Football Stats Explained

What the numbers on PLStats mean, how they are worked out and how to read them, each with a real example from this Premier League season.

• Expected goals (xG) explained Expected goals (xG) measures the quality of a chance: how likely a shot is to be scored, judged against many similar shots taken before it. Read the guide
• Expected assists (xA) explained Expected assists (xA) measures how likely a player's passes were to lead to a goal, so it credits chance creation whether or not the shot went in. Read the guide
• Expected goals on target (xGOT) explained Expected goals on target (xGOT) values a shot after it has been struck: how likely it was to go in, given where it was heading in the goal. Read the guide
• Goals prevented explained Goals prevented estimates how many goals a goalkeeper kept out beyond what an average keeper would have, given the shots on target they faced. Read the guide
• Player ratings explained Every player who plays enough of a match gets a rating out of 10, calculated automatically from what they did in the game. Read the guide
• Per-90 stats explained A per-90 figure is a player's total scaled to a full match: their total divided by the minutes they played, times 90. Read the guide