Who doesn’t love stats? We’ve taken a deep dive into the important numbers after our first fives games of the Isuzu UTE A-League 2021/22 season.
The Jets have stamped themselves as the entertainers of the competition thanks to their thrilling and expansive play-style, and after the opening five rounds sit in sixth position on the ladder – recording one win, two draws and two losses.
Here are the numbers that matter for our Jets, that may help get an idea of where we could be heading next in this action-packed season.
Stats via A-League Live APP
10
Goals scored
The Jets lead the competition at this point in the season with 10 goals to their name, and have yet to be held scoreless in a match yet – a feat only one other team has managed so far.
To put that stat in perspective, this year’s Jets have already scored almost half of the total goals scored last season. This is a fantastic turn-around for the side after we finished our last campaign with the least amount of goals in the league (24) and had only scored five goals after the first five matches.
Striker Beqa Mikeltadze currently tops the goalscoring charts with four goal, while winger Valentino Yuel is just one behind. It’s fair to say the new attacking philosophy that Manager Arthur Papas envisioned has certainly begun to take shape.
3,094
Passes made
Not only have we scored the most goals in the competition, but our Jets have also made the most passes.
When Papas arrived at the club, he brought with him a plan to emphasise aggressive football, and that has been on show in the early rounds of the season with the side holding over 60% of possession in four of their five games so far.
On average the Jets are attempting over 618 passes a match. This was most evident in our most recent clash with Macarthur, where we registered a whopping 508 more passes than the Bulls.
84
Shots on goal
If you don’t shoot, you don’t score, and we’ve been trying to score a lot as we currently sit third in the league for most shots on goal.
The attacking flair brought to the club from new arrivals Daniel Penha, Mikeltadze and Olivier Boumal are showcasing just some of the firepower we have across the pitch, with all three sitting in the top 10 for shots on goals in the league.
Penha has managed 22 shots so far this season, averaging almost four a game, whilst the Georgian Gun, Mikeltadze, is avergaing over three.
8
Assists
In collaboration with the most goals scored, and most passes completed, our side have also managed the most assists.
In another positive result of our early goal-scoring form, our Jets have almost reached their assists achievements of last season just five rounds into this year’s campaign.
Last year’s team saw now-Wanderer Ramy Najjarine lead the Jets with three assists, and the side registered 11 assists across the season.
This year, Penha has already completed three assists, and currently leads the competition in that department. Yuel who has two, and Angus Thurgate, Mikeltadze and Boumal have each registered one.
81
Tackles made
With our attacking statistics well represented at the top of the charts, the game of football is, after all a two-part game.
After five rounds, the side has made over 80 tackles, with an average of over 16 per match. Our team is building partnerships and improvements all over the pitch, including on defensive side.
Yuel currently has the most tackles for the club and is in the top 10 for the league with 12, Angus Thurgate is our second most effective tackler with nine.
5
Cards received
Strong discipline is a key part to collecting points and our side currently has received the least amount of cards across the board with five yellows.
The next lowest is Brisbane with seven, while Adelaide leads with 17 overall.
Additionally, our team has also been the most fouled in the competition, receiving 86 fouls which is over 30 more than most other clubs.