Major League Soccer 2019: Statistically Best Strikers – data analysis

With football returning to our screens in a matter of weeks, it is only befitting our analysis of the 2019 MLS Season ends with this article. In the past, we’ve looked at every position, from goalkeepers to attacking midfielders.

As such, in this data analysis, using data and statistics, we will find the statistically best strikers in MLS.

Contextual References

With the previous analysis on the best attacking players in MLS, as well as the data analysis articles before that, I have continually reiterated the point that this data analysis is not the final list of the best players in MLS. Rather, it serves as a scouting report to bring down our list of players to look at. After that, the traditional eye-test has to be conducted to come to the right conclusion.

Similarly, I will be doing this analysis on a sample size of strikers who have played more than or equal to 20 games. This ensures that the players we pick have shown themselves to be consistent.

This analysis will be different to the other analysis. Normally, in other positions, I have had the flexibility to pick different types of players due to the fact that there were two or three of those positions. However, in my 4-2-3-1 that I have picked to fit in my players, there is only one striker. Of course, having watched football we know that strikers come in many forms. Liverpool’s Firmino represents a creative striker who drops deep while Inter Milan’s Lukaku often serves as a target striker who is very clinical in his shot-taking.

To be fair to all strikers, I will be picking two best strikers from the MLS 2019 season  one who is more creative while the other who is more clinical.

Analyzing the League

The first and foremost thing to analyze within strikers is their actual ability to score and their shot-taking. Regardless of nuance, the role of the striker lies in the pool of shooting and scoring goals.

Here we have a graphic that I utilize a lot of times to find great strikers. Excellent strikers like Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski get into the box often and pair their foot activity with high shots per game. In addition, getting more shots and touches, the best strikers also find their shots on target more times compared to the average.

Looking at this metric, then, reveals the clinical and excellent strikers. The first name is LA Galaxy’s Zlatan Ibrahimović, which is a no-brainer. Ibrahimović has proven himself on the highest levels and his quality comes out here. He records the highest touches in the box in the league with the highest shots per 90. In addition to that, Ibrahimović records one of the highest on-target percentages. This is important considering that he takes a lot of shots. Generally, those who take fewer shots have high on-target percentages. For Ibrahimović to do this with a high amount of shots is very impressive.

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