Key Highlights
- He's also the author of "Net Gains: Inside the Beautiful Game's Analytics Revolution."Follow on XMultiple AuthorsEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsBefore he got hurt in warmups Sunday at Nottingham Forest, it seemed as if Florian Wirtz had turned a corner.
- And given how terrible Liverpool looked for the first 85 minutes of that match, his recent uptick in statistics might be underselling just how important he is to his new team.
- But it's not only him. Since the calendar flipped to 2026, most of the best attacking players in the Premier League were summer signings.
- In 2026, Chelsea's João Pedro, Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres and Manchester United's Benjamin Sesko are tied for the league lead in non-penalty goals with five. Goals, of course, can be noisy: a couple of nice finishes, lucky deflections, or goalkeeper mistakes does not a great goal scorer make.
- But Sesko ranks fourth in expected goals, João Pedro is third, and one spot above him is Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike, another summer signing.
