The importance of scoring first

Research based on last season's games in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League has highlighted the importance of scoring the first goal.

Almost 75% of clubs taking the lead in 2007/08 went on to win, with 15% forced to settle for a draw and only 10% suffering a defeat.

Scoring first in the SPL proved even more important than in the Champions League of 2007/08 when breaking the deadlock went on to produce a 70.4% win rate, with 13.1% draws. 16.5% of clubs lost despite taking the lead.

The importance of not going behind is even more pronounced at international level - at least according to this example. Of the 47 competitive games producing goals played by Scotland since the 1998 World Cup, the team scoring first has won 38 times (80.9%) with only three comebacks (6.4%) and six draws (12.7%).

Analysis of the 2007/08 Clydesdale Bank Premier League

Games played - 228

Goalless draws - 16

Score first and win - 158/212 (74.5%)

Score first and draw - 32/212 (15.1%)

Score first and lose - 22/212 (10.4%)

In all, there were 610 goals scored last season - 41.6% in the first half and 58.4% in the second half. Splitting the matches into five-minute intervals, the most likely time for a goal to be scored was between 86-90 mins (12.0%) while the least prolific slot was 31-35 mins (3.1%).