Wrexham have missed more of the chances the side made than any club in the Championship: three goals from 4.77 expected in the first three rounds
Live boardWrexham hubThe finishing panel, form, the table and the fixture at Swansea CityGoals against expected goals, match by match
- R1, 17 Aug, Cardiff City 1-1 Wrexham
- 1 goal, 1.43 xG
- R2, 22 Aug, Wrexham 1-1 Watford
- 1 goal, 1.92 xG
- R3, 28 Aug, Wrexham 1-2 Birmingham City
- 1 goal, 1.42 xG
- First three rounds
- 3 goals, 4.77 xG
- R4, 2 Sep, Millwall 0-3 Wrexham
- 3 goals, no xG published
Where this sits
Wrexham scored 3 goals from 4.77 expected goals across the first three Championship rounds, a shortfall of 1.77.
Wrexham scored exactly one goal in each of the first three rounds, from expected goals of 1.43, 1.92 and 1.42.
At Millwall on 2 September Wrexham scored three in one match, more than the first three rounds combined; no xG is published for it yet.
Wrexham are 11th in the Championship after four matches: 5 points, 6 for, 4 against, form (newest first) W L D D.
Wrexham's minus-1.77 goals-minus-xG is the largest shortfall of the 24 Championship clubs; Millwall's minus-1.44 is next.
Expected goals is API-Football's estimate of how many goals a side's chances were worth, so a total above the goals actually scored is a measure of what a side has missed. Across the first three rounds of the Championship, Wrexham scored three goals from 4.77 expected, a shortfall of 1.77 that is the largest of the 24 clubs in the division, with no club level with Wrexham on it. What sits under that total is unusually flat. One goal at Cardiff City from 1.43 expected, one at home to Watford from 1.92, one at home to Birmingham City from 1.42.
Then three in one night
At Millwall on Wednesday 2 September, Wrexham scored three in a single match, as many as in the first three rounds put together. Issa Kaboré's cross deflected off Zak Sturge and looped in on 28 minutes, Kieffer Moore scored on 52 and Jacques Ekomié on 69. One limit sits on that scoreline: API-Football has published no team statistics for the fixture, so no expected-goals figure exists for it. The three goals are real; the expected-goals reading of that night does not exist yet. Millwall, of all the 24, were the club with the next-largest shortfall, minus 1.44. Phil Parkinson afterwards: "In reality, we probably should have had more points in the two games prior to that, but you've got to respond, and I felt we did tonight."
The floor under all of it
The defending has held up while the finishing has not. Wrexham faced 30 shots in the first three rounds, the fourth fewest of the 24 Championship clubs, behind only Birmingham City and Swansea City on 26 and Middlesbrough on 28. Of those, 19 came inside Wrexham's own box, the joint fewest in the division, level with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City. Wrexham are 11th after four matches on five points, in a second consecutive Championship season.
Saturday night
Wrexham go to Swansea City on Saturday 5 September, kick-off 20:00 at the Swansea.com Stadium, and Swansea are one of the three clubs level with Wrexham on that 19. Swansea City are top of the Championship on 10 points from four matches and have conceded once in four, fewer than any club in the division.
The limits. Every league rank here is over the first three rounds only, three matches per club, because API-Football has not published team statistics for four round-four fixtures, Millwall against Wrexham among the four; goals, points, form and table position are current to four matches. No expected-goals figure exists for the Millwall win. The club's report of that match gives no attendance. Parkinson has said nothing specifically about the finishing, and the club has posted no Swansea preview as of Thursday morning.
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