The Premier League in Three Clusters

Two charts. Twenty clubs. Three very different ideas about how to play football. The Premier League is one of the most competitive leagues in this world. We see a lot of talk about how some teams like to circulate the ball around, focus on patient build-up play and precision. Others get the ball, and immediately look vertical.

When you map all 20 clubs by possession and pass accuracy, distinct groups emerge. Each one has a different answer to the same question: what are we trying to do with the ball?  Pass direction confirms these patterns.

Finding the clusters