Europe’s best super-sub? Cavani’s incredible goal contribution statistic

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Edinson Cavani may not be the same player who plundered over 300 club goals in the space of 10 years during his time with Napoli and Paris-Saint Germain.

However, even at the age of 33, the veteran striker is still proving to be a very important impact player off the bench after arriving at Man Utd on a free transfer this summer.

Cavani has started only one Premier League game for Man Utd, but has still managed two goals and three assists over eight matches and 196 minutes of football.

That incredibly converts to a goal contribution every 39.2 minutes.

No player in the Premier League who has played more than one match (Sheffield United’s Jayden Bogle has one goal from 36 minutes of football) has a higher goals-to-minutes ratio.

“He’s a top player, he has lots of qualities and I think he gives us another dimension that’s different to what we already have in the team,” Cavani’s team-mate Marcus Rashford beamed on Man Utd’s official website.

“It’s good to play with him and to see him scoring and assisting is important for any forward and we need to keep up between us what we’ve been doing.”

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Cavani is also over-performing his xG and xA for the Premier League season by 1.11 goals and 1.31 assists, respectively.

He is also averaging an impressive 4.8 shots per 90 minutes, 2.2 of them on target. He has earned one man-of-the-match award for his display against Southampton.

The Uruguayan, who also found the net for his country this season in the 3-0 win over Colombia, was pivotal again off the bench this weekend.

Just four minutes after entering the pitch against Leicester, he dropped deep before delivering a perfect through ball to Bruno Fernandes, who finished with aplomb.

His contributions have helped Man Utd into fifth position and they will move up to second – just two points behind leaders Liverpool – if they win their game in hand.