.jpg "League Focus: Ligue 1 Goals")
In Ligue 1 the teams that end up on top are unsurprisingly the most clinical. Its one thing to create chances (ask Lille), while it's another thing to put them away. Too often chances are wasted and teams struggle, reputations are made, and many are broken. Take Valenciennes' excellent 4-1 win over Marseille last weekend - six shots on target, four goals. Marseille only managed to hit the target with three of their eleven attempts, and they were made to pay.
France is a great breeding ground for talent, but at times teams seem to lack that clinical striker and usually end up in a relegation battle as a result. Caen were relegated without Youssef El-Arabi or a fit M'Baye Niang and Rennes lost out on a Europa League spot as strikers Mevlut Erding and Victor Hugo Montano could only combine for 10 goals, less than 5th place Bordeaux's Yoan Gouffran alone. It's not surprising to see how important goals are, but in a lower scoring league like Le Championnat, it is even more crucial.
Paris-Saint Germain can go top of Ligue 1 this weekend when they face Marseille at the Stade Velodrome. One of the main reasons for the Paris side’s excellence so far this season has been the goals of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. With seven goals in seven games for the ex-Milan striker, on three occasions he has scored braces in the league, so he is deservedly getting a lot of praise. He sits third in the league when looking at shots per game. A healthy 4.3 efforts every match adding up to 26 shots overall this season, meaning 27% of his shots hit the back of the net. Around Europe the likes of Falcao, Demba Ba and Edison Cavani can boast a higher percentage, but that's not bad company to be in.
As a team PSG sit 12th in the table when it comes to shots per game, averaging only 11 - just above Nice and Brest - but in contrast PSG have scored the second most goals in the league, with 12. They have been clinical this season, something they severely lacked in the last campaign, and what ultimately lost them the title. The difference is shots on target. Averaging 4.7 a game, this is the 5th highest total in the league. The philosophy is simple - get more on target and you'll score more goals. As previously mentioned, Brest aren't far behind the Parisians in goals attempts, averaging 10.7 shots on goal, but they are bottom of the table when you count shots on target, with 2.7 per game. In contract to PSG's 12, Brest have only scored seven goals so far this season.
One player that has nearly scored as many himself in Toulouse forward Wissam Ben Yedder. With five goals to his name, he is the early sensation in the league and is doing it with style. The former futsal player is even more clinical than Ibrahimovic. He has only taken 16 shots on goal, giving him a 31% conversion rate. Toulouse as a team have impressed in front of goal, averaging 12 shots per game with five of those on target, yet amazingly, they have only scored seven goals in total. Alain Casanova will have to wrap young Ben Yedder up in cotton wool until he starts to receive some support from fellow striker Emmanuel Rivere.
As it stands, the league standings correlate quite well to the shots per game table. Marseille are on top with 15.4 shots, ahead of Lyon on 14.3. Bastia are next with 13.9, Lorient with 12.6 and of course PSG on 11. Bastia have had no problem finding the back of the net, with nine goals so far this season, but it's the 18 they have conceded that see them sit 16th in the league. Anthony Modeste is second in the league for shots per game, it’s just a shame he only converts 9% of his chances.
In a similar vein, we were quick to praise the start of Marseille's Andre-Pierre Gignac when he scored three early goals; the only problem is he hasn't scored since. Despite having had 38 shots this season, he is stuck on three goals, taking his conversation rate right down to 8%. As the season continues there is only one guess which team will do better; the team with a striker scoring 27% of his chances, or the team with the striker scoring 8%?
