He scored 116 goals and won four Championships but what else do the stats reveal about new Western United signing Besart Berisha’s impact on the Hyundai A-League?
Our good friends at Opta data have crunched the numbers – so let’s take a look at how, when, and where the competition’s greatest ever goalscorer made his mark.
At a glance: Besart Berisha’s Hyundai A-League record
Brisbane Roar
Games: 76
Goals: 48
Wins: 38
Draws: 16
Losses: 22
Titles: Premiership (2011/12), Championship (2011/12, 2013/14)
Individual honours: Golden Boot (2011/12), PFA Team of the Season (2011/12, 2013/14)
Melbourne Victory
Games: 110
Goals: 68
Wins: 57
Draws: 23
Losses: 30
Titles: Premiership (2014/15), Championship (2014/15, 2017/18), FFA Cup 2015
Individual honours: Golden Boot (2016/17), PFA Team of the Season (2014/15)
CONFIRMED: Berisha back in the Hyundai A-League
BERISHA RETURNS: Five burning questions for Western United FC
LEGACY: The defining moments of Besart Berisha
Outperforming the odds
Opta’s expected goals metric has been used since the 2015/16 season, and highlights just how deadly Berisha is with the chances he receives and creates himself.
The former Brisbane and Victory man had an xG of 0.54 goals per game in 2015/16, with his actual output turning out at 0.73.
And the following season, he trumped his xG again, notching a rating of 0.76 over his predicted 0.70.
During his final campaign with Victory, Berisha unperformed his xG by 0.05, with his expected return of 0.57 turning out at 0.52.
Leading the elite
Berisha usurped two other legendary Hyundai A-League goal-getters in Shane Smeltz (92) and Archie Thompson (90) to become the competition’s most prolific.
And he made his intentions clear right from the get go.
During his very first season in Australia (2011/12), he netted 21 goals for Brisbane – the most of any player during their first season in the Hyundai A-League. In comparison, Smeltz scored nine in his first season, with Thompson eight.
Meanwhile, Berisha reached double figures in all seven of his Hyundai A-League seasons, with 2013/14 his least profitable (13).
Ruthlessly clinical
Perhaps the biggest strength of Berisha’s game was that he didn’t need many chances to score goals.
In fact, throughout most of his Hyundai A-League career he averaged a little more than two shots on goal per match.
The 2012/13 Season was his most prolific when it came to shots (averaging 3.78) per 90 minutes of game time, with a little more than 53% of those hitting the target.
While his final season with Victory resulted in his least amount of shots per 90 minutes (2.11), his accuracy rate of 62% was among the best of his Hyundai A-League career (64.58% in 2011/12 his best).
Did you know?
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Berisha is the only player in Hyundai A-League history to have scored more than 30 goals for more than one club.
- His 19 goals from penalties is the third most of any player, behind former coach Kevin Muscat (24) and Smeltz (21).
- He is the scorer of the Hyundai A-League’ quickest hat-trick. It took him just six minutes to register a treble against Adelaide United in October 2011, for Brisbane.
WESTERN UNITED: How does their squad shape up with Berisha signing?
FIXTURES: Where you can see Berisha in action for the Hyundai A-League’s newest club
