Tottenham star ranks above Messi and Ronaldo in key statistic since 2016

According to a report in The Independent, Tottenham forward Son Heung-min has been the deadliest finisher in European football since 2016 based on the expected goals (xG) stat.

XG measures how likely a certain chance is to be converted based on accumulated data and it is calculated for each player based on the cumulative chances they have over a certain period.

The conventional wisdom is that players who are performing far better than their xG would eventually regress back to the mean.

However, the report uses data from understat.com to reveal that Son has continued to outperform his expected goals since 2016.

The Tottenham forward has netted 61 times since the start of the 2016-17 season and has scored an unbelievable 44 per cent above his xG.

Harry Kane also fares very well as he has scored 21.3 per cent over his xG, which is said to be more or less the same as Lionel Messi.

The report reveals that Cristiano Ronaldo is doing just slightly better than his xG, while the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Neymar, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sergio Aguero are in the negative column.

Spurs Web Opinion

Son has shown that he is extremely deadly when he gets in front of goal and these stats certainly back up the fact that he is one of the most lethal finishers on the planet. The fact that the South Korean is two-footed also gives him an advantage over many of the other forwards.

Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Related Topics

Have something to tell us about this article? Let us know