ALISTAIR TWEEDALE

One-day cricket scores are increasing, seemingly irreversibly. Rugby is featuring more tries than ever before. Goals in football, meanwhile, are being scored at a very similar rate to when the Premier League began 26 years ago, in spite of the fact that shots are more effective than ever.

As the “Big Six” drive improvement with investment in players and facilities, the top flight has built up as lethal a group of finishers as it has ever seen. The statistics prove as much. While goal rates

remain consistent, the number of shots being taken is dropping. The likely reasons for this are two-fold: defending has improved, but more significantly, teams are making better judgements as to when to shoot.

Better decision-making added to improved finishing has led to a higher proportion of shots being scored. Conversion rates in the Premier League have increased consistently over the past decade. With 15.17 per cent of attempts successful this season, we are seeing better finishing than ever before. That rate is almost four per cent higher than it was a decade ago.

Pot-shots from distance are discouraged, with greater emphasis on working the ball into the box to increase the chances of scoring.

Then you have individuals like Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero, Jamie Vardy, Pierre-emerick Aubameyang and Romelu Lukaku pushing each other to ever-increasing individual heights. As Kane pointed out this week, the utterly relentless goalscoring of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have “set the standard” for everyone else to aspire to.

While football is not seeing the higher scorelines other sports are witnessing, the steady improvement in finishing continues year on year. As the very best footballers become ever more impressive athletes, it is a wonder when, or how, the rise will be halted.