First-half and second-half statistics
SoccerSTATS.com - updated on: 26 Jun 2024
Objective
Half-time and second-half statistics can be used to:
- narrow the scope of team statistics to either the first-half or the second-half of matches
- observe differences in match results depending on whether the team was leading or trailing at halftime
Description
The first-half table and the second-half table only consider goals that were scored in the corresponding match half and show for each team:
- Games played
- Matches won, Draws, Matches lost
- Goals scored, Goals conceded, Goal difference
- Points
Below is a view of some of the columns of the first-half table:
The following 1st-half/2nd-half tables are available for most leagues that are tracked at the goal-events level:
- 1st-half table, 2nd-half table
- 1st-half table (at home), 2nd-half table (at home)
- 1st-half table (away), 2nd-half table (away)
- Match goals stats at halftime
- Goals scored and conceded at halftime
- Leading at halftime
- Trailing at halftime
- Goals by half
- HT/FT at home, HT/FT away
Calculations
The 1st-half table and the 2nd-half table rank the teams by points, using goal difference and goals scored as tie-breakers.
The Match goals stats at halftime and Goals scored and conceded at halftime are calculated in the same way as
their full-time equivalent tables, for example the main Total match goals stats table,
except of course that the goals taken into account only include those scored before halftime.
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Leading at halftime
This table aims at showing team statistics taking into account only those matches where the team was leading at halftime. The table shows the following for
each team:
- Matches: number of matches where the team was leading at halftime
- Perc.: percentage of matches where the team was leading at halftime
- W: number of matches won after the team was leading at halftime
- D: number of draws after the team was leading at halftime
- L: number of defeats after the team was leading at halftime
- Goals: number of goals scored and goals conceded in matches where the team was leading at halftime
- Points: number of points picked up in matches where the team was leading at halftime
- Avg Pts: Points Per Game in matches where the team was leading at halftime
A similar table using the same structure is also displayed, only focusing on matches where the teams were trailing at halftime.
Halftime/full-time outcomes
These tables are similar to the Home table and Away table, but include a few additional columns to show for each team the
number of matches that fit a particular result pattern in terms of halftime/full-time outcomes.
For example the "1/1" pattern means that the home team was leading at halftime and won the match. Another example, the "X/2"
pattern means that the score was level at halftime and the visiting team ended up winning the match.
Such halftime/full-time outcomes allow to view for example which teams have been good at keeping a halftime lead, or at coming back from a losing position
at halftime.
Example
You can view an example on the First-half / second-half stats page for the Bundesliga.
Avoiding pitfalls
Second-half statistics are obvioudly calculated based on a different context than that of first-half statistics, in the sense that for example when
the second-half is about to start, some teams may already be one or two goals behind and could decide to play in a different way
than they would have played had the score been level at the break.
If we take the example of a team that is good at clinging to an early lead, they are not under the same type of pressure to score more goals in the second half as a team that would be trailing at half-time.
If they hang on to their lead by keeping a clean sheet during the second half and without scoring any goal, each of those goalless second halves would be counted
as draws in that context.
Such a situation would not necessarily mean that the team has been underperforming in their second halves, as it may also mean that
the team has done most of the job during the first-half, and has been spending most of its second halves defending its lead.
This is why, when looking at second-half tables, it can be interesting to pay attention to the number of draws, and to keep in mind
that draws in the second-half tables do not necessarily carry the same meaning as draws in the first-half table.
Related statistics
You can display an overview of the 1st-half/2nd-half tables for some of the main European leagues from the
1st half / 2nd half page of the Featured leagues overview section.