written by – Rangers Report    photo courtesy of – SNS

Note:  It’s June, so don’t expect much commentary to accompany these stats.

Rangers 1   Progres Niederkorn 0

Expected Goals:  Rangers 1.6  Progres Niederkorn 0.5

Rangers xG Ratio:  76%

Total Shots Ratio:  70%

Scoring Chance Ratio:  80%

OSCR Player Ratings

This stat functions like a Game Score for hockey or basketball & is an attempt to create a single number to indicate to what extent a player contributed offensively to his team’s chances of winning the match.  It was first introduced in this post.

• Besides the goal, Kenny Miller had two key passes, two secondary shot assists (the pass that sets up the key pass), & three establishing passes (the pass that sets up the secondary shot assist).  If you include his two shots to that, he was directly involved in 10 of Rangers 14 shots (71%).
• Niko Kranjcar had three shots & three key passes.  He also had eight controlled entries into the final third.
• Fabio Cardoso had two shots & nearly scored on his second one.
• The only players who had limited offensive impact on the team’s chances of winning would be Ryan Jack (who still had an effective match & that will be highlighted in the next post looking at zone entries), Dalcio & Martyn Waghorn.  For Waghorn, it is not a good sign when your main striker has the least offensive impact on the match.

• Yes, you read that correctly.  David Bates led the team in Expected Goals from his two scoring chances.  His header from close range was blocked on the goal line & earlier in the game he had a high danger shot after a corner into the box.
• James Tavernier may have had a relatively quiet game, but his final ball is still a critical part of this team.  He had three key passes for 0.37 Expected Assists – the best being his ball that set up Kranjcar’s header from the 6-yard box.

xG Chain was introduced & defined  by Ted Knutson & Thom Lawrence in this post.  My version is modified to only include the three passes leading up to a shot (key pass, secondary shot assist & establishing pass).  Welcome to DIY stats!

• Kenny Miller’s xG Chain was 0.95.  That’s silly good, especially considering Rangers only generated 1.5 Expected Goals.  His build-up play contributed to 63% of those Expected Goals & if you add his own shots to the mix, Miller played a direct role in 1.25 of Rangers’ 1.5 Expected Goals.  For the sassy non-believers, yes – I know he scored 100% of the goals…but these stats highlight Miller’s contribution went way beyond just that one moment in the match.
• You can see that the two full backs still played a critical role in Rangers build-up play, combining for a xG chain of 0.74

Keep an eye out for my next post that will highlight the team’s entries into the final third, with an added layer of information.