The League One table Portsmouth top ahead of Sunderland, Hull City and Ipswich which suggests wins were always around the corner

That’s followed on from a slow start which has frustrated and angered fans as the Blues’ struggled for results early on.

But the data experts have produced statistics which suggest the wins were always around the corner for Kenny Jackett’s men.

In fact, Pompey top the early-season table which gives an insight into how League One sides have been performing to date.

Analysis website, Experimental 3-6-1, have once again produced a table based around expected goals (xG), a metric which has gained traction in the game and increasingly among supporters.

xG assigns a value to all chances in a game based on a number of different factors to judge its quality.

Experimental 3-6-1 has taken that information to produce a league table which then reflects the performances a team are putting in.

It does so by comparing the xG of teams in every game, with three points given for a win and none for a loss as would be expected.

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A draw is defined as two teams who have an xG score within a third of a goal of each other.

And the results after eight Pompey games make for interesting viewing with the Blues topping the table on 19 points - five places higher than their current position.

That’s a point ahead of Sunderland after the weekend win at the Stadium of Light.

Current leaders Lincoln are third with Plymouth, Hull and Peterborough completing the top six.

Their xG score of 14.1 goals is 2.1 higher than their actual 12-goal return, suggesting they have been creating chances which warrant a better return than they’ve actually achieved.

Conversely, the goals conceded comes in at 8.5 which is 1.5 more than the seven league efforts Pompey have shipped - pointing towards over-performance at the back.

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