All stats below are based on the last 4 PL seasons and compare Sterling with Salah, Mane, Kane, Son and Gabby.
Data source is statsbomb who have imo the most robust/accurate xG model and used widely by clubs.
Zoom in to see clearly -
1. G-PK is goals minus penalty kicks. The strike rate for the best 4 is v v close - all in the range of 0.52 to 0.53 non penalty goals P90. Probably a surprise to many that Sterling has scored NPGs at the same rate as Mane, Salah and Son.
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2. The G/Sh column is conversion rate and Son and Sterling top with 20% - so yes, Sterling scores with 1 in 5 shots and that is generally pretty good. Another surprise perhaps for many.
Far right shows Son as a huge +20 above his npxG of 41 - simply staggering. Gabby has a higher npxG of 45 but he is 9.1 below. As good as he is and as much as I've loved the guy it has to be said his finishing has been consistently poor.
Despite his many misses Sterling's positive xG of 5 means overall he is a better finisher than the general perception on some of these threads.
But xG also can be misleading. Salah is 1.9 positive which is average and if the table was over the last 3 years he is actually negative and yet a top, top forward.
Aguero was only marginally above his xG as well but he was a volume shooter with a high number of shots p90 and the genius skill set to manufacture shots out of nothing or little space. So it becomes a numbers game - more shots per game means far more misses but more importantly more goals per game.
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More of this stuff to come covering a whole load of other metrics and, of course, show Sterling is pretty good at other shit :)
