The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyse the difference between the English Premier League (EPL) and English Championship (EC) regarding perturbation and possession outcomes within attacking third entries. 708 attacking third entries recorded (351 EPL & 357 EC) from 6 fixtures within each league from the 2018/19 domestic football season were analysed post-match using SportsCode analysis software. The sample consisted of 1,286 perturbations (650 EPL & 636 EC) which were split into on the ball perturbations (ground pass, aerial pass, combination play, individual skill, switch of play, drive at defence & dribble) and off the ball perturbations (overlap, underlap & decoy run) and compared between leagues. Further variables that were focussed on and compared were; number of perturbations per attacking third entry, location of perturbation, playing position (defender, midfielder & striker), and outcome of the attacking third entry (goal, shot on target, shot off target, blocked shot, successful cross, unsuccessful cross, corner, foul, tackled, recycle of possession leading to another attacking third entry, recycle of possession leading to possession end & offside).
Results from a Multivariate Analysis of Variance comparing the EPL and EC for all variables confirmed that only the playing position yielded a significant (p = <0.05) result. Key descriptive statistics found that midfielders completed a greater number of perturbations than defenders or strikers, and that 1 or 2 perturbations per attacking third entry is most common in both leagues. The most common on the ball perturbation was ground pass, whilst off the ball was overlap. The study also established that the location of perturbations in the PL were more central (74.39%) in comparison to the EC (62.89%). Furthermore, both the EPL and EC observed unsuccessful crosses to be the most common outcome, with goals amounting to just 3% of the total from outcomes for both leagues. This study added greater value to current perturbation research, as well as begin to understand between league similarities and differences for coaching staff to further understand team dynamics.