In this data analysis piece, we will be looking out for the best wingers currently playing in the Allsvenskan using statistics. The wingers’ evolution in football has been well documented where they were once only key to creating chances but not scoring goals. The modern-day wingers have changed the trend by getting more involved than their strikers in front of the goal.
In our analysis, we will be considering both the attacking as well as defensive attributes. We will be looking at players who registered at least 600 minutes of football in the 2021-22 league season.
We will shortlist the best options in this data analysis. In this piece, we look into the players who are amongst the best-performing wingers in the league in the 2022 season. Let’s dive deep into the analysis.
Goal Scoring
Wingers over the past 20 years have had their roles re-defined. Where once they were used for playing crosses into the box for strikers, the last 20 years have seen wingers being in more inverted positions and become more of a goal threat to the team than their strikers. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo for Manchester United and Real Madrid, Lionel Messi for Barcelona or even Mohamed Salah for Liverpool are some of the best goal-scoring wingers of the current generation.
Rasmus Alm – The 26-year-old winger from Elfsborg recorded 0.45 xG per game this season and also scored 0.57 goals from it, the former being the league’s highest for a winger. He also averaged 2.3 shots per 90 for his club which shows that he is a high-volume shooter.
Williot Swedberg – The 18-year-old youngster who plays as an attacking midfielder for Hammarby recorded 0.35 xG per game this season and scored 0.46 goals on average. He also averaged 1.86 shots per 90 for his club which is a good number for a young player.
Joel Joshghene Asoro – The 23-year-old right-winger from Djurgarden. He has averaged a league xG of 0.45 per game this season while also averaging a league-high 0.65 goals per game as well. He has also averaged 3.12 shots per game in the league as he is a very high-volume shooter.
Saku Ylätupa – The 24-year-old winger from Malmo has recorded 0.26 xG per game this season and scored 0.4 goals on average. He also averaged 1.4 shots per 90 for his club.
Veljko Birmančević– The 22-year-old winger from Malmo has averaged 0.33 xG per game this season and scored 0.3 goals on average. He also averaged 3.38 shots per 90 for his club which is a good number for a young player.
Chance creation
The best wingers are also among the top playmakers and they need to make passes into the opposition penalty area and also be able to create good chances for their teammates to score.
Veljko Birmančević – The Malmo winger has recorded 1.49 key passes per game, the highest among the wingers in the leagues, and averaged an xA of 0.39 per game. He has also averaged 2.59 shot-assists per game in the league this season, which is the highest amongst wingers.
Jeppe Okkels – The 22-year-old winger from Elfsborg has averaged 1 key pass per game and averaged an xA of 0.42 per game, which is the highest amongst the wingers in the league this season. He has also averaged 1.57 shot-assists per game in the league this season.
Rasmus Alm – The 26-year-old winger has recorded 1.15 key passes per game and averaged an xA of 0.33 per game. He registered 1.95 shot-assists per game in the league which is a decent value for a winger.
Oscar Johansson – The 27-year-old winger from Varnamo has averaged 0.79 key passes per game and averaged an xA of 0.29 per game. He registered 1.57 shot-assists per game in the league.
Joel Joshghene Asoro – The 23-year-old right-winger has recorded 0.78 key passes per game and averaged an xA of 0.18 per game. He registered 1.3 shot-assists per game in the league.
Activity in the box
In this section of the analysis, we’ll assess how active the players in the box are. We have shots per 90 on the y-axis and touches in the box per 90 on the x-axis. The colour shows the xG per shot, which allows us to differentiate those players who attempt speculative shots (red) from those who shoot from dangerous positions (green).
Veljko Birmančević – The Malmo winger has recorded 3.38 shots per game while averaging 5.37 touches in the box per game. His shots also had an average xG of 0.09 which is a decent number for a winger and shows that he prefers to take shots outside the box more often.
Joel Joshghene Asoro – The Djurgarden winger has averaged 3.12 shots per game while averaging 5.45 touches in the box per game. His shots also had an average xG of 0.14 which is a very good number for a winger and shows that he does get into good positions to take shots at times.
Jeppe Okkels – The Elfsborg winger has recorded 2.57 shots per game while averaging 4.56 touches in the box per game. His shots also had an average xG of 0.12 which is also a very good value and tells about his ability to get into good positions to take shots.
Jacob Ondrejka – The 19-year-old winger from Elfsborg has averaged 2.5 shots per game while averaging 5.8 touches in the box per game. His shots also had an average xG of 0.12 which is also a very good value and tells about his ability to get into good positions to take shots.
