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"Football is goals and goals are football," sounds like a statement some reductionists would make. After all, it seems unfair to simplify a game played over 90 minutes (sometimes 120 minutes), in two separate halves.
Over the course of a match, a lot of drama, skills, tricks, tackles, fouls and other stuff happens, yet goals stand above all in importance. They are the fundamental difference makers between the two sides, the source of football outcomes. As such, the biggest clubs in Europe can ignore anything. But a deficiency in goals? Never.
One piece of statistic that has become quite popular recently is the xG figure, which basically translates to expected goals. It takes into consideration the quality of the goalscoring chances and the probability of them being converted into a goal.
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It gives us a fair idea of about how well a player should be performing in front of the goal. There are a lot of factors that affect the xG figure. This includes the distance from the goal and whether the shot was taken from a strong foot, weak foot or header. It also considers if the goal was open or not or was it from open play or set piece etc.
As such, xG is a measure of how many good chances fall to a player and based on those, how many goals he could have scored. Accordingly, the players either take all their expected chances, or they fail to take those chances. In many other cases, players outperform themselves and even score from the slimmest of chances.
This season, there have been some popular names who have been quite wasteful in front of goal compared to their high standards. They may have scored significant goals in Europe's top five leagues, but with the chances that they received, they could have scored even more.
With the help of some stats via Fbref, we found the five players who have been the most wasteful in terms of finishing chances. We must warn you to brace yourself for some very big names.
Note: Only Europe's top five leagues have been considered.
#5 Cristiano Ronaldo
By the standards of players who are 37-year-old, Cristiano Ronaldo has by no means been a disappointment. He has put in hard yards, pressed with his team in spells and played out the entire duration of games. In the Champions League too, he was in exquisite form in the group stages and scored in all five games he played in.
However, the Portuguese has often been accused of disappearing in Premier League games. The veteran has played his part in contributing to the build-up of his team in attack by dropping deep. But in terms of goals, his return has been underwhelming.
Ronaldo has an xG of 12.5 in the English top-flight but has registered only nine goals. Usually, the Manchester United man is someone who is used to exceeding expectations and moving beyond his anticipated goal tally. However, his return of nine strikes from 23 appearances has been quite average.
Fans would ideally want to see more chances being created for their star player. However, the Portuguese has been at fault himself at times for missing chances, albeit by a very close margin. He has only scored one goal since the beginning of 2022.
The Red Devils got knocked out of both the EFL Cup and FA Cup early on. Their chances of finishing in the top four of the Premier League are quite tight as well. They are currently in fourth spot but Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur could go above them if they win their games in hand.
The club will hope that Ronaldo manages to find consistency and fires regularly to help them secure Champions League football next season.
#4 Tammy Abraham
Jose Mourinho and Tammy Abraham were very excited to partner up with each other when the news of the former's transfer to Roma broke out. With two-thirds of the season gone by, the former Chelsea striker could be proud of what he has done in Italy.
The 24-year-old switched clubs with regular game time being his priority. Under Mourinho, his wish has come true as he has only missed two games this season. Abraham's impressive xG of 15.7 meant he was expected to score nearly 16 goals in his 26 Serie A appearances.
His current tally of 12 is quite respectable. However, with the player scoring six of those goals in 2022 itself (eight matches), he has spurned some great chances. The former Blues player is the fifth top scorer in Serie A but has the second-best xG in the league, only behind Ciro Immobile.
Abraham has picked up his form after a disappointing first half of the season and it remains to be seen if he can come good consistently.
#3 Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi may be playing for Paris Saint-Germain, but his heart still seems to be at Barcelona. For most of his career, the Argentine has defied stats, scored goals and provided assists for fun. However, the striker has failed to take advantage of the personnel around him this season.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Angel di Maria all surround Messi and he could be doing wonders by linking up with them in Ligue 1. His xG has been a very modest 6.6 and naturally the striker was expected to exceed it. Astonishingly, he has only been able to produce two goals in 16 French top-flight matches.
However, as far as playmaking is concerned, the former Barcelona ace is on course to surpass last season's tally. In the Spanish top-flight last year, Messi produced 11 assists, a tally he has already matched in Ligue 1.
At times, his link-ups with Mbappe have really rattled opposition teams. Paris Saint-Germain will hope that the Argentine can propel them towards Champions League glory.
While glimpses of his footballing genius are visible, the legendary player has failed to consistently spread his charm.
#2 Terem Moffi
Easily the lesser-heard name of those on the list, Terem Moffi is not as prolific as the others on the list. He has spent the least amount of time in Europe's top five leagues. He signed for Ligue 1 club FC Lorient in 2020 from Belgian club KV Kortrijk for €8 million.
The centre-forward impressed in his very first season as he notched up 14 goals in 32 appearances in the French top-flight. He was sixth in the rankings of the highest goalgetters in 2020-21 as Lorient finished in the 16th spot. Again, the club is lingering in the same position, and one reason is that Moffi has failed to score the expected number of goals.
He possesses an xG of 8.3, but has been way off the mark with his finishing, recording only three goals so far this season. Lorient are only two points safe from the relegation zone. If the Nigerian striker fails to turn up his finishing, they face the danger of dropping out of the league.
#1 Burak Yilmaz
It has been a very underwhelming season for Ligue 1 defending champions LOSC Lille. They have only managed to win 10 games from their 26 in the league. This has condemned them to 10th spot in the points table with both Monaco and Montpellier closely chasing.
Manager Christophe Galtier's departure has clearly been a big loss for the club who have struggled to assert their dominance. But their veteran striker Burak Yilmaz has not covered himself in glory either and is to blame for Lille's struggles. Last season, the 36-year-old led the French club's title charge as he found the back of the net 16 times and further provided five assists.
After a decent start to the campaign, scoring twice in his first five games, the player has regressed quite badly. He ranks sixth in Ligue 1 for expected goals with an xG figure of 9.3, but has only netted four goals in 22 appearances. Yilmaz was the focal point of the club's attack last season, unleashing himself on the counter-attack and arriving in the box to finish.
He knocked the ball around with intelligent passes to give the team the desired time to find an opening. The Turkish international has struggled to replicate the form he showed last season and continues to be a cause of worry for Lille.
