Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Sunderland are thriving in the Europa League but struggling in the Premier League.
All three teams are playing at the highest of international stakes in the Premier League era (since 1992/93). The Eagles went as far as winning a European trophy last year, but in the Conference League.
The Black Cats had already been on that stage before, but for the last time in the 70s. As for the Cherries, this is their very first continental experience.
And they are all prime examples of just how different the Premier League is compared to the other leagues.
What makes the Premier League more challenging than European football for Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Sunderland?
It’s hard to start anywhere else than with the level of competition. Bournemouth and Sunderland have a perfect record, but it is still a small sample size (two matches). Not to mention they did face sides like Torreense and Sturm Graz. Crystal Palace won their one game against Lech Poznan.
But it does stand out how the Cherries just went into San Sebastian and jumped a solid Real Sociedad team. By the 20th minute it was already 2-0, courtesy of goals from Justin Kluivert and Rayan.
Sociedad did dominate the second half and even managed to pull one back, but it wasn’t enough. And that was a clash between the 5th-placed team in LaLiga and the 15th-placed team in the Premier League.
The Eagles dropped their game against Lyon, but it stood out how easily they shut out the French side’s actions when going all-in in their high press, matching the number of players they had in build-up and going man-to-man all across the pitch.
Lyon struggled mightily in the second half and Palace had could have even scored more than the two goals they ended up with.
AZ Alkmaar aren’t in this same class, but presented more of a challenge for the Black Cats than Torreense last time out.
Sitting second in the Eredivisie, ahead of the likes of PSV and Ajax, they were ultimately no match for Sunderland. It took an Enzo Le Fee penalty to split the two sides, but they did have seven shots worth 0.15 xG or more in the game, compared to AZ’s four.
But what stands out the most might be how these teams get the results, not the raw final scores themselves.
Last season, all of those teams had serious issues controlling matches, excelling in fast breaks. Bournemouth thrived in chaos under Andoni Iraola and did all they could to disrupt rythm from their opponents.
As a result, they finished the campaign as the fastest team in the league in terms of transition, averaging 1.5 metres per second upfield, according to advanced Opta metrics.
Sunderland, on the other hand, were the joint-most direct team in the Premier League, averaging just 3.0 passes per sequence.
Palace also took a reactive approach under Oliver Glasner and had the second highest average of pass distance (19.4m), behind only the Black Cats (19.5m).
And whenever they went away from their preferred identities, things tended to go wrong more often than not. But this simply hasn’t been a problem in Europe.
Of course, it all goes back to the level of some opponents. The Eagles won the Conference League last season even fielding alternate lineups in the group stage. But they went from 46% possession in the Premier League to 53% in the UECL.
This year, they beat Lech Poznan 4-0 with 53% possession, but it was at 60% until they opened the scoring 10 minutes in. And they stepped up away to Lyon in the second half, in which they spent 58% of the time with the ball, having four big chances against one from the French side.
| Crystal Palace stats (per game) | Premier League | Europa League |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 43% | 51% |
| Goals scored | 1.3 | 3.0 |
| Goals conceded | 2.4 | 1.5 |
| Shots | 10.1 | 14.0 |
| Shots faced | 18.0 | 14.0 |
| Big chances | 3.1 | 3.5 |
| Big chances conceded | 3.3 | 4.0 |
| PPDA | 14.8 | 11.2 |
Sunderland had 45% possession against AZ, but defeated Torreense with 61%.
| Sunderland stats (per game) | Premier League | Europa League |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 49% | 52% |
| Goals scored | 0.9 | 1.5 |
| Goals conceded | 2.0 | 0.5 |
| Shots | 11.6 | 21.0 |
| Shots faced | 14.6 | 7.0 |
| Big chances | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Big chances conceded | 3.4 | 1.5 |
| PPDA | 11.7 | 9.1 |
Bournemouth dominated the ball in both halves against Sturm Graz and had an efficient formula to get good opportunities working down the right-hand side.
| Bournemouth stats (per game) | Premier League | Europa League |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 50% | 49% |
| Goals scored | 1.3 | 2.5 |
| Goals conceded | 1.9 | 0.5 |
| Shots | 15.1 | 17.0 |
| Shots faced | 9.6 | 11.0 |
| Big chances | 3.3 | 4.0 |
| Big chances conceded | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| PPDA | 11.3 | 13.7 |
There’s also the old cliche that teams not used to playing in Europe usually struggle in the Premier League when having to balance it with continental competitions. And the intangible that the ‘new thing’, in this case the Europa League, gets more attention, focus and intensity from the players because it’s an international stage.