Bournemouth's Dango Ouattara scores their side's second goal of the game during the Premier League match at Portman Road, Ipswich. _(Image: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire)_
THE Cherries, ahead of the meeting with West Ham at the Vitality Stadium on Monday night, have been among the most creative offensive sides in Europe so far this season.
While they have scored 23 goals so far this term, they have accumulated a staggering 30.4 expected goals (xG).
The stat measures the probability a goal would be scored from an effort – with a higher cumulative number showing a creative attacking side.
Bournemouth’s 30.4 saw them sat among some of the best sides in Europe before the weekend’s fixtures – behind the likes of Barcelona and PSG, but ahead of behemoths Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Asked about what this says about his side, Andoni Iraola told the Daily Echo: “It says that we create chances.
“I don't trust 100 per cent this.
“We create chances and it's something that we see when we watch our games. I think we normally have chances and I would like to keep this level of volume offensively.
“I'm also happy with the defensive side.
“I think we are conceding, especially comparing with last season, a lot less. And in the long run I hope that everything balances and we score the goals we should score and we concede the one we should concede.”
Iraola said ultimately it is a stat that he and his staff analyse, but they do not give too much weight to it – saying the only statistic that matters is the number of points they have.
“But we are in the position where we are in, it’s not going to be because we don't deserve it,” he said. “No, we are where we are. We are now eighth, I think.
“That is good, but also it doesn't matter a lot in this moment of the season.”
The [Cherries](http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/cherries/clubnews/) face West Ham tonight at 8pm.