Premier League set piece delays cause lowest ball-in play percentage on record
Referencing: Monster Throw-In Delays and Less Football, But Better Competition: Is Set-Piece Craze Good for the Premier League?
Opta Analyst:
The result, however, is less actual football than in any other season in recent memory. The ball has been in play for a lower percentage of overall match time (54.8%) than in any other Premier League season on record (since 2015-16).
It’s true that games are longer these days because more stoppage time is being added on at the end of matches in an attempt to combat time-wasting, but fans are still watching less actual football than in almost any other recent season.
There has been an average of 55 minutes and 15 seconds of time when the ball is in play in Premier League games this season. That’s one minute and 44 seconds less game time than last season. It’s almost three minutes fewer than the season before. Only two of the 10 seasons before this one have seen less total ball-in-play time, and they were the two early seasons of VAR, when refereeing delays were incredibly long.
Get the ball in play or I’m changing the channel. There’s plenty of other leagues to watch.