Stats: Who would be top of the Premier League table if shots that hit the woodwork had gone in?

Leicester City could go on and win the Premier League title by the end of the season judging by their recent form. Ever since their loss to Arsenal at the Emirates in mid-February – only their third loss all season – they have won 16 points from six games as teams below them faltered.

The Foxes now have a seven-point lead at the top over second-placed Tottenham Hotspur who have lost only four times this season. Their north London rivals Arsenal occupy third spot with Manchester City in the final Champions League spot.

Claudio Ranieri’s side do not look like slipping up and it could well be the most astonishing fairytale comeback in sport. Exactly a year ago to the day, the Foxes were in 20th place in the Premier League. A late season comeback saw them eventually survive relegation and finish 14th. Now, a year on, they find themselves at the summit thanks to the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and N’Golo Kante.

Current 2015/16 EPL Table with six games to go

#	Club	Pld	GD	Pts
1	Leicester City	32	24	69
2	Tottenham Hotspur	32	32	62
3	Arsenal	31	22	58
4	Manchester City	31	24	54
5	Manchester United	31	12	53
6	West Ham United	31	12	51
7	Southampton	32	8	47
8	Stoke City	32	-3	47
9	Liverpool	30	5	45
10	Chelsea	31	8	44
11	West Bromwich Albion	31	-7	40
12	Everton	30	9	38
13	Bournemouth	32	-16	38
14	Watford	31	-6	37
15	Swansea City	32	-9	37
16	Crystal Palace	31	-8	34
17	Norwich City	32	-21	31
18	Sunderland	31	-19	27
19	Newcastle United	31	-27	25
20	Aston Villa	32	-40	16

The traditional top four clubs have suffered one way or another this season. Defending champions Chelsea imploded at the start of the season and the club eventually sacked Jose Mourinho. Guus Hiddink took over as interim boss at Stamford Bridge for a second time in his career, steadied the ship and the Blues haven’t lost a game in the league since. But a number of draws have hurt their top four chances.

Similarly, Manchester United saw a an initial surge to the top under Louis van Gaal before the months of October to December saw them rapidly slide down the table and also out of the Champions League in the group stages. Manchester City have failed to beat any of the other top six sides so far and Manuel Pellegrini is on his way out of the club this summer.

Gunners top list of teams who hit the woodwork the most this season

Arsenal probably had the best chance to mount a serious challenge for the title and even topped the table in January. The win against Leicester City proved to be a false dawn as a series of poor results saw them lose ground as the Foxes and Spurs pulled away from the Gunners.

Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez beats Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland but only ends up hitting the post

But a closer look at Arsenal’s shots on goal reveals a different story. The Gunners aren’t third due to a lack of trying to score goals. They have created chances with Mesut Ozil leading the way (18 assists so far – two short of Thierry Henry’s record of 20 in a single Premier League season).

In fact, Arsene Wenger’s side have hit the posts or the crossbar more times than any other team in the league – 19 times to be exact. On the other hand, their derby rivals Spurs have been lucky to see 18 shots come off Hugo Lloris’s goal.

Arsenal have hit the woodwork the most times (19), while Spurs have had theirs struck the most (18).

— Orbinho (@Orbinho) April 4, 2016

If these shots that hit the woodwork had gone in, the EPL table takes on a very different complexion. Arsenal would actually have been top of the table with Leicester City in second place only on goal difference (although the Gunners do have a game in hand).

West Ham, currently in sixth place would be third while Manchester City still hold on to the fourth spot. Tottenham actually fall out of the top four while United fall even further down to seventh with Liverpool moving up to fifth. Chelsea even drop down to the lower half of the table.

However, there is no change in the relegation zone with the same three teams (Sunderland, Newcastle and Aston Villa) propping up the rest of the clubs.

2015/16 EPL Table if shots that hit the woodwork had gone in

#	Club	Pld	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	31	31	59
2	Leicester City	32	23	59
3	West Ham United	31	18	57
4	Manchester City	31	26	56
5	Liverpool	30	11	53
6	Tottenham Hotspur	32	27	52
7	Manchester United	31	7	49
8	Everton	30	16	48
9	Southampton	32	12	48
10	Stoke City	32	-10	42
11	Swansea City	32	-4	41
12	Chelsea	31	6	40
13	Crystal Palace	31	-8	40
14	Watford	31	-8	39
15	Bournemouth	32	-18	37
16	West Bromwich Albion	31	-13	35
17	Norwich City	32	-21	34
18	Sunderland	31	-18	32
19	Newcastle United	31	-36	26
20	Aston Villa	32	-43	12

Stats courtesy of Opta Sports