Which players are taking the majority of their team's chances and is that effective?
One of the defining qualities of our data at PFF FC is the ability to combine our traditional metrics and the data from our grading process which evaluates every event a player is involved in on the pitch. You can combine that data in various ways to get a more complete picture of a player or team. In this article, I’m going to look at which teams are using their best shooters effectively and which teams might be allowing some of their worst shooters to take too many of the chances they create.
In the graph below we’re looking at a player’s PFF FC Shooting Grade compared to the percentage of their team’s shots they account for. If an above average shooter is taking an above average number of their team’s shots he’ll be in the top right quadrant. If a below average shooter is taking an above average number of his team’s shots he’ll be in the bottom right quadrant and so on. In the graph we’re just looking at forwards and midfielders so as only to look at players who are involved in most attacking opportunities.
One issue this graph lends us is that we don’t know whether a team is deliberately playing through their worst graded shooter or if the player is going rogue and his share of chances are pot-shots from 30 yards out rather than well worked chances to get him in a position for a shot.
One way we can start to get an idea of this is by looking at how many of their shots have ‘better options’ attached in the data. Shooting from positions with low xG where there is little chance of scoring are usually sub-optimal compared to keeping possession and holding the ball or playing a pass in order to try and create a more dangerous shooting position. If a player has a better option on a shot, our analysts have seen a pass to create a better chance or one that could keep them in a position close to goal. A better option doesn’t take the quality of the shot into account. If a player scores a screamer from 45 yards they’re going to get our highest grade for the shot but there is probably going to be a better option attached as 99 times out of 100 shooting from that distance is going to result in turning possession over to the opposition.
Players who have a higher percentage of shots where there was a better option (BO) are going to be more selfish, taking shots from distance or from wide positions. If the player is taking a large percentage of his team’s shots, has a higher percentage of BOs on his shots and a low shooting grade, that could suggest they are taking matters into their own hands and the team isn’t necessarily trying to play through them but they’ve taken it upon themselves to get shots away from areas they’re unlikely to score in.
Going through the graph I’m going to take a look at a couple of case studies. In the tables below we’ve got three data points, sorted by % of their team’s shots taken:
% of team’s shots taken - what percentage of the team’s shots have been taken by this player?
PFF Shooting Grade - how good have they been at shooting this season?
Was there a Better Option % - What percentage of their shots did they take in a sub-optimal position and instead should have done something different with the ball? A low BO% is better.
Ideally a team would want their highest percentage of shots to be taken by somebody with a high shooting grade and a low BO % meaning their shooting is excellent and they’re shooting from good positions in order to maximise their chances of scoring.
Manchester United - Was Rashford the answer?
| Player | % of team’s shots | Shooting Grade | Was there a Better Option? % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruno Fernandes | 17% | 73.1 | 37% |
| Alejandro Garnacho | 17% | 72.5 | 35% |
| Amad Diallo | 13% | 63.9 | 37% |
| Joshua Zirkzee | 8% | 81.5 | 13% |
| Casemiro | 6% | 64.1 | 32% |
| Marcus Rashford | 6% | 81.3 | 29% |
| Rasmus Hojlund | 5% | 73.4 | 27% |
Average Shooting Grade in the Premier League this season: 70.1
Average Better Option % in the Premier League this season: 33%
Manchester United may be regretting letting Marcus Rashford go out on loan while they continue to struggle. The new Villa signing only took 6% of their shots this season but had an excellent shooting grade. It seems that Rashford had been frozen out by new manager Ruben Amorim for disciplinary and attitude reasons rather than his on-pitch performance but it would have been interesting to see if utilising Rashford more would have led to a change in fortunes for United. Aston Villa will hope that Rashford can replace Jhon Duran’s production for them after his move to Saudi Arabia in the January transfer window. Duran took the 3rd highest percentage of Villa’s shots despite his limited role at times this season with a 75.4 shooting grade and 33% better option rate. Rashford’s numbers in his first half of the campaign with United were better than both of those.
Manchester United should be looking to get more value out of the chances they’re creating by utilising Joshua Zirkzee more. The forward has only made ten starts in the Premier League this season and has an excellent shooting grade, while also taking chances in good positions. Nobody on this list for United is massively above average in taking shots from bad positions, but they would like their best shooter this season to take a larger percentage of their chances.
Manchester City - Give it to Haaland
Average Shooting Grade in the Premier League this season: 70.1
Average Better Option % in the Premier League this season: 33%
Manchester City play with the intention to get Erling Haaland the ball in optimal shooting positions. This table won’t tell you anything about him that two and a half seasons of 117 goals in 133 games doesn’t. However, it doesn’t give us an answer as to why that tried and tested formula hasn’t translated to another season on top. It brought multiple Premier League titles both in the last few seasons and previously when Sergio Aguero was the figurehead of that attack in Pep Guardiola’s first few years in charge. After 25 games this season Haaland has the exact same record as he did last season with 19 goals so his production in that area hasn’t dropped off.
While they are putting Haaland in the same situations that they have always done, one way that City have been wasteful this season is that only Haaland and Bernardo Silva have a below average percentage of shots where they should have taken a better option. The typically patient City have the 3rd highest percentage of shots in the league where there was a better option instead of shooting, meaning they’ve been uncharacteristically wasteful.
