No team has impressed more in the group stages of Euro 2022 than England.
After strolling past Austria 1-0 in their opener at Old Trafford, England hammered Norway 8-0 in Brighton - a competition record win, before smashing Northern Ireland 5-0 at St. Mary's.
They became the first side to score 14 goals in their opening three matches in the UEFA European Women's Championships without conceding a single goal in return.
Scarily for opposition defenders, the underlying data suggests the Lionesses’ aren’t overperforming. Their ruthlessness isn’t a fluke, instead expected goals (xG) shows England's routine dismantling of their opponents is justly deserved.
Every shot, slice, blast and whack aimed towards the target has an xG score. A striker shooting with his back to goal, on his weaker foot, from miles out will have a very low score, like 0.05. That means for every 100 attempts in that exact scenario, only five are likely to go in.
For context though Georgia Stanway’s penalty that opened the scoring for England against Norway had an xG of 0.75.
Now, a side's accumulative xG can be used to work out how many total goals a team might expect to score across a match. For instance in France’s 5-1 win over Italy earlier in the tournament they won the xG battle 3.39 - 1.13.
Northern Ireland 0-5 England
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) July 15, 2022
xG: 0.23 - 3.35
Ruthless Lionesses roar again to wrap up an incredible group stage at Euro 2022.#WEURO2022 | #NIR | #ENG pic.twitter.com/9HgnimfoV5
That tells us that though France were deserved victors, goals four and five goals may have flattered Les Blues.
England have scored 14 goals in three Euros matches from a total tournament xG of 12.05. Or, put another way, they are producing an xG of 4.02 per 95 minutes.
Incredibly, ahead of their quarter-final tie next week, England know if they match their attacking output average they can expect to score at least four goals by full-time. That number is exceptionally high.
Efficient in attack; ruthless in defence
Behind England’s attack is one rock-solid defence led by Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright, Leah Williamson and Rachel Daly. The Lionesses have yet to concede in the competition across more than four-and-a-half hours of football.
And just as xG can be used to determine a side’s attacking efficiency, it can be used to work out their defensive strength.
England 8 (eight)-0 Norway
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) July 11, 2022
‣ xG 6.06 - 0.50
Beth Mead nets a hat-trick in a ruthless display from the Lionesses. #WEuro2022 | #Lionesses pic.twitter.com/DKBk1jPZJs
England’s expected goals against (xGA) totalled 0.43 against Austria, 0.52 against Norway and 0.23 against Northern Ireland. At no point so far this tournament have England conceded a chance with an xG figure above 0.39.
Dominant going forward, dominant at the back.
How far can can England go at Euro 2022?
It is easy to get carried away, Norway are two-time winners and Austria reached the semi-finals in the last tournament.
But England, the highest ranked side in their group and playing in front of their home fans, were always likely to qualify from Group A as winners. What wasn’t expected though was the sheer strength of their wins.
England 1-0 Austria
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) July 6, 2022
‣ xG: 2.65 - 0.42
Beth Mead's first-half goal gives the Lionesses victory in the opening game of the tournament.#WEuro2022 | #Lionesses | #ENGAUT pic.twitter.com/WpY4OBHoLa
Or should we have seen it coming?
When the Lionesses beat Austria by a 1-0 scoreline in their opener it ended a run of England beating their past six opponents and by at least two goals.
In that ruthless run they beat Germany 3-1 in February and the Netherlands 5-1 last June, two nations ranked inside the world’s top five.
In 17 matches under Sarina Wiegman (W15 D2), England have scored 98 goals while conceding just three. No other European nation comes close to that output. England are on another level.
