Scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in football. Bar none.
Some footballers are brilliant at it (Erling Haaland), some are bloody terrible at it (Jamie Carragher – he scored three goals in 508 Premier League appearances for God’s sake), and ultimately their proficiency in front of goal can be a determining factor in their team’s league fortunes year in, year out.
So, in the midst of the November international break – which we’re all enjoying, right? – we at 90min decided to take a look at how good each Premier League team has been at converting their chances so far this season – ranked from least chances missed to most.
Big chances missed: 9
Total goals: 12
One of the teams on this list who convert more chances than they miss, Crystal Palace have Odsonne Edouard’s surprisingly good form to thank for being at the bottom of the list.
Big chances missed: 10
Total goals: 10
Sheffield United’s big chance conversion rate of 50% isn’t too bad, but the number of goals they’ve conceded at the other end of the park is very bad. The latter is why they’re in the relegation zone at the moment.
Big chances missed: 10
Total goals: 10
A peak behind the curtain for you: it took quite a while to actually find a useful image after I typed ‘Fulham goal’ into Getty Images. That tells you a lot about how they’ve been doing in the final third this season.
Big chances missed: 11
Total goals: 9
The lowest scorers in the Premier League this season, but their big chance conversion rate isn’t terrible. They should probably try creating more chances though. It would help.
Big chances missed: 11
Total goals: 11
Over 50% of Bournemouth’s goals this season have come from Dominic Solanke. Good for him.
Big chances missed: 12
Total goals: 26
26 goals and only 12 big chances missed. Arsenal are officially deadly in front of goal.
Big chances missed: 13
Total goals: 14
Nottingham Forest have plenty of good attackers on their books this season, and it shows in these stats.
More chances converted than chances missed = good.
Big chances missed: 14
Total goals: 10
Not a lot was expected of Luton Town when they were promoted to the Premier League.
And so far, as expected, they haven’t delivered much.
Big chances missed: 16
Total goals: 24
Another team with a net positive conversion rate, Tottenham Hotspur have been utterly fantastic so far this season.
Ange-ball is working in north London.
Big chances missed: 17
Total goals: 16
Let’s call a spade a spade: Wolves have been a big dull dud in recent seasons.
Things are looking up this year, however, under new manager Gary O’Neil. The ex-Bournemouth coach has got his team creating chances, which is nice.
Big chances missed: 17
Total goals: 21
West Ham fans have Jarrod Bowen to thank for their side’s clinical nature in front of goal so far this season. The England international is one of the most in-form players in the country.
Big chances missed: 19
Total goals: 25
Brighton have scored plenty of goals this season and created plenty of chances, but have conceded a few too many goals of late – 21 in just 12 games.
Big chances missed: 19
Total goals: 27
A lot of chances missed, sure, but a lot of goals scored too. The likes of Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak have been hyper clinical so far this season, bagging 13 goals between them.
Big chances missed: 20
Total goals: 13
Yeah… this is awful.
And it’s this awful because Marcus Rashford has converted 2.2% of his shots on goal this season and Rasmus Hojlund has converted a whopping 0% of his.
Yep, real awful.
Big chances missed: 21
Total goals: 32
OptaJack: no footballer has missed more chances than Erling Haaland in the Premier League this season. #Washed
OptaJack: no footballer has scored more goals than Erling Haaland in the Premier League this season. #Marksman
Two stats which tell a completely different story, eh?
Big chances missed: 22
Total goals: 14
22 chances missed.
10 points deducted.
It’s not going well for Everton.
Big chances missed: 23
Total goals: 27
You’re wondering how many of those big chances were missed by Darwin Nunez, aren’t you?
He’s missed 10.
Big chances missed: 23
Total goals: 29
Aston Villa create a lot of chances thanks to their manager Unai Emery’s brave tactical set-up.
Big chances missed: 24
Total goals: 19
You’re wondering how many of those big chances were missed by Nicolas Jackson aren’t you?
He’s missed eight.
Big chances missed: 27
Total goals: 19
*Checks notes* Brentford’s star striker is currently out of action until January due to an FA ban.
*Checks big chances missed stats* yeah, that scans.