Patson Daka was guilty of missing Leicester City’s best second-half chance in their defeat to Leeds, but it should not see him branded as an ineffective striker
There’s no denying that Patson Daka made a terrible mistake. Ricardo Pereira’s pass was weighted so he didn’t have to break stride, leaving only Illan Meslier to overcome. A side-footed finish to either side of the Leeds goalkeeper and Leicester City would have been well on their way to three points.
But Daka fluffed it, connecting with his heel, sending the ball trickling well wide. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall slammed the earth in despair behind him.
Stephy Mavididi also missed a one-on-one, so Daka wasn’t the only one at fault. However, the Zambian’s chance was the best of the lot, and the way the last ten minutes transpired made him the victim. It was unfortunate since despite the error, the performance was excellent overall.
First, Daka heroically threw himself at the ball to turn a subpar pass into a fantastic one, setting up Wout Faes’ opening goal with a near-post flick-on. He also forced Meslier to turn over a blistering shot that won him the corner.
After Jannik Vestergaard struck the crossbar in the second half, Daka was the first to respond, snatching up a loose ball from another corner. A perfectly good goal was chalked off when the offside flag was mistakenly waved.
Other than that, he played a pretty strong overall game. Daka only had more opportunities to get on the ball in the victory over Birmingham. The striker performed well at Elland Road to draw Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu’s attention and establish himself as an option for balls to feet. From there, he turned and connected play well, particularly with Mavididi in the first half.
There are many signs that Daka has been the best forward for City this season; to begin with, he has the best combined goals and assist rate per 90 minutes in the Championship—not just at City, but in the entire division. He has contributed to 11 goals in 802 minutes, or one every 73 minutes he has been on the pitch. However, a critical miss means that those positives can be overlooked. That would be unfair to Daka, as is the growing narrative that he is an ineffective striker.
His finishing has, admittedly, not been perfect. He has four non-penalty goals from an expected goals tally of 5.6. That’s the second-biggest underperformance in the City squad, after Wilfred Ndidi. Daka has also missed six big chances, which is far from the worst in the division – there are five players who have missed at least double that – but is a fairly significant amount given how comparatively little he’s played.
But while composed, accurate finishing is a key part of being a good striker there is so much more to it than that. For a start, it’s about being in the right position to enjoy big chances, and Daka has so far this season been the best at that in the City squad.
Per 90 minutes, he has an expected goals tally of 0.62, comfortably ahead of Jamie Vardy (0.46) and Kelechi Iheanacho (0.43), who are the next best in the City squad. Daka may be profiting from coming into the team at a time when the creative players are more accustomed to Enzo Maresca’s tactics and more capable of fashioning opportunities, but it can not be denied that Daka is also quite good, perhaps the best in the squad, at being in the right place at the right time.
One particularly bad miss in a particularly galling defeat should not obscure that. For a player who was left out in the cold for four months of the season, he’s doing a very handy job and it shouldn’t be bemoaned if he’s again in the starting line-up against QPR next weekend.
Regarding City as a whole, the way the last two weeks have gone has made wasted opportunities the talk of the town, with golden opportunities falling to waste against Middlesbrough as well. However, it might just be a one-time event. That raises no fundamental issues.
They have missed more huge chances in the Championship than any other team. They have produced the most, though. They are tied for seventh place in terms of conversion rate at 44%. Apart from Preston, who stands out at 61%, the remainder of the field is rather evenly distributed, with Leeds, Southampton, Norwich, and Plymouth equal for second place at 47%. City has the second-best conversion rate in the division when all shots are taken into account, only surpassed by Preston.
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