- The statistics show that the three teams at the 2024 European Championship are struggling to create chances
- Expected goals measure the likelihood of chances being scored in a match
- Listen to It all starts! on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. New episodes appear every day during the European Championship
A statistic has put England and Scotland’s slow start to Euro 2024 in stark contrast to their contemporaries in the tournament.
Now that each team has played two matches in the tournament, the exciting group stage will soon give way to the unbridled drama of the knockout rounds.
Undefeated despite some divisive performances, Gareth Southgate’s side have all but booked their place in the last 16 and can top their group with victory over Slovenia.
Meanwhile, a 1-1 draw with Switzerland on Wednesday kept Scotland’s dreams of reaching the knockout stages alive as they prepare to face pointless Hungary tonight.
Despite the Home Nations having a real chance to progress, both teams’ expected goals statistics leave a lot to be desired.
A statistic has identified the teams struggling the most to create chances at Euro 2024
Scotland has the dubious distinction of having the worst expected goals of all 24 teams
Despite topping Group C, England are not far behind, with just 1.44 (xG) across two matches
Expected Goals (xG) measures the statistical quality of chances created during a match and quantifies the likelihood of them being scored.
When it comes to xG, Scotland are ranked the lowest of all teams in the tournament, having managed to score twice in two matches despite having an expected goals stat of 0.79.
Like their neighbors to the north, England have only scored two goals in the tournament so far, with a combined expected goal from their two games of 1.44 xG.
The bottom three are completed by English rivals Serbia in Group C. Despite the considerable attacking talent at his disposal, Dragan Stojkovic’s side have managed just 1.8 xG in two games.
The Group C opener between England and Serbia also set an undesirable record, according to the team xG Philosophy about Xwith two teams achieving a pitiful 0.69 between them.
As a result, less xG was created than any Premier League match last season, with England’s average xG from their two matches (0.72) lower than that of Sheffield United who finished on a low note.