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Tuesday Trivia is a weekly column that presents relevant sporting facts. This week's edition takes a look at Ademola Lookman's oscillating form in Serie A this season.
Ademola Lookman was back among the goals for Atalanta over the weekend, scoring the third in the Bergamaschi’s 3-1 win over Cremonese.
While the Nigeria international’s goal in the third minute of second-half stoppage did no more than make sure of the result, the importance of that strike for the individual cannot be diminished.
Lookman has admittedly had a strong season in Bergamo, hitting the back of the net 13 times in Serie A this term for Gian Piero Gasperini’s team.
His goals have boosted La Dea’s hopes of returning to the Champions League next season, but those prospects hit a snag for two months.
When the attacker netted his 12th league goal of the campaign in Atalanta’s 2-0 win over Sampdoria in late January, he probably had no idea he would wait so long for another.
That run without scoring coincided with the Bergamaschi picking up four points from an available 18, prompting Gasperini to acknowledge after the Milan loss in February that his Champions League-chasing side needed to spread the goals around to unburden Lookman and a young Rasmus Hojlund, who is still relatively green at this level.
The Nigerian interestingly lost his place in the side, failing to start three games on the spin with the Atalanta boss leaning on the experience of Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel against Napoli, Empoli and Sunday’s visit to Cremonese.
Hojlund came off the bench to score the winner in the 2-1 win at Empoli before the international break and set up Jeremy Boga to make it 2-1 in Cremona after his introduction, while Lookman made sure of the win that was not in jeopardy given La Dea retained control after Boga put them in front.
Perhaps, this leads to both players' reinstatement for the sixth-placed side in the six-way battle for the three remaining Champions League spots.
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22:00 - 31.03.2023
SERIE A Champions League tussle set for fresh twists in round 28
Eleven points separate second-placed Lazio from Juventus in seventh, but the fascinating six-way battle for three spots is far more nuanced.
With Lookman’s run without scoring now over, we compare the raw and underlying stats from a portion of games that have typified the attacker’s variable return.
Lookman’s drought
- 7 - The number of games played from the start of February until mid-March without finding the back of the net.
- 5 - Atalanta’s top scorer started five of those games before losing his spot in the team.
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- 9 - Number of shots taken by the Nigerian without scoring since finding the back of the net in the 2-0 win over Samp in January. This includes the first attempt he had saved against Cremonese before eventually scoring.
- 7 - Number of shots Lookman hit on target during his drought, including the first shot that was thwarted by Marco Carnesecchi in Cremona.
- 0.7 – Lookman’s Expected Goals (xG) over those seven games without finding the back of the net.
- 2 – The Super Eagle missed two big chances during his run without scoring against Lazio and Empoli. (This figure becomes three if Sunday’s game at Cremonese is included.)
- 5 – The number of games in which the attacker attempted one shot or fewer during his drought. (Admittedly, two of those games saw him come off the bench to play 17 minutes altogether.)
- 2 – The number of games Lookman had fewer than 10 touches in the attacking third in the games he started during the barren run. (The Nigerian had nine each against Milan and Sassuolo.)
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18:39 - 27.02.2023
SERIE A Why the goals have dried up for Ademola Lookman
Ademola Lookman started the season like a house on fire but is now on a five-game barren run
Because the Atalanta forward started five games in that drought, we compare the numbers to his preceding five Serie A starts — against Inter Milan, Spezia, Salernitana, Juventus and Sampdoria — for La Dea, where he netted six goals.
Sterling Lookman
- 15 – The number of shots taken in those games.
- 7 – Number of Lookman’s shots that were on target. (This includes penalties.)
- 2.8 – Lookman’s Expected Goals (xG) in that run.
- 1.3 – Lookman’s non-penalty Expected Goals (npxG) in the preceding five games before his scoreless run.
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- 1 – The Atalanta forward missed a big chance in that run, coming in the last of the five games under review (vs Sampdoria).
- 4 – Games in which two shots or more were attempted. He took two against Spezia, three in the games with Salernitana and Juventus and shot at goal a staggering six times against Samp.
- 5 – Lookman had 20 touches or more in the attacking third in the five games preceding his extended drought.
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12:51 - 03.04.2023
EUROEAGLES REVIEW Orban, Akpom, Lookman and Moffi all score, Chukwueze dazzles
Euro Eagles review is a weekly series evaluating the performances of Nigerian players in European leagues across the weekend.
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