Five surprising Serie A statistics from this season
Serie A football is back following the culmination of a thrilling 2022 World Cup.
Napoli are streaking ahead of the rest, boasting an eight-point cushion in their charge for a third scudetto.
Meanwhile, Milan occupy second place, with Juventus, Lazio and Inter all chasing closely behind the defending champions.
With the scene set for an exciting second half of the season, we use the Twenty3 Toolbox to take a deep dive into some of the most intriguing statistics.
No place like home for Leão
Rafael Leão has been a revelation for Milan since joining, scoring six and assisting four this term.
That form landed the 23-year-old a spot in the Portugal squad for the World Cup in Qatar, where he netted twice in 125 minutes for the Seleção.
His Serie A scoring stats should not come as a shock, given he has the second-most shots in the league (48), but intriguingly the 6ft 1in winger is yet to have a headed effort of any kind.
They say there is no place like home and that rings true for Leão, who is averaging 0.76 goals per 90 minutes at San Siro compared to 0.18 per 90 away from the historic ground.
No stopping Napoli
Napoli are streaking ahead of the rest this season and look set to continue that trend.
Victor Osimhen has been in unstoppable form, but one of the more surprising performers in this stacked squad has been South Korea centre-back Kim Min-jae.
Min-jae ranks third in Serie A for aerial duels won (45), eighth in interceptions (82) and fifth in ball recoveries (181).
Interestingly, the defensive stalwart has as many goals this season (two) as he has yellow cards.
Perhaps his presence in the opposition’s box will be just as important a factor as his defensive capabilities in Gli Azzurri’s hunt for Serie A glory.
Tammy’s shooting troubles
Tammy Abraham’s first season with Roma was sensational, as the Chelsea academy product netted 17 goals and four assists.
But his sequel season has not been so great. The England striker has the same number of goals as his compatriot Chris Smalling, a centre-back (three).
Abraham is underperforming his expected goals tally of 6.16 – which ranks fifth in Serie A.
Jose Mourinho will be hoping his talisman can turn his torrid form around for the second half of the campaign with a European place for next term in sight and Europa League football still to play.
Duality of Deulofeu
Former Watford winger Gerard Deulofeu has revived his career with Udinese.
The 28-year-old has managed five assists for the Bianconeri, who sit three points adrift of the European spots.
This season, he has scored two goals, but he has taken a remarkable 44 shots, which ranks fourth-highest in Serie A.
His conversion rate is particularly poor, as he has only found the target with 12 of his efforts.
Underperforming Edin
At 36 years old, Edin Dzeko is still going strong at Inter with six goals for the Nerazzurri.
However, the Bosnian is underperforming his 7.15xG.
Interestingly, Dzeko – known for his back-to-goal play – has considerably fewer completed link-up play receptions (41) than Argentine team-mate Lautaro Martinez (61).
The return of Romelu Lukaku from injury could also see his place in the starting line-up lost to the Belgian, given his strong performances alongside Martinez.
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