Messi is the best finisher in football. Does anyone else com

In case you're not familiar with expected goals (xG) yet, the statistic is built around the idea that w88 the majority of teams and players convert the same chances at the same frequency. For the most part, the best teams and players aren't the best because of their ability to finish a high percentage of attempts; they're the best because of their ability to generate a high volume of high-quality shots. In other words, it puts a number on the idea that you hear managers talk about every weekend: Who created the better chances?

Now, that isn't to say that there aren't especially skilled finishers adept at catching a ball on the half-volley or nonchalantly lobbing an onrushing keeper. But the importance of that skill pales in comparison to the importance of getting the chances in the first place. To wit: Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are two of the best scorers of this generation. Since the 2014 World Cup, Lewandowski has more goals in domestic play than anyone not named Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, and Aubameyang is just three spots and 15 goals behind him.



Which names pop up at the other end? Who's adding extra goals to their totals by consistently picking out the corners of the net?

Expected goals awards a value based on a number of factors, including the location of the shot, but all of those factors occur before the shot is taken. That's where Expected Goals on Target comes in. Here's how Opta describes it w88 line :

The Expected Goals on Target model is built on historical on-target shots and includes the original xG of the shot as well as the goalmouth location where the shot ended up. It gives more credit to shots that end up in the corners compared to shots that go straight down the middle of the goal. This model is for on-target shots, given that if you don't get your shot on target, there's a 0% chance that it will result in a goal.

To determine the best shooters, we can compare xG to xGOT to see which players have added the most value to their attempts. Using TruMedia data for all domestic seasons going back to the start of the 2014-15 season, we'll identify the best at a number of shots and end by identifying the best shooter of them all.


Lionel Messi has been known to wow folks with a goal or two. JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images
Best Header: Pablo de Blasis
First up: There aren't many good header-ers out there! Among the top 15 players in xG from headers since 2014, a whopping zero have added any value to their attempts. If you think about it, that makes total sense.

For starters, it's a lot harder to control a ball out of the air with your head than it is to direct a ball on the ground with your foot. Headers are also pure opportunity. You don't get in better positions to head the ball; you meet the ball where it is. On top of that, think of how many headed attempts come from a player just shoving his noggin into a crowd of defenders and hoping to make contact with a cross. There's nothing wrong with that from a strategic perspective, but it's not the recipe for an efficient conversion profile.

Given all that, perhaps it's not a surprise that the award for "Best Header-er" goes to 5-foot-4 Argentinian winger Pablo de Blasis, who currently plays for Eibar in La Liga. (Here's a taste of his skills. ทางเข้า w88 ล่าสุด )

Because he's so tiny, De Blasis is typically getting his head on the ball only when he's in a lot of space, but he's a master of accelerating at the last second, cutting in front of a defender and using the full force of his movement to direct the ball into the corner. He has added 2.79 expected goals to his headed attempts since 2014, and another South American winger, Juan Cuadrado, is the only other player to break two.

De Blasis has scored four goals on headers since 2014, and among players his height or shorter, the entirety of the player pool in Europe's Big Five leagues has scored five. De Blasis has attempted 35 headed shots, and no one else in the 5-foot-4-or-shorter cohort has more than 16.

The 31-year-old has never been called up by Argentina. From Messi's foot to De Blasis's head: It's the path to the 2020 Copa America title. Who's with me?