We’re 16 games into the season and are almost on the final straight in our race to the finals.
With five wins, three draws and eight losses to our name, Arthur Papas and the team will be confident they can turn our strong performances into strong results in the business end.
Here are the important numbers to know ahead of our finals charge:
30
Points available
It might sound obvious, but it’s important to note just how many points are still on offer as we push for a top six place.
Based on the past five seasons, the average points cut-off for a finals place is at 37 points, and may be the magic number teams in the race are fighting towards.
From those final ten games, six of those are against sides currently outside the top six and five are at home, setting up a great chance to pick up vital points in our run home.
28
Goals scored and conceded
While there’s certainly been highs and lows of the season so far, one thing that can’t be argued is our entertaining style of football that has brought plenty of goals – both for and against.
Our high-intensity brand has resulted in our team sitting second in the league for goals scored per game, however we also are the second-worst in the competition for goals conceded per game.
The team will be mindful that while we pose a constant threat in attack when we have the ball, the lack of concentration in specific, defensive moments will need to improve to improve our spot in the standings.
1st
In shots on target, possession and accurate passes per game
While there’s a focus on improving defensively, our attacking stats so far this season have been strong as our side lead the competition in multiple areas.
One of those is our shots on target per game where we average over 5 a game – with Beqa Mikeltadze and Daniel Penha as the two leaders of our team with 1.6 (Mikeltadze) and 1.2 (Penha).
Our team also lead considerably in keeping the ball and dictating the tempo of the game, averaging over 57% a game – almost 3% more than any other team – and also over 457 passes which is over 20 passes more than the next highest.
Now that we’ve set a strong foundation for our style of play, our team will be confident of turning those stats into more goals scored.
9
Assists by Daniel Penha, and goals scored by Beqa Mikeltadze
Our danger men up front have caused numerous headaches for opposing teams and in doing so are putting up top numbers.
The Brazilian magician has currently made nine assists and is just two off equalling the A-League record for most in a season. He has averages almost three key passes a game, which is in the top three for the league.
Additionally, Mikeltadze has started well in the goalscoring department, and even equalled our club record for most consecutive goalscoring appearances earlier in the season. The Georgian Gun is almost hitting double digits in goals from his 15 games played, if he does so, will be the first Jet to since Roy O’Donovan three years ago.
231
Fouls against us
While it may not completely affect our next ten games, it’s interesting to note that our side are currently leading the way as the most fouled team in the league.
The next most fouled team is Adelaide with 221, yet they have played three more matches than us.
Currently we have three players inside the top ten players fouled, with Olivier Boumal fouled 35 times, Beqa Mikeltadze 34, and Daniel Penha with 29.
