Why creative Portsmouth weren't that wasteful against Accrington Stanley as Republic of Ireland winger Ronan Curtis exceeded expectations

That’s according to the Blues’ expected goals (xG) data from their trip to the Wham Stadium, where Danny Cowley’s side recorded a 2-2 draw.

From the information recorded by Experimental 3-6-1, the Fratton Park outfit produced an xG of 2.1 goals from the chances they created on Saturday in comparison to Accy’s 1.3.

That means – due to the quality of chances created, alongside the probability of the visitors scoring from them, Pompey matched the number of goals they were anticipated to bag.

In addition to this, Ronan Curtis deserves credit for his 18th-minute opener due to this overall xG from the match.

Indeed, with an individual xG of 0.4 goals across the 90 minutes, the Republic of Ireland winger exceeded the amount of goals he was expected to score from the chances he found himself on the end of at Accrington.

Perhaps this was reflected, firstly, from his strike in the first half where he did well to get the ball out from under his feet before drilling it low through a crowd of bodies and into the bottom corner of the net.

Then, from his chance in the second half, when he directed the ball towards an open net from a tight angle before Matt Butcher’s last ditch interference sent it onto the post and then to safety.

Overall, the Blues are slightly out performing their xG across the campaign so far. The club has scored a total 17 goals in League One, while their xG for this term reads at 16.9.

And although this may seem a positive for Cowley’s side, in comparison to the rest of the division, it may suggest otherwise.

Only seven teams in the third tier have registered less for xG across the season, including Crewe, Doncaster and Fleetwood – three teams currently in the division’s bottm four.

Rotherham lead the way with 26, which indicates the Blues may need to create more clear-cut chances if they’re to truly put their goalscoring woes behind them.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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