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Want a stat that tells you all about just how bad the finishing AND the defence was for Leeds United against Sheffield Wednesday yesterday?
Well, turns out the xG (Expected Goals) ranking from yesterday in the Championship tells you all you need to know.
Expected Goals (xG) GW38 top teams:
— EFL Stats (@EFLStats) March 17, 2018
1. Norwich - 2.33
2. Leeds - 2.29
3. Birmingham - 1.95
4. Sheffield Wednesday - 1.82
5. Reading - 1.79
6. Preston - 1.73
7. Aston Villa - 1.71#ncfc #lufc #bcfc #swfc #readingfc #pnefc #avfc#eflstats #eflchampionship #efl #football #xG
Now, even if you don’t put a lot of faith in the xG stat, it does do a decent job of showing which team created the most chances, and teams that score above the “xG” are generally “lucky” or have a very good finisher and teams that score below the xG are unlucky or have poor finishing.
So what does the chart above tell us? Leeds should have scored at least two goals, but only scored one. Unlucky? Maybe, but in this case, it was because Caleb Ekuban can’t shoot. Like at all.
And what does the xG for Sheffield Wednesday tell you? That the Leeds defence did a poor job and allowed a some great chances. Wednesday converted their chances, and Leeds did not. That’s all you need to know about the match, other than that Leeds dominated possession and Ekuban is bad at scoring, which is a shame because he’s a striker.
On to the links.
Leeds United Links
Match recap from the bad loss at home against Sheffield Wednesday. [Through It All Together]
Jack rated the players. [Through It All Together]
How did Tom Pearce do on his debut for the club? [Yorkshire Evening Post]
Caleb Ekuban hasn’t passed the eye test, but do the stats say something different? No, not really. [Yorkshire Evening Post]
England and English Football Links
AFC Bournemouth came from behind to win and almost certainly set West Bromwich Albion into the Championship. [BBC.com]
Liverpool beat Watford FC 5-0 and turns out, Mo Salah is good at football. Who knew? [Liverpool Offside]
Tottenham Hotspur beat Swansea City 3-0 to reach the semifinals of the FA Cup. [Cartilage Free Captain]
World Football Links
Morocco is promising a “compact” World Cup bid, instead of a tournament spread all over like the United States led “United” bid with Mexico and Canada. [BBC.com]
AC Milan manager Gennaro Gattuso has reportedly gotten a contract extension that will keep him at the San Siro until 2020. [AC Milan Offside]