had already scored two own goals in that game, jumped for a long ball with Hjalmar Ekdal. Both got in each other’s way, allowing Haaland to race through and finish.
Sunderland
Sunderland have also made 10 errors, with these mistakes often from building up and attempting to move play quickly along the flanks or from rushed clearances.
Their two errors leading to goals have come at crucial times in their matches. Enzo Le Fee spent too long on the ball against Arsenal, allowing Declan Rice to win it and find Bukayo Saka to cancel out Sunderland’s 1-0 lead. The other saw goalkeeper Robin Roefs flap at a Matty Cash long-range shot to give Villa their first goal of the league season in a 1-1 draw, though his vision may have been obstructed by defenders in front of him.
Overall, though, Regis Le Bris’ side are trending in the right direction, with an ability to alternate playing styles between long and short passes when required. The presence of Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki in midfield also allows them to cover spaces much better in case of turnovers.
Sunderland are benefiting from the Granit Xhaka insurance policy (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
Newcastle United
Sunderland’s rivals Newcastle are alongside their neighbours and Burnley on 10 errors, with their two errors leading to goals coming this month.
Against West Ham, Nick Pope spilt what seemed like a relegation save from Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek converted to confirm a 3-1 win. Lewis Hall’s tame clearance against Manchester City fell to Ruben Dias, who converted a tough chance to draw his team level, though Newcastle won the match 2-1.
Eddie Howe’s side have repeatedly given the ball away in build-up, averaging 3.8 possessions lost in their defensive third per 90 and 19.2 in the middle third per 90. Fabian Schar, Sven Botman and Sandro Tonali, usually reliable distributors of the ball, have contributed to four errors leading to a shot between them, while Joelinton has made two.
Everton
David Moyes’ side have made the third-most errors in the Premier League with 13, trailing Spurs and Forest, and that doesn’t include slapping teammates.
James Tarkowski has contributed three (two in the 2-0 win over Brighton), none of which ended in a goal. But he played a part in one of the goal-ending errors, mistiming his jump from a Tottenham corner before Jordan Pickford was caught in no man’s land to be beaten by Micky van de Ven.
Everton’s other error that led to a goal came from Vitalii Mykolenko, who was slow to react to a David Moller Wolfe cross, with Rodrigo Gomes sneaking ahead of him to score for Wolves.
Before his red card for an altercation with Michael Keane against Manchester United, Idrissa Gueye gave the ball away at the edge of his area, with Bruno Fernandes forcing a save from Pickford. The Everton goalkeeper has saved his side’s blushes a couple of times, including this excellent save from Richarlison.
Manchester United
United have generally erred on the side of caution under Ruben Amorim. Having made 13 errors leading to a goal in 2024-25, they have made just three in 12 matches this season.
The most notable of those three was made by Diogo Dalot against Fulham. Dalot gave the ball away on the left flank and could not recover to stop Alex Iwobi’s cross, which Emile Smith Rowe converted after Fernandes failed to track his run.
United’s six errors leading to a shot (but not a goal) have typically come from teams limiting their options to progress play forward when they have gone short. But with United going long more frequently, those issues have been relatively more subdued.
Chelsea
Chelsea trailed only Southampton (51) in errors leading to a shot in 2024-25 with 45. While discipline has been an issue this season — they are the only team to hit three figures in yellow cards (exactly 100) — they have reduced the errors at the back.
Robert Sanchez has been crucial to that. Having led the league in errors leading to a shot (including goals) last season with 10, he is yet to make one in 2025-26.
Chelsea’s two errors leading to a goal occurred after they went down to 10 men. Against Manchester United, Reece James’ upward clearance in the box ended in a flick-on from which Casemiro scored. Josh Acheampong was the culprit in stoppage time against Brighton, giving the ball away at the edge of the box to Brajan Gruda, who set up Welbeck to score.
Robert Sanchez has significantly improved his error-avoidance game (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
Crystal Palace
Trending in the opposite direction are Palace, who have made nine errors leading to shots in just 12 games after making only 19 in the whole of 2024-25.
Chris Richards and Marc Guehi made half-clearances against Liverpool and Bournemouth that fell back into the danger area and resulted in goals. Rushed or mistimed clearances have been a theme in this regard, while Daichi Kamada and Jefferson Lerma have given the ball away in dangerous areas, too.
Oliver Glasner’s system typically gives Palace numbers at the back to ward off these situations, but their midfield could be more secure with the ball.
Fulham
Opponents repeatedly exploit the open spaces in Fulham’s midfield. Marco Silva’s side also average 4.3 possessions conceded in their own defensive third, the third-worst rate in the division.
Errors underpinned their defeat to Newcastle in October as two mistakes by Calvin Bassey led to goals for Jacob Murphy and Guimaraes in a 2-1 loss. Bassey’s tally of four errors leading to shots (including goals) is the joint-worst, along with Porro.
The only goal they conceded against Brentford in September came from a mistake, too, with Mikkel Damsgaard intercepting Josh King’s pass across the pitch and scoring.