Liverpool - Mohamed Salah leads the attack
| Player | % of team’s shots | Shooting Grade | Was there a Better Option? % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Salah | 21% | 87.7 | 34% |
| Luis Diaz | 11% | 84.1 | 35% |
| Dominik Szoboszlai | 11% | 72.5 | 43% |
| Cody Gakpo | 9% | 68.4 | 36% |
| Diogo Jota | 8% | 65.7 | 11% |
| Darwin Nunez | 6% | 69.3 | 19% |
| Alexis Mac Allister | 6% | 78.3 | 40% |
| Curtis Jones | 5% | 69.3 | 52% |
| Ryan Gravenberch | 3% | 54.8 | 77% |
Average Shooting Grade in the Premier League this season: 70.1
Average Better Option % in the Premier League this season: 33%
It’s unsurprising that Mohamed Salah has the largest share of Liverpool’s shots by a long distance. It's more surprising that he’s around average on the number of shots he takes where there is a better option. But that’s a testament to Liverpool who have taken more shots than anybody else in the Premier League. His shot grade is the 6th best this season as well which is why he’s six goals clear of his closest challenger for this year’s Golden Boot. It’s been said and will be said a thousand more times but it’s still inexplicable that Liverpool have let a player of his quality, let alone one so integral to how the team plays, get to the precipice of leaving on a free transfer.
Ryan Gravenberch is a good example of who Liverpool would want last in this list, their worst shooter takes the smallest share of their shots and when he does shoot he’s most likely shooting from a sub-optimal position, which isn’t ideal but isn’t as damaging if they’re only taking 3% of your shots.
West Ham - Mohammed Kudus should shoot less
| Player | % of team’s shots | Shooting Grade | Was there a Better Option? % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammed Kudus | 16% | 61.1 | 41% |
| Jarrod Bowen | 16% | 89.9 | 36% |
| Tomas Soucek | 12% | 61.8 | 16% |
| Lucas Paqueta | 9% | 58.8 | 26% |
| Carlos Soler | 5% | 63.6 | 42% |
| Crysencio Summerville | 4% | 75.3 | 14% |
| Edson Alvarez | 4% | 52.1 | 62% |
Average Shooting Grade in the Premier League this season: 70.1
Average Better Option % in the Premier League this season: 33%
If you look at the table above, Mohammed Kudus isn’t the player you’d want at the top of it. Kudus takes the majority of shots, has a below average shooting grade and when he does shoot 41% of the time there’s a better option than taking a shot in that position. This probably informs why for 16% of West Ham’s shots taken he’s only returned three goals. Given his percentage of shots with a better option West Ham would probably rather him try and play in Bowen, who has the 5th best shooting grade in the league. Kudus has an even larger share than Bowen given that he’s played over 200 minutes less than the West Ham captain this season. One player West Ham could look to try and involve more when he returns from injury is Crysencio Summerville. He had only made seven starts before getting injured at the start of 2025 and found it hard to get a consistent run of form before then. However, he has an above average shooting grade and takes an above average number of shots from good positions.
Arsenal - more injury woes
| Player | % of team’s shots | Shooting Grade | Was there a Better Option? % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kai Havertz | 14% | 78.6 | 2% |
| Leandro Trossard | 12% | 60.6 | 38% |
| Bukayo Saka | 12% | 76.5 | 33% |
| Martin Odegaard | 8% | 56.2 | 28% |
| Gabriel Martinelli | 8% | 86.7 | 15% |
| Declan Rice | 8% | 60 | 46% |
| Gabriel Jesus | 6% | 79 | 11% |
| Mikel Merino | 6% | 74.4 | 21% |
| Thomas Partey | 6% | 66.1 | 40% |
Average Shooting Grade in the Premier League this season: 70.1
Average Better Option % in the Premier League this season: 33%
Even after missing 2 games since suffering the injury that ruled him out for the season, Kai Havertz still leads Arsenal for the highest share of their shots. He has the lowest percentage of shots with a better option in the league meaning he’s almost never taking a shot from a bad position and there are only 8 players who join him in being under 10% in that category. He’s got an above average shooting grade and had a respectable return of 9 goals in 21 games.
That’s going to be a big miss for a team that finally felt he was becoming comfortable leading the line for them. Ideally Arsenal could have replaced some of the production with trying to get the ball to Martinelli, who has a higher shooting grade than Havertz and a good better option % but he is also out for an extended period of time. Bukayo Saka, who probably would have been top of this list given he only has 2% less of a share of the shots than Havertz and has been injured since mid-December, is also a long way from returning.
Overall, the data provides insight into how different teams allocate their shooting opportunities and whether their strategies align with efficiency. Teams like Manchester City and Liverpool have effectively funnelled chances to their best shooters, maximizing their scoring potential. Conversely, clubs such as West Ham and Manchester United have room for improvement, either by redistributing shot volume to more efficient players or by refining their shot selection process. The case studies reveal that while talent plays a significant role, decision-making and tactical discipline are equally crucial in optimizing a team’s attacking output. Whether through better shot distribution or improving player decision-making, teams can significantly enhance their offensive efficiency and overall performance.
This article was crafted using PFF FC Player grades and physical metrics. If you're affiliated with a club, media outlet, or agency and would like to explore its capabilities, feel free to contact us at sales-fc@pff.com to arrange a demo.