No Liverpool, Arsenal or Man Utd players among Premier League best finishers

Mo Salah has scored 14 Premier League goals but he should have scored 14 goals! West Ham and Tottenham have two men each on this list.

We’ve had a good laugh at the players who are being most conspicuously owned by their xG stats, so it’s only right and fair that we acknowledge those at the other end of the scale who are making a mockery of the boffins’ projections.

1) Son Heung-min (Tottenham): +4.9

Expected goals: 7.1

Actual goals: 12

Moved into double figures for the eighth consecutive season with a goal v Newcastle United. And then more v Everton and Bournemouth as Spurs re-entered the title race.

2) Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves): +4.1

Expected goals: 5.9

Actual goals: 10

“Channy knows to arrive at the goal,” says Wolves boss Gary O’Neil. Let’s take a second to enjoy that incredibly English nickname alongside that unexpected goalscoring form. Two goals from two shots v Brentford before he got injured. Of the six players in double figures this season, he has taken the fewest shots by a country mile.

3) Mohammed Kudus (West Ham): +4.1

Expected goals: 1.9

Actual goals: 6

Three goals in his last four Premier League games as West Ham have risen up the form table. He has been a truly excellent signing, forming a tremendous front three with Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta.

4) Bernardo Silva (Manchester City): +3.8

Expected goals: 2.2

Actual goals: 6

Six goals from just 19 shots. A ludicrously good footballer.

5) Diogo Jota (Liverpool): +3.7

Expected goals: 3.3

Actual goals: 7

Has matched Darwin Nunez for Premier League goals this season but has taken 26 shots to Nunez’s 61. One big reason Liverpool are coping fine without Mo Salah.

6) Jarrod Bowen (West Ham): +3.6

Expected goals: 7.4

Actual goals: 11

After a season of underscoring on his xG, Bowen is back with a bang for the Hammers. Relishing his striker role in the absence of any West Ham alternatives, Bowen is now the Premier League’s top English goalscorer.

7) Leon Bailey (Aston Villa): +3.0

Expected goals: 3.0

Actual goals: 6

While Ollie Watkins is just about hitting par with his nine goals, Bailey is well ahead of the curve, helping to keep Aston Villa in an unlikely title race.

7) Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest): +2.7

Expected goals: 5.3

Actual goals: 8

Scored a hat-trick with just three shots v Newcastle United and followed that with his eighth of the season v Brentford. Against all odds, appears to be Forest’s best hope of keeping out of bother.

9) Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham): +2.5

Expected goals: 2.5

Actual goals: 5

He’s not just creating a whole heap of chances in the absence of James Maddison, he is finishing a fair few too.

10) Mathias Jensen (Brentford): +2.5

Expected goals: 0.5

Actual goals: 3

Three goals from eight shots this season. You have to like those odds.