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They often say it’s a game of two halves - but how often do results change after the break? We’ve checked every Premier League result since 1992 to bust the myth…
Sometimes a game appears to be beyond a team at the half-time whistle and it’s suggested that a rousing team talk could reverse fortunes. After all, it’s a game of two halves, right?
In fact, the half-time result - win, lose or draw - has been unchanged at the final whistle in 5,878 out of 9,746 games - so there is a 60 per cent chance that the half-time result will also be the full-time result.
In terms of seasons, 2009/10 produced the highest number of unchanged scorelines with 64.2 per cent of games ending as it was at the break, followed by 1998/99 (63.7 per cent), 2010/11 (63.4 per cent) and 2003/04 (62.9 per cent).
In contrast, 2004/05 really was the season of two halves - with 46.1 per cent of games ending with a different result than the first half, followed by 1999/00 (43.4 per cent), 2002,03 (42.6 per cent) and 2008/09 (42.1 per cent).
A league-high 68.4 per cent of Blackpool’s top-flight games ended unchanged, followed by Swindon (66.7 per cent), Sheffield United (64.8 per cent) and Bournemouth (64.5 per cent).
Conversely, Swansea are the most likely team to finish a game with a different result, with 47.4 per cent of their games changing from the 45-minute mark, followed by West Brom (44.5 per cent), Hull City (44.2 per cent), Burnley (43.9 per cent), QPR (43.2 per cent) and Tottenham (43.1 per cent).
Despite the fact that results a less likely to change during the second interval, it’s 25.8 per cent more likely that a goal is scored after the break. In total, 11,413 goals have been scored during the first half and 14,356 in the second.
Since 1995/96, when the Premier League was reduced to 20 teams, 2010/11 produced the highest number of first-half goals with 476, while only 398 were scored in 2008/09.
During the second interval, a league-high 602 were scored last season - joint with 2011/12, but just 498 were converted during 2005/06.
Two of the greatest examples of games with distinctly different halves involve the identical fixture: Manchester United v Tottenham.
In 2001/02, Spurs led United 3-0 at the break but ended up losing the game 5-3 at White Hart Lane.
United achieved another five-goal overhaul over Tottenham in 2008/09, recovering from a 2-0 half-time deficit to win 5-2. Newcastle also salvaged a 4-4 draw after falling four goals behind at the break in 2010/11.
But there have also been numerous memorable games with contrasting halves that met our criteria, listed below…
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