League Focus: How Premier League Teams Fare When Falling Behind

There were some contrasting but equally unsurprising outcomes from the weekend's Premier League action. Leicester came from two goals behind to steal a point against Southampton while Aston Villa, having fallen behind for the 8th successive league match, failed to salvage anything after gifting Chelsea the lead at Stamford Bridge.

After that game under-fire Villa boss Tim Sherwood bemoaned the concession of the opening goal - claiming the team that scores the first goal wins around 85% of matches. While accurate that the opening goal is so often the most important, the acceptance that it will end in a somewhat inevitable defeat is costing the sides at the foot of the table, while Leicester's defiance of such reasoning has kept them flying high in the league.

Jamie Vardy's last gasp leveller ensured that Leicester picked up their 7th point of the season from a losing position – the most in the league. In 5 of their 9 league games this season the Foxes have come from behind to salvage at least a point, proving that a positive attitude from the players and manager can have a massive impact on a team's league standing.

Indeed, some might argue that Leicester's indomitable spirit has actually masked a worrying trend. They have been behind at one stage or another in 6 matches this season. Only Sunderland (345) and Newcastle (339) have been losing for more minutes than Ranieiri's men (309). To put that into perspective Leicester - who sit fifth - have been behind in matches for 5 more minutes than the aforementioned Villa, who are second from bottom in the league.

Ranieri, of course, would rather his side didn't trail at all but he, unlike a number of his managerial counterparts, has great faith in the fact that the opening goal isn't always decisive.

Looking into the stats of teams in losing positions there are some more interesting findings, sticking first with the number of minutes for which a team has trailed. Perhaps among the greatest indicators of defensive organisation, it's not City, United or Arsenal that lead the way in terms of the fewest minutes played from a losing position - though the latter do rank second - but Crystal Palace (74 minutes).

Alan Pardew's side have been losing in 4 matches this season and failed to salvage a single point from such situations but that can be attributed to the fact that the Eagles have generally suffered courtesy of late goals. This weekend's defeat to West Ham was a case in point, with Dwight Gayle's first half dismissal eventually proving costly as Palace conceded in the 88th and 94th minute.

It was a similar story when they hosted table toppers Manchester City, conceding a last minute Kelechi Iheanacho goal, while decisive goals from Arsenal and Spurs came well into the second half.

The fact that Palace have been so organised for so long in games has no doubt been crucial to their fine start to the season. Moreover, with Arsenal (89 minutes) the only other side to have been behind for a shorter total period than Watford (107), it's hardly surprising that Quique Flores' side are best placed of the newly-promoted sides in the table.

That Bournemouth, West Brom and Liverpool - along with Palace - are the four sides yet to gain a single point from a losing position doesn't bode particularly well for any of them, though with regards to the latter there is an intriguing flip side. The Reds have perhaps surprisingly trailed in fewer matches this season than any other team (2), which was also the case prior to Brendan Rodgers' dismissal.

Of course Liverpool's main problem has been turning draws into wins - only their weekend opponents Spurs have played in more stalemates this season (4), making Saturday's outcome somewhat predictable - but the fact that they have, more often than not, avoided falling behind is something of a shock. Indeed, when you consider that Liverpool's defence and goalkeeper tend to bear the brunt of criticism targeted at the side - usually for good reason - some credit is due. After all, while convincingly beaten against West Ham and United, the Reds have avoided falling behind against the likes of Arsenal, Everton and Tottenham this season.

Perhaps then the task at hand for Klopp isn't quite as daunting as it may appear. Getting his team to click in the final third is arguably the bigger issue than preventing their lapses in concentration at the back, though the latter would be a huge bonus.

The stats so far certainly suggest that falling behind isn't the end of the world. Liverpool have avoided doing so most often but sit 10th while Leicester have trailed for 38.1% of their playing time this season and are 5th by comparison.

For the likes of Sunderland, Villa and West Brom the key will be to keep their heads up when they do fall behind. That, despite Leicester's remarkable ability to recover, will no doubt be easier said than done.