You won’t believe who’s missed the most Premier League big chances since Darwin Nunez’s arrival

It’s a widely-held belief in football that clinical strikers are worth their weight in gold. But even the most prolific goalscorers around can fluff presentable opportunities to score – as the list of the big chances missed over the past couple of seasons proves.

The summer of 2022 saw Liverpool sign Darwin Nunez and Manchester City sign Erling Haaland. The two strikers have enjoyed mixed fortunes and wildly differing reputations in English football, but they’re not as different as you might think.

Here are the five players that have missed the most big chances (per the Premier League’s official stats) since the start of the 2022-23 season.

5. Marcus Rashford – 28

The interesting thing about Rashford’s output over the past couple of seasons under Erik ten Hag is how his rate of missing big chances corresponds to his goalscoring return.

Last season, Rashford finished second for big chances missed – with 22 in total. But he also scored 17 Premier League goals, his joint-best career-best return.

This season he’s down considerably on both counts, suggesting a regression in his movement, or United’s chance creation (or a bit of both) as opposed to a downturn in his finishing.

The England international ranks joint 25th for big chances missed this season – just six – while he’s scored just six goals, despite being a near ever-present in Ten Hag’s frontline.

4. Mohamed Salah – 29

Jurgen Klopp’s Reds were off-kilter in several ways as they slumped to an underwhelming fifth-place finish last season.

Salah was one of few players who emerged with any credit, scoring an impressive tally of 19 Premier League goals for an otherwise underperforming team. But he was also fairly wasteful, missing 20 big chances – as many as his much-maligned team-mate Nunez.

Liverpool’s Egyptian king has been much more clinical in 2023-24 so far, with 15 goals scored and just nine big chances missed.

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3. Ollie Watkins – 38

The Aston Villa forward’s 31 league goals since the start of last season have surely secured his spot as Harry Kane’s back-up in England’s Euro 2024 squad.

Watkins is consistent and has a more-than-respectable goalscoring return. But he might have scored considerably more, with 38 big chances missed over the past couple of seasons – 18 in 2023-24, 20 in 2022-23.

2. Darwin Nunez – 41

Liverpool’s Uruguayan striker has a reputation as one of the most wasteful strikers around. And for good reason. Darwin misses a big chance every 77 minutes on average, which is more frequently than the man who tops this list.

Last season Darwin only started half of Liverpool’s Premier League matches and played just 1701 minutes and yet was third for big chances missed with 20 in total – a stark contrast to his underwhelming tally of just nine goals.

This season, he’s second on that front, having missed 21 big chances.

But he’s also scoring more regularly, assisting often, and every so often surprises us by looking like prime Ruud van Nistelrooy with dead-eyed finishes – think that early-season brace against Newcastle or his outrageously cool lob against Brentford.

A total enigma, but we wouldn’t change him for the world.

1. Erling Haaland – 53

The fact that Haaland features here and has also scored considerably more goals than anybody else on this list, claiming the European Golden Shoe last term, is testament to his movement and ability to get in dangerous areas, as well as the colossal volume of chances that his Man City team-mates create for him.

Last season Haaland finished top for expected goals across Europe’s major leagues, notching 28.4xG, overperforming it considerably to break the Premier League single-season record with 36 goals.

And yet he also topped the Premier League for big chances missed with 28 – six more than any other player.

We’re in familiar territory once again this season. The Norwegian tops both the scoring charts (17 goals) and is top for big chances missed (25).

Across Europe, he’s only behind Harry Kane in terms of total xG (19.2) and is top for xG-per-90 (0.99) – but this time is marginally underperforming.

Haaland has scored 53 goals and missed 53 big chances in 57 Premier League appearances. Just goes to show that missing chances isn’t as important as you might think – and can be proof that the goals will come if you trust in their instincts. Not getting the chances in the first place should be the bigger cause for concern.

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