In this overview the SciSports Advanced & Expected Metrics are explained with definition. A comprehensive reference designed to define and standardize every advanced and expected metric used throughout our platforms.
This overview offers clear explanations, contextual guidance, and methodological consistency, enabling understanding of the metrics construction and interpretation. As analytics continue to evolve, our metrics and their underlying models will be refined accordingly. This article will be regularly updated to reflect methodological improvements, new innovations and the latest developments.
Metric | Definition |
xA (xAssists) | Expected Assists (xA) measures the quality of the completed passes and crosses by a player. |
xA Open Play | Open play Expected Assists (xA) measures the quality of the completed passes and crosses by a player, excluding set pieces, expressed as the number of assists an average player is expected to provide from these passes and crosses. |
xA from Cross | Measures the quality of a completed pass from a cross, expressed as the probability that the cross will result in an assist. |
xA from Early Cross | Measures the quality of a completed pass from an early cross, expressed as the probability that the early cross will result in an assist. |
xA from Late Cross | Measures the quality of a completed pass from a late cross, expressed as the probability that the late cross will result in an assist. |
xA from Cutback Cross | Measures the quality of a completed pass from a cutback cross, expressed as the probability that the cutback cross will result in an assist. |
xA from Corner | Expected Assists (xA) from corner measures the quality of the completed corners by a player, expressed as the number of assists an average player is expected to provide from these corners. |
xA from Set Piece | Expected Assists (xA) from set piece measures the quality of the completed freekicks, corners and throw-ins by a player, expressed as the number of assists an average player is expected to provide from these setpieces. |
xA from Free Kick | Expected Assists (xA) from free kick measures the quality of the completed free kicks by a player, expressed as the number of assists an average player is expected to provide from these free kicks. |
xGoals (xG) | Expected Goals (xG) measures the quality of a goal scoring opportunity, expressed as the likelihood that the shot will result in a goal on a scale between 0 and 1. |
xG/G | Ratio between xGoals and goals scored |
G - xG | Goals - Expected goals |
Non-Penalty xG | xGoals excluding penalty kicks. |
Non-Penalty G - Non-Penalty xG | Non-penalty expected goals - Non-penalty goals |
Non-Penalty xG / Non-Penalty G | Ratio between Non-Penalty xG and Non-Penalty G |
xG from Headers | Measures the quality of a goal scoring opportunity from headers, expressed as the probability that the header will result in a goal. |
xG from Shots (xG Shots-xG Headers) | Measures the quality of a goal scoring opportunity from shots, expressed as the probability that the shot will result in a goal. |
xG Close-range Shots | Measures the quality of a goal scoring opportunity from close-range shots, expressed as the probability that the close-range shot will result in a goal. |
xG Long-range Shots | Measures the quality of a goal scoring opportunity from long-range shots, expressed as the probability that the long-range shot will result in a goal. |
Open Play xG | Measures the quality of a goal scoring opportunity from non-set piece goal scoring opportunities, expressed as the probability that the open play opportunity will result in a goal. |
xG/Shot | Ratio of xG over shots. Indicates attacking performance by not only taking the number of shots into account but also the quality of those goal scoring opportunities. |
xG + xA | Sum of expected Goals (xG) and expected assists (xA). |
Post Shot xG (PSxG) | Post-shot variation of xG that measures the quality of the actual shot by taking the end location of the shot into account. Only for shots on target |
Open Play PSxG | Open Play Post Shot expected Goals (PSxG) is a post-shot variation of xG, which measures the quality of the actual shots on target, excluding set pieces, taken by a player by taking the end location of the shot into account. |
PSxG/Shot | The PSxG-value per shot represents the number of goals we would expect from each shot on target taken. |
Non-Penalty PSxG | Post Shot expected Goals from all non-penalty shots on target. |
PSxG/G | Ratio between PSxG and xG. |
PSxG/xG | Ratio between PSxG and xG. Indicates the quality of a player's shots, given the quality of chances he has attempted shots from. A ratio higher than 1 indicates better quality shots than expected from those goal scoring opportunities and often indicates a lethal finisher. |
Goalkeeper xMetrics
xS (xSaves) | Measures the quality of a goalkeeper's saves. Expressed as 1 - PSxG, so it is the probability that the goalkeeper will save the shot on target taking the quality of the actual shot into account. |
xS/S | Ratio between xSaves and saves |
xS from Headers | Ratio between xS from headers and goalkeeper saves from headers, which measures a goalkeeper's header stopping ability. A ratio of 1 means the goalkeeper is performing exactly as expected, meaning the number of headers stopped is equal to the xS value. A value greater than 1 indicates a goalkeeper is underperforming expectations in terms of his ability to stop headers, and a value less than 1 indicates overperformance. |
xS/S from Headers | Ratio between xSaves from headers and saves from headers |
xS from Long Shots | Ratio between xS from long-distance shots and goalkeeper saves from long-distance shots, which measures a goalkeeper's longshot stopping ability. A ratio of 1 means the goalkeeper is performing exactly as expected, meaning the number of long-distance shots stopped is equal to the xS value. A value greater than 1 indicates a goalkeeper is underperforming expectations in terms of his ability to stop long-distance shots, and a value less than 1 indicates overperformance. |
xS/S from Long Shots | Ratio between xSaves from long-distance shots and shots from long-distance shots |
Non-Penalty xS | Measures the quality of a goalkeeper's saves on non-penalties. Expressed as 1 - non-penalty PSxG, so it is the probability that the goalkeeper will save a non-penalty shot taking the quality of the actual shot into account. |
Penalty xS | Measures the quality of a goalkeeper's saves on penalties. Expressed as 1 - penalty PSxG, so it is the probability that the goalkeeper will save a penaty taking the quality of the actual shot into account. |
Post-shot xG conceded | Number of goals expected to concede, taking the quality of the on-target shots faced into account |
xGOT | The expected number of goals conceded, based on the Post Shot expected Goals (PSxG) values of the shots faced. |
Advanced Metrics
Metric | Definition |
Goal/Shot Ratio | Goals scored per shot taken. |
Shooting Goals Added | PSxG - xG |
Non-Penalty Shooting Goals Added | Non-penalty PSxG - Non-penalty xG |
Goal Non Penalty | Goal scored from anything but a penalty kick. |
Clean Sheets | # of clean sheets (0 goals conceded in the match). |
Goals Prevented | xGOT Conceded - Goals conceded. |
Goals Prevented/GC | Ratio between Goals prevented and goals conceded. |
Crosses claim/punch ratio | Ratio between crosses claimed and crossed punched. |
Top Saves | Number of goalkeeper top saves, where a top save is defined as a shot which had a PSxG value greater than 0.75 which was being saved by the goalkeeper. |
Shot Stopping Errors | Number of goalkeeper shot-stopping mistakes, where a mistake is defined as a shot on target with a PSxG value smaller than 0.25 which was not saved by the goalkeeper. |