{"id":29972,"date":"2023-09-05T11:14:29","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T11:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bettingsites.co.uk\/?page_id=29972"},"modified":"2024-04-25T14:10:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T14:10:59","slug":"what-is-xg-in-football","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bettingsites.co.uk\/what-is-xg-in-football\/","title":{"rendered":"What is xG in Football? – Get Expected Goals Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

The abbreviation \u2018xG\u2019 stands for expected goals and refers to how many goals a team or individual football player, are expected to score in a football match, based on statistical models. We\u2019re going to explore what is xG in football and how it can be useful when it comes to betting on the beautiful game.<\/p>\n

How Does xG Work?<\/h2>\n

Expected goals is a predictive statistical model that is used to assess every goalscoring chance. Known more commonly by the abbreviation xG, these models can predict the likelihood of a goal being scored.<\/p>\n

By assessing the probability of chances being converted, these models can be used to examine how many goals a team or individual player should have scored in a match. They can look at the types of opportunities that are being created and give a rating, based on past statistical data that shows the conversion rate of similar chances.<\/p>\n

It is then possible to look at these stats in a wider context, or a narrower one. You can examine the xG of a team or player over the course of an entire season, to see how many goals they are expected to score per match. Or you can break it down to how they fare in home games and away matches. You could even go so far as to ask what is the xG of a team or average player performances against top six opponents, in comparison to the rest of the league?<\/p>\n

As you can imagine, these statistics can be very useful when placing wagers on betting sites<\/a> for all sorts of markets. We\u2019re now going to take a deeper dive into xG meaning in football, by looking at some specific examples.<\/p>\n

Examples of Expected Goals Explained<\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s start by comparing the xG of two Premier League players in the 2022-23 season. Our example will show how one player can be considered to have underperformed, based on these statistics and how another has overperformed.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to look at Darwin Nunez xG, compared to that of Erling Haaland. In his minutes played for Liverpool in 2022-23, Nunez had an xG total of 13.82<\/a>, but only scored nine Premier League goals. So he found the net on less occasions than he was expected to. In contrast, the Haaland xG shows a player that performed better than would be expected. His xG in the Premier League in 2022-23 was 29.63, but he actually scored 35 goals.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s examine the xG of two Premier League teams in 2022-23. The Arsenal xG was 76.5, but they actually scored 88 times. Defensively, the Gunners were expected to concede 45.1, yet performed slightly better in reality, letting in 43 goals.<\/p>\n

Another team that did better defensively than their xG would suggest, were Chelsea. Their Expected Goals Against (xGA) was 55.3, but they actually only conceded 47 times. The Blues’ attacking output disappointed, meanwhile. The Chelsea xG was 54.8 goals, which was far in excess of their actual total of 38 goals.<\/p>\n

How is xG Calculated?<\/h3>\n

Our exploration of what is xG in football now moves onto the subject of calculation. We\u2019re going to explain how xG is calculated.<\/p>\n

A chance in a football match will be given an xG rating between 0 and 1. The higher the probability that a chance will be scored, the higher the rating. So a chance that has a 99% probability of being converted, would be shown as 0.99xG. A 50% chance gets a 0.50xG rating, while a 20% chance would be 0.20xG.<\/p>\n

These ratings can then be added up to give an overall score over the course of a match or season. So imagine Liverpool played Everton in a match. They create 13 chances on goal, which would each be given their own individual xG rating. Those ratings can be added up to created a sum of the total Liverpool xG for the match.<\/p>\n

Pros & Cons of an Expected Goals Prediction<\/h2>\n

No examination of what is xG in football stats would be complete without looking at some of the negatives of this type of analysis, alongside the undoubted positives. These are the pros and cons as our experts see them:<\/p>\n

Pros<\/div>\n