Picking up on comments on other threads about our missing of opportunities (namely "if Godden was available v QPR" or "if we had ourselves a Brereton-Diaz we'd be where Blackburn are" etc.) I thought it might be interesting to do an analysis of our goal scoring & creating stats.
Is it fair to say we're missing lots of gilt-edged chances?
Or are we failing with our final ball?
Perhaps we're just taking poor quality shots overall?
So... Some numbers & my thoughts on them.
We've scored 34 goals from an xG of 34.9 (9th in the league).
2 of those are own goals admittedly so 32 from an xG of 34.9, not massive underperformance by any means.
For example you can attribute 0.77xG to Gyökeres's penalty miss v Barnsley alone.
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One number that stands out is our number of shots per game.
We rank 3rd for Shots per game (13.9)
& joint 2nd for Shots on Target per game (4.9)
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Thankfully, compared to last season, we rank only 8th for Woodwork hit so far this season!
So on this basis, it certainly seems we're creating shooting opportunities. Are they 'good' opportunities though?
I think some were surprised by the xG numbers from the QPR game (1.82 for us v 2.61 for them) considering we had 21 shots, but actually, I think they do a pretty decent job of underlining our problem, namely we take lots of poor quality shots. By that I don't mean the technique of the shot itself but more that we take lots of shots from unfavorable positions & low xG opportunities.
For example, Todd Kane had 2 shots v QPR that combined for a grand total of 0.05 xG, O'Hare with 4 shots for 0.18 xG, Hamer with 3 shots totalling 0.14x G etc etc.
The highest single chance xG was Waghorn's late chance for 0.50 xG.
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So, Chances Created...
We rank 15th in the league for "Big Chances Created" with 29.
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A "big" chance is defined as one that you typically have an above average chance of scoring from. Different providers can rate them slightly differently but typically assume anything over 0.30 xG is deemed a "Big" chance.
So, really, especially when you compare this number to some of the other teams (less than Birmingham, Cardiff & a handful more than Peterborough, Hull, Reading etc) we don't really create as many high quality scoring opportunities as our shot numbers & overall control of games would indicate.
So, to conclude...
I still maintain we're not far off where we want to be but we lack a little quality & cutting edge in the final third. A little of that is on the finishing but the vast majority, at least in my opinion, is on the final pass, chance creation & shot selection.
*EDIT
To add to this as naturally Gyökeres is coming under scrutiny for his goalscoring drought, his 9 goals have come from 8.73 xG
Interested to hear others thoughts.