Owen and Deeney see no 'natural goalscorer' in Liverpool's front 4: Analysing their claims using 2 key stats

Liverpool's finishing woes have been well-recorded this season as the Reds have scored only 4 goals at Anfield in 2021 with over 140 shots.

This lack of finishing has cost us a lot of points and potentially, Champions League football next season too. Watford striker Troy Deeney and former Red Michael Owen have both claimed that the Reds lack a 'natural goalscorer' - a proper striker who finishes more chances than he misses.

Let's take a look into a couple of advanced stats to see whether these claims are true or not. We will be using 2 main stats for this purpose - xG (expected goals), and big chances missed.

Understanding what is xG

For those unaware, xG stands for 'expected goals'. It is a statistical measurement of the quality of goalscoring chances and the likelihood of them being scored.

So for example, if the xG of a shot is 0.4, it means that 4 out of 10 times, that shot is expected to result in a goal. If a player has scored 20 goals on an xG of 15 across the season, that means he's a talented finisher who is prolific in front of goal.

However, if he has scored 10 goals from an xG of 15, that points to poor finishing despite getting the chances to score.

Now that we know what xG means, let's take a look at our front 4 individually to see how they have fared in the Premier League across the season:

Mohamed Salah

Goals scored: 20

xG across the season: 17.3

Big chances missed: 15 (joint-6th in the Premier League)

Conclusion: While Salah can do better with the chances he has received, he is still in the race for the Golden Boot for a good reason - he is outperforming his xG by a small, but noticeable margin so far. A good finisher who can reach the levels of Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi if he is more clinical.

Diogo Jota

Goals scored: 8

xG across the season: 5.1

Big chances missed: 4

Conclusion: Jota has started just 10 Premier League games (and 6 more as a substitute). He's outperformed his xG by a slightly better margin than Salah and has missed only 4 big chances - that's expected of someone who is involved in the build-up as him as if he were to net every chance he got, we would have a Ballon d'Or candidate on our hands.

No one can complain about Jota's finishing, although he will be angry over his finishing against Newcastle.

Sadio Mane

Goals scored: 8

xG across the season: 13.2

Big chances missed: 16 (joint-4th in the league)

Conclusion: A horrible, horrible season for Mane who is one of the worst finishers in the league this campaign. Only 3 players have missed more big chances than him and he is underperforming his xG by more than 5 goals, which is absurd.

Roberto Firmino

Goals scored: 6

xG across the season: 11.3

Big chances missed: 12 (joint-9th in the league)

Conclusion: Again, the results are not surprising - Firmino has been lacklustre in front of goal this season and while he does have 6 assists to his name, scoring just 6 goals in 31 league appearances is a poor return for any striker. He's also underperforming his xG by over 5 goals.

Summation

While Salah can do better, nobody can blame him and Jota for their finishing this season when you consider that their 2 forward partners have been unable to hit a barn door this season.

A prolific, goalscoring striker would be a very welcome addition to this side and while Deeney and Owen are not 100 per cent correct in their claims, they're not entirely wrong either - we do need more 'natural goalscorers'.