The Masters Of Premier League Shot Conversion

Although goals scored is a decent barometer of a team’s attacking output, it is arguably not the most definitive. To understand how a team really fares in the opposition’s penalty area, the tracking of attempts rather than output will place a sharper focus on their performance.

No matter where a club is situated within the Premier League table, chances are being created in each game. The difference in position is then determined by what happens next and how ruthless a side in front of goal actually is.

Some teams need a high volume of shots to find the net. Others require far fewer. That is where the concept of shot conversion comes in.

Calculated by dividing goals scored by total shots, it offers a clear view of which teams are clinical in front of goal and which are wasting opportunities. Because while shot totals can tell you who is attacking, conversion rates reveal who is actually making it matter.

Which is what we are going to look at now and with the formula above we can calculate who are the masters when it comes to shot conversion in this season’s edition of the Premier League.

Top of the conversion charts are Brentford and although Keith Andrews’ men have recorded 169 shots fewer than the team at the top of the list (Liverpool on 519), the relative lack of chances has not hampered the West London outfit this season.

From those 350 shots that have been registered at the time of writing, the Bees have scored on 48 occasions giving them a table topping conversion rate of 13.71% - nearly one in seven of all their efforts manage to hit the back of the opposition’s net.

A percentage value which is 0.56% better off than Arsenal and after slipping to second in the Premier League table, the Gunners also find themselves sitting second in the Shot Conversion Rankings for the 2025/26 season.

However, it must be noted that Mikel Arteta’s men have not been shy when it comes to shot production. Compared to Brentford at the top of the table, Arsenal have crafted 129 more shots than their London rivals.

479 shots in total, leading to 63 goals. That equates to a shot conversion ratio of 13.15% and although they are neck and neck with Manchester City when it comes to the race to the title, they do have the slightest of edges when looking at this particular metric.

13.15% for Arsenal, 13,12% for Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s side have scored three more goals than their North London-based challengers but have required 24 more shots in order to get them. 0.03% difference here, no difference when it comes to current points on the board.

The three teams at the top then manage to open up a wide gap in terms of shot conversion when compared to the rest of the Premier League. There can be nothing more than coincidence that five of the top six clubs in this list are all based in London.

West Ham, Chelsea and Spurs lock out the next three places on the list, each of the clubs sitting between fourth and sixth have registered a conversation ratio of more than 11% - which is layman’s terms is a goal roughly every nine shots.

Of course, that ratio has done little to help Tottenham this season. Roberto De Zerbi’s men sitting in the relegation zone. The fact that they have generated only 370 shots this season and scored on 42 occasions, highlights how bad their problems are.

Which also highlights just how important converting your efforts actually is. Take West Ham for example. They have only scored 40 goals this season but that tally comes from 341 shots. A shot conversion of 11.73%, 0.38% better than that of Spurs.

Adding further proof to the point of its not necessarily how many goals you score, its how effective you are when it comes to converting chances. The fact that West Ham sit just outside the bottom three and Spurs sit inside speaks volumes right now.

If West Ham are a good sign of getting the best out of what they are creating, then the same cannot be said for Liverpool. As referenced earlier, it is the Merseyside men that have currently created the most chances in the Premier League this season.

When looking at it from a topline perspective, the Anfield outfit’s 519 chances would be lauded as a good amount of attacking output. However, when you also compare that to their 54 goals, the picture gets slightly murky.

Those numbers mean a shot conversion ratio of just 10.40%. 169 more shots than Brentford, but 3.31% worse off when it comes to measuring their efficiency in front of goal. That 3.13% may not sound a lot but when looking at this chart, it makes a considerable difference.

When looking at the Shot Conversion Ranking table, Liverpool sit 16^th, 11 places worse off than their place in the Premier League itself. There are many reasons why Arne Slot’s men have struggled this season, this is arguably the most pertinent.

Compare Liverpool’s 519 shots to Manchester United’s 516 and you will see a stark difference when it comes to converting chances. The Old Trafford outfit have scored four goals more than their Merseyside rivals, those 58 goals generating a shot conversion ratio of 11.24%.

Nearly a whole percentage point higher than Liverpool, that margin also making the Red Devils nine places better off than the Anfield outfit in the Shot Conversion Rankings. Michael Carrick’s tenure can be considered a success story but what about those teams at the bottom of our chart?

Leeds find themselves fourth bottom with a shot conversion of 10.26%. 0.14% worse off than Liverpool who sit a position ahead, Daniel Farke’s men have scored 10 goals fewer than the Reds but they’ve also had 90 fewer chances.

Not that it matters too much for the Elland Road outfit as they have now reached the magical 40-point marker and bar an incredible combination of results going against them, they will be plying their trade in the Premier League next season.

Leeds hovering above the bottom three when it comes to measuring shot conversion, Crystal Palace would be relegated if using this measure instead of how league tables actually work. A rather anti-climactic season for the Eagles summed up by scoring less than one in 10 of their efforts.

A shot ratio of just 9.46% for Oliver Glasner’s men, an underlying frustration throughout their league campaign but nobody will make too big a deal of it if they go on to win the Conference League final in Leipzig next month.

The same could almost be said for the side that finds themselves second bottom, Nottingham Forest. The City Ground outfit looking to win the Europa League final in Istanbul, their European exploits certainly better than their domestic output.

Vitor Pereira’s men have taken 417 shots this season, scoring 36 goals. You cannot accuse them of being overly defensive but they certainly have lacked a genuine talisman this season and this shows with a shot conversion ratio of 8.63% or approximately one goal for every 12 shots.

Which leaves us with the team at the bottom and unfortunately it makes for further bad reading from a Wolves perspective. The Molineux men now with their relegation confirmed, hardly a surprise with a shot conversion ratio of just 7.82%.

The lowest number of shots taken in the Premier League this season with just 307 – 212 less than shot kings Liverpool, they have also scored the fewest goals with just 24. Divide the latter by the former and it is a shot conversion ratio of just 7.82%.

When you create the fewest chances and convert the lowest percentage of them, the outcome is almost inevitable; not just a lack of goals, but a lack of survival and for this reason, Wolves will be playing Championship football next season.