Pro League: no one is in overdrive as much as Anderlecht, here are the figures that prove it

With its temporary balance sheet of 71.9%, Hubert ranks among the biggest like Dockx and Goethals

Offensive realism

Number of goals scored: 34. Number of expected goals: 25. No need to take out the calculator, Anderlecht is scoring way more than it should. The xG gives Anderlecht the seventh best attack in the Pro League and not third as is currently the case. For comparison, Genk, Union and Bruges score less than expected.

Success partly explains this statistic. Anderlecht had it. But the main reason is Kasper Dolberg. The Danish striker is in great shape and scores like he breathes. Having more goals than expected goals is often explained by a man in good shape. Last season, Anders Dreyer’s numerous goals truncated the figures. This time it’s another Dane’s fault.

Over the last ten matches in all competitions (after the defeat at Club Bruges), Anderlecht is outperforming more than ever: 18 expected goals for 28 scored. And Dolberg is again at the basis of justification with far more goals than expected goals.

Double scorer against Saint-Trond (0-2): Dolberg poses as Anderlecht’s best field player

Coosemans, among the best goalkeepers in the country

The fitness of a team is often defined by the performances of its key players. Colin Coosemans is the other great man of the RSCA. Statistically, he is not the best goalie in the country. Davy Roef has avoided more goals than him. In the league as in Europe and it doesn’t matter in the Pro League.

Without Coosemans, Anderlecht would have conceded 6.67 more goals in Belgian D1 and 0.91 more in Europe. Figures which must even be revised upwards because at the time of writing this paper, our data supplier had not yet established the complete STVV-RSCA report. Coosemans’ performances nonetheless remain enormous when we see that most Pro League goalkeepers revolve around the two goals avoided, or even less.

No surprise to see Anderlecht display an even more positive record defensively than offensively. The Mauves should have conceded 11.3 more goals than what happened on the pitch: 24.3 compared to 13 in reality.

Combining the statistics from both paragraphs gives an expected goals difference of… 0.6. Anderlecht, however, displays a much more positive result: +21.

Points decided at the last minute

David Hubert made it a point to ensure that his team was mentally ready to get back up no matter the situation. We have often highlighted the strength of character of the Mauves during our recent match analyses. Anderlecht is the second team to win the most after being behind and is the best when it comes to scoring goals in stoppage time: six goals scored and none conceded.

This is one of the explanations among others for the fact that the people of Brussels take more points than expected. According to projections, they should be just under 25 units compared to 33 in the current ranking. If we only consider expected points, Anderlecht would be eighth behind teams like Charleroi or OHL.

These figures are reminiscent of those of Felice Mazzù’s Union during its return to the elite. The people of Brussels had enormous success at all levels and managed to maintain this level all season. Anderlecht hopes to do the same. Since the defeat in Bruges, Hubert and his players have not lost a single match.