Current Barcelona, Chelsea and Real Madrid stars are among the high-profile players who should have way more assists in 2024-25.
While most people are familiar with the concept of xG, the xA (expected assists) stat is less commonplace in mainstream analysis.
Using the xA stat, we’ve found nine players from across Europe’s top five leagues who should definitely have more assists to their name this season.
Cole Palmer
Believe it or not, but Palmer has a higher xA than Mohamed Salah, despite having 11 fewer assists in the Premier League.
In fact, the Chelsea playmaker has a higher xA (7.1) than anyone else in the English top flight, but he only has six assists to show for it.
Along with those impressive numbers, Palmer has also created more chances (69) than anyone else in the league.
Since his last league assist against Aston Villa, the Chelsea star has created 35 chances for 12 different teammates, but none of them have been converted. Ouch.
Pedri
A stats sheet will never do a player like Pedri justice. While he only has four goals and three assists to his name this season, he’s played an integral role in Hansi Flick’s side.
The 22-year-old has an xA of 6.3, but only has three assists to show for it. In contrast, Lamine Yamal has an xA of 7.0 and he has 11 assists to his name.
“You can’t compare him because he’s an incomparable player. He enjoys football, and it’s nice to watch him, wherever he plays,” Flick recently said when describing Pedri.
“He helps the team a lot. And he always plays for the team. I’m happy that he’s here for a long time.”
Kylian Mbappe
While the Frenchman has sometimes been criticised for being selfish, he can count himself pretty unlucky that he doesn’t have more assists this season.
The 26-year-old has created 36 chances for his teammates and has an xA of 4.8 but only has three assists to show for it.
Bryan Mbeumo
Only Palmer, Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold have accumulated a higher xA than Mbeumo has in the Premier League this season.
The Brentford forward has created 50 chances and has an xA of 6.5 but has only registered four assists in the league so far.
In contrast, his teammate Mikkel Damsgaard has 10 assists from an xA of just 5.2.
Phil Foden
There’s no denying that Foden hasn’t been at his best this season, but he can count himself pretty unlucky that he’s only got two assists in the Premier League.
As of writing, the Manchester City playmaker has an xA of 5.0, which is higher than the likes of Jacob Murphy, Eberechi Eze and Morgan Rogers who all have way more assists than Foden.
Giovani Lo Celso
The former Tottenham playmaker must be banging his head against a wall watching his teammates squander the chances he creates for them.
In just 1036 minutes of football, Lo Celso has created 27 chances and has an xA of 3.5. However, he only has one assist to show for it, which came back in November against Celta Vigo.
Despite continuing to create chances at a decent rate, he hasn’t registered an assist in any of his last 11 games across all competitions.
Andy Robertson
The Scottish full-back has created 36 chances up until this point, but not a single one of them has been converted.
Taking a closer look into the numbers, Robertson has accumulated an xA of 3.5 but doesn’t really have anything to show for it.
In contrast, Tottenham’s Pedro Porro has a similar xA of 3.4, but he has five assists.
Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah
READ: The top 12 chance creators in the Premier League since records began: Salah, De Bruyne…
Paulo Dybala
Only Ademola Lookman has a higher xA (5.6) than Dybala does (5.2) in Serie A this season.
However, despite the Roma playmaker creating numerous chances for his teammates, he’s only racked up three assists in 23 appearances so far.
On average, the 31-year-old creates a chance every 35.2 minutes, although his teammates don’t always manage to convert them.
Junya Ito
Across Europe’s top five leagues in 2024-25, only Alex Baena and Raphinha have created more chances than the Reims winger.
Ito has 69 key passes in just 24 Ligue 1 appearances and has racked up an impressive xA of 7.9 in that time.
However, despite creating numerous chances for his teammates, the 31-year-old only has three assists to his name this season.
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