Southampton: Ings more clinical than Kane, Sterling, Abraham, Mane etc

A statistical look at some of the Premier League’s strikers shows that Danny Ings has been more clinical than some of the leagues top forwards.

With eight top-flight goals in 15 appearances so far, Ings sits joint-fifth in the top scorers chart alongside Norwich’s Teemu Pukki and Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling.

However, a look at conversion rates shows that the Saints man has been more clinical than Sterling, Pukki, Harry Kane, Tammy Abraham, Sadio Mane and Marcus Rashford.

As of the end of matchday 15 of the 2019/20 season, Ings has had 14 shots on target in the league this season (according to premierleague.com).

With his eight goals coming from those 14 shots, that sees him converting 57% of efforts that he is able to get on target.

This is better than the rates of Kane (54%), Sterling (53%), Abraham (50%), Mane (50%), Rashford (45%) and Pukki (36%), whilst Sergio Aguero (75%), Jamie Vardy (61%) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (63%) lead the way.

Therefore, Ings’ Saints teammates know that if they create him a chance to get a clear shot on goal, he is in the top four finishers in the league currently.

Looking to the percentage of shots that each player gets on target, Ings also has very respectable numbers.

According to premierleague.com, he has had a total of 34 shots overall this season – a figure that is lower than every other forward he is compared with in this piece.

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With 14 shots on target from those 34 though, this sees him hitting the mark 41% of the time, which is higher than Harry Kane (35%), Raheem Sterling (34%) and Sergio Aguero (29%).

Then, when we look at the number of Ings’ shots that find the net (eight from 34 so far), he is at 24% – just under a one in four conversion rate.

This is better than Sterling (18%), Harry Kane (19%), Marcus Rashford (19%), Teemu Pukki (20%) and Sergio Aguero (21%).

It is also important to consider Ings’ creative importance to Saints, with his busy style and intelligence proving vital in forward areas.

In the opening 15 games of the season so far, Ings has made 14 key passes as part of his all-round team play.

This shows he has been more creative than Jamie Vardy (9), Harry Kane (11), Sergio Aguero (12) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (12).

This figure is lower than Tammy Abraham (15), Teemu Pukki (19), Marcus Rashford (19), Raheem Sterling (24) and Sadio Mane (30) – the last three involved more creatively given them playing on the wing.

Whilst this may be a lot of numbers to boil down and analyse, they prove that Ings is absolutely crucial to Saints if they are to escape trouble this campaign.

There were questions about his £20m price tag after a succession of hamstring injuries in 2018/19, but he looks to be much fitter this time around and (hopefully!) past his previous issues.