What Is a Chance Created in Soccer? Here’s the Deal.

Goals and assists are pretty straightforward terms, right? You’ll hardly get confused seeing them on a player’s stat card.

But then you might come across more advanced metrics, like ‘chances created’ or ‘big chances’. We love those!

So, what is a chance created in soccer? How do you even begin to quantify something like that? 

Read on as we break down the deets of this vital metric.

Let’s kick off!

The Chance Created Stat: Explained

Opta defines the chances created stat simply as the total number of assists and key passes a player makes.

We’ve gone over what constitutes an assist in depth before, so we won’t dig into that again.

Let’s shift our focus to the other side of the equation for a moment…

You know what a key pass is, right? It’s that final pass from one player to a teammate that sets up a goal-scoring opportunity, even if it doesn’t actually result in a goal.

So basically, you create this awesome chance, but sometimes the other player just misses it somehow. That’s the essence of a key pass!

Now, here’s the cool part: if you add up the number of those key passes with the player’s assists during a specific period, you get what’s called the chances created stat.

Analytics sites can track chances created over a single game or even an entire season, allowing us to evaluate a player’s vision and creativity. It’s a great way to appreciate their skills!

So, next time you’re watching a match, keep an eye out for those key passes and chances created. It’s a true testament to a player’s talent and contribution to the game.

Related Terms and How They’re Different From the Chance-Created Stat

Analyzing the beautiful game can get a bit complex, especially when it comes to understanding certain terms related to scoring chances

But don’t worry; we’ll break them down to see how they compare to our main metric.

Big Chances Created

The big chance metric is kind of subjective, but it’s all about situations where a player can expect to score, like penalties and other close-range opportunities.

Now, every time a player sets the scene for a big chance, they’re considered a big-chance creator. It shows some serious skills and ability to make things happen!

Chances Missed

This metric tracks opportunities where the big chance presented itself (or was created by another teammate), but the player failed to score.

Chance Quality

Some advanced analytics sites use factors like distance, angle, and defensive pressure to assign a quality rating to each chance.

This way, they can gauge how likely a chance is to result in a goal.

Chances Created Plus (CC+)

The CC+ it’s a modified version of the chances created (CC) metric. The main idea here is to normalize the average player’s chances created value to 100. Yes, much like the runs created plus (RC+) in baseball.

Why bother? Well, it helps create a better and more relevant comparison!

It’s also possible to derive a weighted version (wCC+). However, most people just settle for the good-ol’ chances created metric.

Why the Chances Created Metric Matters (Even Without Goals)

The chances created metric recognizes creativity even if the chance doesn’t result in a goal.

Without tracking stats like key passes, chances created, and big chances created, a creative player’s skill could go unappreciated just because the receiver missed the shot.

Watch and learn: Creating Chances to Score.

Here’s a great video guide that shows you a move to try in training that will help you understand and create more chances to score.

While the metric is supposed to measure creativity, some folks argue that it’s not perfect. They don’t think it fully captures all the factors that contribute to a high-quality goal-scoring opportunity.

One thing is that the metric only looks at the number of shots taken and doesn’t consider the quality of each chance based on the situation. It also doesn’t take into account whether the receiver had to dribble past defenders before scoring.

The metric might also give too much credit for lucky shots that happen to deflect off other players.

Overall, some critics feel that while chances created can give a rough idea of creativity, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

We say really you gotta look at other stats and consider the actual game situations!

Top Chance Creators of 2022/23

Now that we have a better idea about how to evaluate the metric, we can take a look at some of the best-performing players in the Premier League.

Here are the top five chance creators of 2022/23 and their teams:

• Bruno Fernandes: Manchester United, 199 chances
• Kieran Trippier: Newcastle, 110 chances
• Kevin De Bruyne: Manchester City, 98 chances
• Pascal Gross: Brighton, 80 chances
• Martin Odegaard: Arsenal, 76 chances

The Women’s Super League (WSL) 2022/23 also had its fair share of chance creation. Here’s what the leaderboard looks like:

• Chloe Kelly: Manchester City, 82 chances
• Lauren Hemp: Manchester City, 58 chances
• Kenza Dali: Aston Villa, 51 chances
• Guro Reiten: Chelsea, 50 chances
• Ella Toone: Manchester United, 50 chances

Where to Find and Compare Player Chance Created Stats

Want to look up chance creation stats for your favorite players?

Your best bet is to head to an analytics site like Squawka. You’ll need to edit the stat settings and check the chances created box under the “passes” section. 

Sports news and reporting sites also share “big chances created” leaderboards for the Premier League. So you can easily find out which players crafted the most openings for any given season.

How to Improve Your Chance-Creation Game

Are you eager to start creating some big chances in your next soccer game? We hear you!

There isn’t one trick that can help you boost the metric, but you can try a blend of the following tips:

• Master different passing techniques like crosses and one-touch passes.
• Improve your vision and awareness of teammates’ positioning.
• Work on beating defenders 1v1 to open up passing lanes.
• Practice quick combination play and passing in tight spaces.
• Review videos of iconic chances created to see how top creators find passes and assists you may have missed.

The Final Score

While far from perfect, the chances created stat is a useful indicator of vision, creativity, and passing ability.

Since it combines assists and key passes into one metric, it helps us quantify players’ overall contribution to their team’s attack.

With a grasp on how chances created are calculated, we can better appreciate soccer’s most creative players!