Long live Potterball: The theory behind Brighton's philosophy and Maupay's goal against Leeds United

Maupay repaid his manager today by converting a typical Potterball goal

"If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there" - Brian Clough

What a goal that was from Brighton and finished off by Neal Maupay.

The Albion absolutely sliced through Leeds from back to front with a total of seven passes before the Frenchman side-footed into an open goal from two yards out.

That was Potterball in full force. That is how the manager sees the game and wants to play it: total football.

So here's a look at some research as to why the better teams play a more possession-based game - which is also a good argument for the Potter-in brigade to use in defence of 'the best English manager right now', as Pep Guardiola described the Brighton boss.

The following research has been taken from the highly-respected book The Numbers Game by Chris Anderson and David Sally.

Anderson and Sally write: "In the Premier League, since 2009, some 65 per cent of goals have come from open play, while just eight per cent have come from penalties. Open-play goals, in other words, are more than eight times as frequent as those from the spot.

"But then the odds of scoring from a shot in open play are 12 per cent, whereas from penalties, the chance is 77 per cent.

"For a manager, then, what is the most effective strategy: building a team to score from open play, because that is how most goals are scored, or building a team to win penalties, because that is the most likely way of scoring? Do you go for frequency or do you opt for favourable odds?"

The authors say that penalties might be rarer, but they are also more profitable. Open-play goals are common, but less of a sure thing. It is this distinction, the authors say, that goes a long way to explaining the failings of the long-ball game and the rise of an 'obsession with possession'.

The data analysts referred to research carried out by Mike Hughes and Ian Franks, two university professors who looked at data from the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.

Anderson and Sally write: "They [Hughes and Franks] found that the length of passing movements and the odds of scoring were connected. The longer the passing sequence, the better the odds of it being capped with a goal.