How important is xG? Charlton Athletic boss Ben Garner on why he does take interest in those stats

Ben Garner has revealed how much stock he places in expected goals (xG) – with the Charlton Athletic manager admitting he is “disappointed” if his side are ever second best in that area.

The xG calculates how many goals a team should have scored based on the quality of the chances created.

The Addicks have an xG of 10.89 from open play this season with only Ipswich (11.35) above them.

But whereas the Tractor Boys have scored 21 times, Charlton have returned 14 goals.

Asked about xG stats, Garner told the South London Press: “They are useful, in terms of a balance of play. When you look at xG, it generally gives you an indication of the team that has been the better side in open play and creating opportunities. It doesn’t necessarily mean they have won the game – as we’ve seen this season, numerous times, with us.

“If the other team has had a higher xG than us then I’m disappointed because they have probably been the better side in the game or created more opportunities than they should have done.

“It’s a good marker for performance levels, but the only one that really counts is the result. That’s the one we have to get right and that’s the one we need to have a focus on. But, at the same time, I’m not going to disregard the performance markers and those things because they give a good indication of how we are progressing.

“I’m a big believer that if we consistently do things right and keep having higher xG than our opposition then it will turn into wins – because it has to, just because of the normal percentages of getting in those positions and creating opportunities.”

Charlton’s xG from set-pieces is the second lowest in the league (1.08). They are yet to score from one this season and only Lincoln (1.07), their opponents tomorrow, are below them in that table.

“They have improved in recent weeks,” said Garner. “We were really good at Barnsley, for example. We had three or four first contacts, which was good. It’s trying to find the balance that works for the group. We’ve been really good at the other end, in terms of defending them. We’ve created some opportunities and not taken them.

“We work hard on them every week, a lot of preparation goes in, in terms of analysis and delivery on the training ground. We’ve adjusted that over the last couple of weeks to do it in a slightly different way with the players.

“We only had one corner last week, so it didn’t give us a chance to create off it.

“We’ve got players with good delivery and players who can score off set-pieces. That is an area where we’re very focused on improving and I would expect us to improve that in the coming weeks.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD