Shot Maps
A shot map plots every shot from a match or a player on a pitch diagram, using dot position for where it was taken and dot size for its expected goals value.
Why it matters. It separates shot quality from shot count at a glance, showing whether a team created real chances or just accumulated efforts from distance.
Figures built on licensed professional event data. Where the data comes from. Reviewed . Example figures, when shown, carry their own season and data date.
Three encodings, read together
A shot map carries its information in three separate channels, and all three matter before a dot means anything.
- Position. Where the marker sits on the pitch is where the shot was taken from. Central and close beats wide and far, every time.
- Size. Bigger markers carry more expected goals. A shot worth 0.4 xG draws a noticeably larger dot than one worth 0.05, regardless of what either shot did next.
- Fill. Three outcomes, not two. A washed-out circle went off target, hit the post or was blocked. A solid circle was on target and saved. A goal is drawn as a ball, not as a filled circle. Fill tells you the outcome; size tells you the chance.
Read position first to locate the shot, size second to judge it, fill last to see what happened. Reading fill first is the most common mistake, and it throws away the two channels that actually describe quality.
On the full match shot map, a side table lists every shot as a row and can be sorted by expected goals. This page's example is the pitch on its own, so the markers stay readable. Open the match shot map when you want the list.
Three scenarios, worked through
A cluster of small dots outside the box. A team shooting from range repeatedly, none of the markers growing past a sliver. That pattern describes a side that never worked the ball into a central, high-value area, whatever the shot count on the scoreboard says. Ten small dots rarely outweigh two large ones.
One huge marker that missed. A near-post tap-in blazed over is a large washed-out circle: high xG, never on target. A one-on-one saved is a large solid circle: high xG, on target, the keeper did the work. Both missed the net. Only the fill tells you which kind of miss it was.
Two players' shot maps side by side. One player's dots cluster inside the six-yard box and the penalty spot. The other's are scattered across the arc, further out. Even with the same number of shots, the first player is getting into better positions. A shot count alone cannot show that; the map does it in one glance.
What it settles that a count cannot
A shot count answers "how many". A shot map answers "how good", and the two questions have different winners more often than the raw numbers suggest.
Volume without quality is cheap. A team can rack up fifteen shots and create less genuine danger than an opponent with six, if those fifteen sit mostly outside the box. The map exposes that split instantly, where a tally on a stat sheet hides it completely.
Quality without a goal is not wasted. The dot size for a missed chance does not shrink after the fact. A 0.6 xG shot that a goalkeeper saves was still a 0.6 xG shot. Reaching that position again next week is the repeatable skill worth tracking, independent of whether this particular effort found the net.
Two misreadings to drop
"That big dot that missed was a wasted chance." It was a good chance that did not convert, which happens to the majority of shots even at high xG values. A shot worth 0.6 xG is still expected to miss four times in ten. One miss proves nothing about whether the position was worth reaching.
"That small dot that scored proves a special finish." A low-probability shot going in is not proof of a gifted finisher. It is what low probability means: it happens some of the time, just not most of the time. Judge finishing across many shots against cumulative xG, never off one dot on one map.
"More dots overall means the better attacking performance." A team can crowd a shot map with a dozen small, washed-out markers from poor positions and still trail an opponent with four large ones. Sort the side table by expected goals before drawing a conclusion from the shot count alone.
Every shot in one match
Example: 2025/26
Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City, 17 January 2026: every shot both teams took, placed where it was struck and sized by its expected goals value. A washed-out marker went off target, hit the post or was blocked, a solid one was saved, and a goal is drawn as a ball.
FAQ
Each dot is one shot, placed where it was struck from on the pitch. The dot's size scales with its expected goals value, so a bigger dot marks a better chance, not a harder strike.
Size tracks expected goals, which is driven mainly by distance and angle to goal. A close, central chance produces a large dot even if it was scuffed wide, because the model rates the position, not the outcome.
Yes. Every shot appears, not just goals. A washed-out marker went off target, hit the post or was blocked. A solid circle was on target and saved. A goal is drawn as a ball. Size still tracks expected goals, so a big washed-out marker is a good chance that missed.
Yes, on the full match shot map. A table of every shot sits with the pitch and can be sorted by expected goals. This page's example hides that table so the markers stay readable. Open the match shot map to sort the list.
The encoding is identical. A match shot map plots both teams' shots on one pitch; a player shot map filters to one player's attempts across a match or a range of matches, using the same size and fill rules.
Related terms
See Shot Map across the Premier League
Every player, team and match measured on the chances created rather than the scoreline.