The numbers game: Breaking down the threat of key Oxford United danger man Matty Taylor to Portsmouth

Matty Taylor had banged in six goals in five Oxford United wins to fire them to the brink of automatic promotion before football was suspended in March.

Using statistics from football analysis site, Wyscout, we can see the numbers back up while the man who’s smashed in 17 goals this term for the U’s is such a threat to Kenny Jackett’s side.

Across the 2019-20 season, Taylor has averaged a massive 0.64 goals per game to keep him above a ratio of a goal every two games - the holy grail for strikers.

What’s more, he is operating above his expected goals or xG rate of a very sizeable 0.57 (per 90 minutes).

xG is a metric which has gained currency in football in recents seasons, by assessing every chance in a game and giving it a value between zero and one over how likely it is to be converted

Taylor tends to work the keeper roughly half of the time with his shooting with 53.1 per cent of his 64 shots this season on target - or 2.42 per game

The Bristol City man has the hallmarks of a top striker with his stats showing a single-mindedness to what he does. Taylor has contributed just two assists in his 34 Oxfor appearances which have totalled 2,376 minutes on the pitch.

Taylor’s 467 passes this season returned a completion rate of 72.6 per cent, with 20 long passes for the season coming in at 55 per cent

Unsurprisingly, for a player who does his work between the sticks, Taylor completes just 0.8 crosses per game with 19 per cent finding a team-mate.

You can expect to see an average of 2.65 dribbles from the former Bristol Rovers striker per 90 minutes with less than half successful at 41.4 per cent.

At 5ft 7in, it’s unsurprising to see Taylor doesn’t expect to win too much in the air. The 30-year-old averages 8.83 aerial duels per 90 minutes winning 32.2 per cent. That factors in to an average of 26.82 duels per game with a 30.5 per cent win rate.