Rasmus Alm – The 26-year-old winger has recorded 2.3 shots per game while also averaging 4.6 touches in the box per game. He averaged 0.2 xG per shot which is amongst the highest for a winger in the league. Although it is mostly influenced by his penalty-taking abilities, he still has the ability to get into good positions and take shots.
Dribbling
In this data analysis section, we will look at the players’ ability to get past rivals and create things by themselves. On the x-axis, we have completed dribbles per 90 and on the y-axis, progressive runs per 90 (a continuous ball control by one player attempting to draw the team significantly closer to the opponent’s goal). Dribbling is an important attribute to a winger and his ability to get past an opponent can open defences in a much easier fashion.
Taha Abdi Ali – The 24-year-old winger from Helsingborg. He recorded 3.78 successful dribbles per game along with 5.29 progressive runs per game in the league. He also made 15.32 offensive duels per game in the league which is among the league’s highest for a winger.
Jacob Ondrejka – The 19-year-old winger has averaged 3.4 successful dribbles per game along with 3.2 progressive runs per game in the league. He also made 14 offensive duels per game, which is so far amongst the league’s highest.
Veljko Birmančević – The Malmo winger has recorded 3.18 successful dribbles per game along with 2.98 progressive runs per game in the league. He also made 12.43 offensive duels per game in the league.
Jeppe Okkels – The Elfsborg winger has recorded 2.7 successful dribbles per game along with 4.56 progressive runs per game in the league. He also has made 9.27 offensive duels per game in the league this season.
Wenderson – The 23-year-old winger from Varnamo recorded 3.4 successful dribbles per game along with 2.62 progressive runs per game in the league. He also made 14.35 offensive duels per game in the league which is among the league’s highest for a winger.
Defensive contributions
Despite the modern game developing to accommodate a lot of forward players being given the freedom and the fundamentals to do well in possession, the same modern philosophy of the game expects them to track back and defend for the team as a collective process.
Nahom Girmai – The 27-year-old winger from Kalmar has averaged 6.2 defensive duels per game and 6.55 PAdj interceptions per game in the league last season. He also made 8 successful defensive actions per game in the league last season.
Oscar Johansson – The Varnamo winger recorded 7.5 defensive duels per game and 5.22 PAdj interceptions per game in the league last season. He also made 9.06 successful defensive actions per game in the league last season.
Wenderson – The Varnamo winger has recorded 7 defensive duels per game and 4 PAdj interceptions per game in the league last season. He also made 7.93 successful defensive actions per game in the league last season.
Veljko Birmančević – The Malmo winger has averaged 5.37 defensive duels per game and 4.4 PAdj interceptions per game in the league last season. He also made 6.36 successful defensive actions per game in the league last season.
Players to watch out for
Based on the data and the statistics we have shortlisted a few options to look out for in the forthcoming season where we expect these wingers to make bigger strides.
Veljko Birmančević
The Malmo forward is one of the most complete wingers in the league where we can see that he came out as one of the top performing wingers in all the categories that we discussed in this piece. His style of play is more of a ball-to-feet player who likes to receive the ball and create chances for his teammates or take a shot for himself outside the box. He is very creative which is his biggest strength and also he is pretty good at scoring goals also. He also contributes defensively for his side as his team’s style of play demands every player to show effort in terms of defending.
Jeppe Okkels
Another youngster who has had a very good season on the wings this season. He is probably his team’s most important and vital player as well. He is very creative on the ball and also creates high-quality chances for his team as well. Also unlike Birmančević, he is not a ball-to-feet player and shows a good tendency to make good runs in the box and get into good shooting zones as well. He also has good feet and is very skilled at beating his marker in 1v1 situations.
Joel Joshghene Asoro
The defending champions’ winger has had a very good first half of the season where he has registered 5 goals and 2 assists in the league. He is very good at getting into good positions around the box and also has great off-ball movement which is pretty much the reason why he creates a lot of chances for his teammates as he is always in the right place. His style of play resembles more of Thomas Muller and plays the role of an attacking midfielder really well.
Conclusion
The Allsvenskan possesses some fine wingers with most of them being young and with high potential. In this article, we have covered both the attacking as well as defensive traits to discuss and list a few of the best-performing players. We could see that the players we saw and discussed could follow the same path and succeed at the top level and might soon enter the top-five leagues in Europe.
Comments