Football statistics definitions
To maintain the consistency, our data provider follow a long-established and strictly defined set of football event and statistics definitions, which are applied uniformly across all of its global data collection centres. As a result, statistics may sometimes differ from figures published by official sources, but they always remain consistent with these predetermined definitions.
Shot on target
Our data provider defines a shot on target as any goal attempt that:
- Goes into the net regardless of intent (goals only)
- Is a clear attempt to score that would have gone into the net but for being saved by the goalkeeper or is stopped by a player who is the last player with the goalkeeper having no chance of preventing the goal (last line block).
Shots blocked by another player, who is not the last player, are not counted as shots on target. Shots directly hitting the frame of the goal are not counted as shots on target, unless the ball goes in and is awarded as a goal.
We understand there are many other incidents where it isn’t easy to identify what is a shot on target. Below you can find numerous different types of shot, and whether they are a shot on target or not.
| Shot Type | Shot on Target |
| Crosses that would be going into the goal, but the goalkeeper catches/tips around for a corner | No |
| Deflected Shot that would be going in, but for a save from the goalkeeper | Yes |
| Blocked shots that a goalkeeper doesn’t save, instead collects due to a lack of power | No |
| Blocked/deflected shots that hit the woodwork | No |
| Goals that hit the woodwork on the way in | Yes |
| Shots the goalkeeper saves that were going off target | No |
| A corner that would be going into the goal, but the goalkeeper stops the ball from going in | No |
| A goal scored directly from a corner | Yes |
| A shot cleared off the line by a defender, who is classified as the last line of defence | Yes |
| A shot that was going on target that is blocked by someone on the shooter’s same team | Yes - if stopping a certain goal – ‘goal line clearance’) |
| A defender’s clearance that hits an attacking player which goes towards goal and the keeper has to save | No |
| A shot that hits the post, then the keeper and bounces out | No |
| A shot that hits the post and trickles on the line before a defender clears the ball | No |
| A headed/non-headed flick on which runs through to the goalkeeper from a corner/free kick | No |
Goal assist
The final touch (pass, pass-come-shot or any other touch) leading to the recipient of the ball scoring a goal.
If the final touch (as defined in bold) is deflected by an opposition player, the initiator is only given a so called fantasy assist which is not disclosed in the statistics, but is used for calculating player rating in our system.
Fantasy assist is also given if a player shoots or passes the ball and forces an opposing player to put the ball in their own net (same as above, taken in account only for player rating).
In some leagues, if the goal scorer makes a dribble or significant run after the last action by a teammate and before scoring, that action is not counted as an assist.
Tackles
A tackle is defined as where a player connects with the ball in a ground challenge where they successfully takes the ball away from the player in possession.
The tackled player must clearly be in possession of the ball before the tackle is made.
It is not a tackle, when a player cuts out a pass by any means.
Clean sheet
A clean sheet occurs when a player or team successfully prevents the opposing team from scoring throughout the entire duration of a match.
For a goalkeeper to be credited with a clean sheet in their seasonal statistics, they must have played the entirety of the match, completing all 90 minutes on the field.
This requirement ensures that the goalkeeper has been directly involved in the game's defensive efforts from start to finish.