Contrary to popular belief, the most clutch club in the Premier League this season is not Manchester United, with “only” six goals scored during the final 15 minutes of the match but Manchester City, with 8 goals of their 20 netted in during the final stage of the 90 minutes.

Only two goals of a difference, but United spread their scoring equally through the second half of a match. They score 62.1% of their goals (29 so far) during the last 45 minutes, as the season of comebacks continues for Alex Ferguson. Damn the tactics, lets just throw in more strikers.

Things are that different for Manchester City, who do have a better defense than United, but find it hard to get things going in the first 45 minutes of matches. Maybe not enough motivation from simply stepping up on the field. After the drama of the final day last season, City players need to feel at risk of losing points to look for goals. They have scored 70% of their goals during the second half.

Five teams in the Premier League average less than a goal a match: Aston Villa (10), Stoke City (9), Norwich City (8), QPR (8) and Sunderland (7). Stoke City score two thirds of their goals during opening 45 minutes while Aston Villa have scored 60% of their goals in second halves. While Villa suffer from a case of no quality in the midfield, Stoke simply play negative tactics, despite usable talent to be a bit more attacking.

Chelsea don’t show much of a difference between the halves, but do tend to score more during the 15-30 stretch in the first half or the final 15 minutes. Great teams, title bound teams, seem to have that in common. Even Arsenal, who won’t be winning the title this season, have scored a third of their goals in the final 15 minutes of matches. Tottenham, another team that sees itself as title contenders, score two thirds of their goals in the second half, but only 5.6% during the final 15 minutes.

Liverpool? Not that they score a lot; only 14 goals in 11 matches this season. One glaring number? No goals in the final 15 minutes of matches.