Every football stat in plain English: what expected goals, big chances, duels and the rest actually measure, and how each one is counted.
Seven of them have a page of their own, listed first. Every other stat is explained here, with a link to the Premier League players or clubs who lead it.
How good a side's or a player's chances were, rated shot by shot.
xG for the shots a team allows.
xG minus xGA.
xG without penalties.
xG for the player who set up the shot.
The league points a team's chances were worth. In Fantasy Premier League, xPts means a player's expected FPL points instead.
A shot in football is any deliberate attempt to score: one that goes in, is saved, misses the target, hits the woodwork or is blocked by a defender. Headers count too, so a player's shots include every effort they meant to score with.
Shots that are scored or would have gone in without the goalkeeper's save. A shot that hits the post or the bar and stays out does not count.
Shot conversion rate is the share of a player's shots that end in a goal, worked out as goals divided by shots. A player who scores five goals from 25 shots has a conversion rate of 20%.
The chances a player should score.
Hitting the woodwork in football means a shot strikes the post or the crossbar. If the ball bounces in, it counts as a goal; if it stays out, the shot counts as off target, and the player is credited with hitting the woodwork.
Penalties a player earns for their team by being fouled in the box.
The last pass before a goal, counted differently in FPL.
Every pass that sets up a shot.
Chances created that are not scored.
Passes that set up a big chance for a teammate.
Possession in football is each team's share of the ball during a match, shown as a percentage, so the two figures always add up to 100. A side can have far less of the ball and still create the better chances.
Pass accuracy in football, also called pass completion, is the share of a player's passes that reach a teammate. Short, safe passers score highest, so a centre back on 92% is not always a better passer than a playmaker on 80%.
A challenge on the ground that wins the ball from the player who has it.
Every battle for the ball between two players.
How often an opponent takes the ball past a player.
Dispossessed in football means a player had the ball taken off them by an opponent's challenge while trying to keep it, without attempting to dribble past. Attacking midfielders, wingers and strikers who carry the ball into crowded areas are dispossessed most often.
A clean sheet in football is a match in which a team does not concede a goal. Goalkeepers and defenders are credited with one, and in Fantasy Premier League a player needs to play at least 60 minutes of the game to earn it.
Shots on target that a goalkeeper stops.
Save percentage in football is the share of shots on target a goalkeeper stops, worked out as saves divided by shots on target faced. Premier League keepers saved about two in every three in 2025/2026, so anything above 70% is very good.
Fouls committed are the fouls a referee gives against a player. Fouls drawn are the ones given in their favour.
Two yellow cards in the same match make a red card, and the player is sent off. Across a season, bookings add up to bans: in the Premier League, five yellow cards in a club's first 19 games bring a one-match ban.
A match in which both sides score at least once.
Corner kicks won, counted for a match or for one side.
Every player and club stat, each with a page of its own, in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.