Goals, Assists, xG & xA. What of it?

Earlier in the week we looked at expected goals (xG) in the Premier League so far this season.

Here we have a look at the expected goals + expected assists (xA) versus the actual goals and assists for 18/19 so far (after 22 games):

As you can see, most of the attacking players at the so called bigger clubs are exceeding their xG+xA statistics; Hazard, Aubameyang, Sane, Aguero, Kane, Sterling and Son here.

What does this tell us? Well, it can tell us a number of things. Crudely, one could argue that they’re performing at a level beyond what’s ‘expected’. They’re putting away chances you may not expect them to or their team mates are putting away the tough chances they lay on for them. It could reflect the quality of the chances these sides are creating, perhaps inferring that their respective teams are scoring more goals ‘against the odds’.
What you can see clearly here though is that Salah and Firmino’s goals and assists are essentially equal to their ‘expected’ figures.   Are Liverpool creating a higher volume of ‘clearer cut’ chances? Are Salah and Firmino performing at their expected level?

What I’m taking, and running a mile with, is that we’ve got gears to go through. Salah outperformed his xG by more than any other player in the league last season & I reckon we could see him start to really turn it on again as this season hots up.

What do you think?