Premier League GW6 - Starts Saturday 28th September 2019

THE PREMIER LEAGUE HOT SHOTS

In last week's article we took a look at the players who are currently at the summit of the Premier League goalscoring charts and in this week's piece we are going to extend the theme further, by looking at which forwards are taking the most opportunities thus far.

Sergio Aguero only scored once in Manchester City's eight goal mauling of Watford last Saturday, but it was enough to put him clear at the top of scoring charts - with the Argentine adding his eighth of the campaign at the Etihad.

Which means he is already averaging 1.33 goals per league game this season and if you were to extrapolate that, it would work out to be a 38 game stretch which sees the former Atletico Madrid forward score 51 times.

Now whether Aguero can keep up this blistering goal to games ratio remains to be seen (to be honest, I think that might end up being a stretch too far) but one thing we can likely bank on, is his efficiency in and around the opposition's penalty area.

When we consider that City's main marksman has had just 21 shots this season and eight of those have been successful, it means his shot conversion rate is at 38% (includes both on and off target efforts).

Therefore, a quick and dirty bit of analysis shows that the 31-year-old is converting two of out every five shots into goals and this is also accounting for shots that have also gone high, wide and handsome, not just anything that stung a ‘keeper's fingertips.

But how does that efficiency compare with the players that have also found themselves in the top ten list (average shots per game), let's take a breakdown at some of the other players who are also keeping opposition defences busy thus far.

Next in the list is Hueng min-Son of Tottenham, who after missing the first four two games of the season through suspension, is now once again a mainstay in Tottenham's attack and there is no doubting that he is a key component of it.

The South Korean international has registered 16 shots in total � an average of four per game and he has found the net on two separate occasions, this means his personal shot conversion rate currently lies at 12.5%.

Some 25.5% less than that of Aguero's and where the City legend is scoring two goals from every five shots, the Tottenham forward is only managing a goal every eight shots by comparison and it is arguably this which is the difference between being a good player and a great one.

Next up in the list is Raheem Sterling, who after a blistering start to proceedings has cooled off in last two league outings. That said, had he featured against such a woeful Watford side, he would have surely added to his already burgeoning tally of five league goals.

The England forward has registered 18 shots in five league appearances and with as many goals to his name, it means that he has a shot efficiency of 20% and one of every five shots is crossing the all-important white line.

Burnley's Ashley Barnes features next and his goals have been all-important in the Claret's first few weeks. The 29-year-old has scored four times from a total of 21 efforts and this puts his shot conversion rate at 19.0%.

How does Liverpool's most attacking player (in terms of shots) stack up against his Manchester City counterparts, a comparison that allows us to put Roberto Firmino into the limelight and see how effective he has been from his first 21 efforts at goal.

By comparison Firmino has only converted three of those into celebratory scenes, which means his shot conversion rate stands at just 14.2% but when you allow for the fact that he is the glue in Liverpool's attacking trio, his contribution should not be overlooked.

He might not be a player who is first pick in the world of FPL, due to the fact he is usually the man playing the second assist but there is no doubting that he is first choice for Jurgen Klopp and don't be surprised if he contributes to Liverpool's first ever Premier League trophy win next May.