Team Focus: How Premier League Teams Perform Before and After the Break

From Stan Collymore's stoppage-time strike to put Liverpool 4-3 up over Newcastle towards the tail end of the 1995/96 season and Michael Owen's Manchester derby winner in 2009 to Sergio Agüero's title-winning goal against QPR in May 2012, grandstand finishes is something the Premier League has always excelled at providing. Through peaks and troughs in each team's history, drama is one constant that can be relied upon. This season has been no different, with Kim Bo-Kyung's equaliser for Cardiff against United and Bryan Oviedo's winner at Old Trafford last week two examples of late goals changing games.

Interestingly, both goals have come against the team most commonly associated with scoring late on themselves. The time in which so many of their late goals were scored was even named after their former manager, such was the frequency with which they scored late on. This season, though, things have changed. 'Fergie time' is no longer in operation.

David Moyes' appointment as Sir Alex Ferguson's replacement was always going to leave him with a tough job at hand, but few would have predicted quite the fall from grace that the Scot has overseen so far this season. Ninth in the table and 13 points adrift of Arsenal, the Premier League trophy is already being wrenched from their grasp. Problems with creativity and frail defending have been at the forefront of criticism of the Red Devils, but arguably the most striking thing about the United of this new era has been the lack of late onslaught when trailing, particularly at Old Trafford.

United have gone behind at some stage in no fewer than 8 of their 15 Premier League games this season, yet have only scored one second half injury-time goal all season, and that came in their opening game win, when already 3-1 up, at Swansea. In fact, when sorting the Premier League by performance in the second half only, United come up 15th in the table, having won only 4 of their fifteen second halves. That is, if matches restarted at 0-0 at half time, only 5 teams would rank below David Moyes' side in the table.

They have done better in the first half of matches, ranking fifth in the table for first halves, but rather than sit on big leads and play out goalless 45 minutes after the break, United have lost the majority of games late on, conceding 11 second half goals in total. In the two recent losses to Newcastle and Everton at Old Trafford, there was no late rousing rally from the home side, no bombardment of the visitor's goal, no six-yard box scramble and equaliser to save the day, but a mere whimper and almost an acceptance that the game wasn't going to be turned around.

Liverpool have an equally bad second half record, but given the pace at which they have started games this season, they can afford to let up as games wear on. With 23 goals in the first half of games, they have often been a few goals ahead, and so drawing the second period has been inconsequential. Brendan Rodgers' side have been at least two goals ahead at the midway point on 5 occasions this season, thanks to the goalscoring exploits of Luis Suárez, and although they have been let down by meek second half displays this season, notably at Everton and Hull of late, their first half performances have been sufficient to ensure they are second in the table.

Deserved table-toppers Arsenal have been the most consistent team over the two halves, winning the first half of 9 matches and the second half of 10. They seem to have combined the winning mentality which, currently, United are lacking, with a level of fitness that means they can play to their optimum until the very last.

At the bottom of the table fitness is often the deciding factor between teams. Much was made of Paolo Di Canio's strict fitness regime when he was brought in at Sunderland, but it seems he did not manage to implement it sufficiently well. The variety in quality between teams at the bottom is rarely all that large, so superior fitness can be the difference late on, but Sunderland are an incredible 6 points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League based only on second half results, having failed to win the second half of a single game this season. In the battle from relegation, tiny elements can have huge effects, and fitness may be something that Gus Poyet needs to improve.

The likes of Aston Villa, Stoke, Cardiff and Swansea all do vastly better in the second half of matches than they do in the first. Paul Lambert has assembled a young squad at Villa Park since taking over, often opting to purchase players with athletic attributes rather than overriding technical ability, and maybe that is the extra component that could fire Villa up the table. To put it merely down to fitness is too simplistic an explanation, but it certainly could be a significant factor come Spring in a long and arduous season in the battle against the drop.

Is this a big problem for United and Sunderland? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below