We bring you the top/bottom 10 players who are massively underperforming in front of goal this season, and Mo Salah is on that list. We have a new leader.
Oh and we don’t hold no truck with penalties so we have taken those numbers out.
For the less fun list of players wildly outstripping their xG numbers, go here.
10) Diego Costa (Wolves)
Expected goals: 2.2
Actual goals: 0
He took eight shots against Leicester City in a 4-0 defeat; that’s just ludicrous. And he still has more red cards than goals since his return to Premier League football.
9) Ryan Yates (Nottingham Forest)
Expected goals:
2.2 Actual goals: 0
Not played in over a month but there’s still no shifting him down this list.
9) Mo Salah (Liverpool)
Expected goals: 10.4
Actual goals: 8
Scores more goals per shot (0.11) than anybody else on this list, but that’s still a pretty woeful record for such a brilliant player.
7) Mohamed Elyounoussi (Southampton)
Expected goals: 2.6
Actual goals: 0
This monumental miss v Newcastle was given an xG value of 0.66.
6) Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United)
Expected goals: 5.7
Actual goals: 3
In three of four Premier League seasons, Bowen has scored fewer goals than his xG suggests he should. He took a ludicrous six shots v Nottingham Forest without scoring.
5) Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)
Expected goals: 7.7
Actual goals: 5
All-round game, works hard etc etc. But the truth is that Jesus has been owned by his xG in three of his five full seasons in the Premier League and is very much heading towards four in six (though injury will stem the flow for now). Five goals from 50 shots is sub-optimal. As is missing 11 Opta-defined Big Chances.
4) Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)
Expected goals: 9.1
Actual goals: 6
The Premier League’s new master of chaos has already established himself as one of the most fun players in the country, and inevitably for a chaotic fun-bringer consistent finishing is not on the agenda.
3) Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal)
Expected goals: 7.2
Actual goals: 4
Found wanting against Tottenham and then Manchester City and Aston Villa, when he wasted several pretty serviceable chances. He is a decent back-up but absolutely a back-up.
2) Patrick Bamford (Leeds)
Expected goals: 4.5
Actual goals: 1
Last scored in a Premier League win for Leeds in May 2021. Oh mate.
1) Danny Welbeck (Brighton)
Expected goals: 4.9
Actual goals: 1
He only went and scored a bloody goal. Well done, Danny. So then he started against Leicester and, well, how did he not score another? And then against Bournemouth…come on, Danny. It’s starting to feel like he might never register double figures for goals in a Premier League season.
