League of Ireland: 1/3 way point

With one third of the season now complete for each team now is a good time to take stock. Every team has played everyone once - leaving the table looking like this:

Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Prob	Shot %	Save %	SoTR	TSR	PDO	Pyth	HFA
Dundalk	11	9	2	0	28	5	23	29	55%	34%	83%	73%	65%	1171	27.33	2.0
Shamrock Rovers	11	6	5	0	15	4	11	23	23%	23%	88%	67%	66%	1109	25.66	-0.4
Cork City	11	6	4	1	18	5	13	22	17%	35%	84%	63%	59%	1185	25.45	1.9
Bohemians	11	6	3	2	12	6	6	21	2%	27%	87%	48%	49%	1145	21.52	-1.0
St Patrick's Athletic	11	6	3	2	19	10	9	21	17%	27%	80%	59%	59%	1067	21.10	1.4
Longford Town FC	11	3	4	4	12	13	-1	13	0%	20%	80%	48%	47%	1003	14.27	0.2
Derry City	11	3	4	4	9	10	-1	13	0%	15%	79%	56%	53%	937	14.02	0.5
Galway United FC	11	3	0	8	12	21	-9	9	0%	26%	68%	42%	43%	937	9.74	0.3
Drogheda United	11	2	2	7	8	17	-9	8	0%	24%	76%	32%	37%	1000	8.14	0.0
Sligo Rovers	11	1	5	5	9	18	-9	8	0%	13%	68%	55%	56%	815	8.62	0.7
Bray Wanderers	11	2	1	8	8	25	-17	7	0%	31%	66%	26%	31%	970	5.48	0.8
Limerick	11	0	5	6	9	25	-16	5	0%	18%	72%	36%	40%	899	6.21	1.0

Prob: Probability of winning based on latest bookie odds.
Shot %: goals for/shots on target for
Save %: 1 - (goals against/shots on target against)
SoTR: Shot on Target Ratio (shots on target for / [shots on target against + shots on target for])
TSR: Total Shot Ratio (shots for / [shots against + shots for])
PDO: (Shot% + Save%) * 1000
Pyth: Pythagorean points expectation based on a function of goals for, goals against.

Dundalk are top on points.  I've included alot of others stats on the table but points is all that really matters. Dundalk's shot conversion rate is second to Cork, and their save percent is behind all of Rovers, Cork and Bohs. Their strength is in the sheer amount of shots on target that they create in each game dominating shots on target by 73% on average.

Shamrock Rovers have left a couple of points behind, racking up more than their fair share of draws. They have also faltered a little at home with only them and Bohs recording a worse goal difference at home when compared with their away goal difference.

Cork City, just as last season, have been very clinical in front of goal, converting a larger proportion of their chances than any other team.

Bohs are the unexpected package and the numbers suggest that they may struggle to maintain their pace. They are out shot by their opponents in general but the defense and keeper has come to their rescue so far. Can they maintain an 87% save ratio. You would imagine that they would have to pick up their home form as well if they want to challenge.

St Pats were the pre season favourites with one bookmaker at least. It's hard to see where they have been let down apart from in the points column. They are not particularly lagging behind on save percent and shot percent and shot creation stats. Their PDO is a little low - so maybe a little bit of bad luck so far. They may have lost too much ground to Dundalk at this stage but I expect them to pull themselves back into the race for European places.

At the bottom end Bray are lucky not to be rooted to the foot of the table.

Sligo will be most disappointed to be as low as they are. I expect that they will climb pretty quickly. They are definitely making chances but so far I think have been unlucky that their fair share has not been hitting the back of the net. They have the lowest PDO value - which indicates the worst luck. On the other hand their shot ratios would put them in the top 5 teams. They too though have lost far too much ground.