Lady luck not shining on Clarets striker Wood

Despite claiming 11 goals in the top flight, the New Zealand international could have had many more had Lady Luck been smiling down on him.

The research, provided by premierleague.com, investigated the number of shots taken by each player in the Premier league and looked at the number of big chances that were missed by each player, as well as the number of times they hit the woodwork.

Wood’s misfortune was only topped by Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – who finished the season sharing the Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane – and Jamie Vardy of Leicester City.

Looking at players in the Premier League who hit the woodwork at least three times last season, Aubameyang topped the charts with the largest combined percentage of shots he should have converted, or that rattled the woodwork.

Despite having a whopping 94 shots on goals, incredibly 27 of his 94 of his shots were either big misses or rebounded off the post (28.72%).

The Gabon international wasn’t the only one having a frustrating time in front of goal as he was closely followed by Vardy as 20 of his 79 shots were perceived as big misses or hit the woodwork (25.32%).

And Wood rounded off the top three with 14 of his 59 shots (23.73%) resulting in a big chance miss or the woodwork being hit.

While Aubameyang had the most combined misfortune in front of goal he did not place anywhere close to the top of the table for the percentage of shots that hit the woodwork.

Chelsea’s Marcus Alonso took top honours in this category as six of his 45 goal-bound efforts clattered the woodwork (13.33%).

Cardiff’s on-loan midfielder Harry Arter will also be wondering how so many of his attempts managed to miss the net as three out of 23 shots hit the woodwork (13.04%).

Completing the top three was Liverpool defender and PFA Player of the Year Virgil van Dijk as four of his 31 shots resulted in him hitting the woodwork (12.90%).

Some players really did not have any luck this season, as despite having numerous shots, they still were unable to get on the scoresheet.

Topping the table is Brighton and Hove Albion’s tenacious midfielder Yves Bissouma who despite spending 1,768 minutes on the pitch failed to hit the net after 22 attempts.

Despite being a striker, Huddersfield’s Laurent Depoitre came a close second with 21 shots failing to find the net.

Rounding off the top three is Burnley’s Ben Mee with 20 of his shots failing to cross the line.

A Paddy Power Games spokesperson said: “Despite slotting in the most goals in the Premier League this season and receiving a lovely Golden Boot for his mantlepiece, Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be wondering why the football Gods were against him in front of goal.

“As we know, football is all about fine margins and had Aubameyang netted more of his big chances, Arsenal fans could have secured the coveted fourth place trophy – which they have been so successful in picking up over the last few years.”

Paddy Power Games are at https://games.paddypower.com/