Mads Hermansen Proficiency
After watching Mads Hermansen put on a show against Arsenal in week 6, I decided to take a deep dive to understand how successful he has been at winning Leicester some big points this season. Within each week, I refer to an xG rating (which I calculate by subtracting goals scored from expected goals (xG), something that serves to showcase roughly how many goals he has prevented above expectation within each game as well as in the total season thus far.
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All of these graphics were produced by me alone, sourcing my data from Understat. The design of the graphics were inspired by the work of The Athletic.
Week 7: Leicester vs. Bournemouth
Leicester City 1 - 0 Bournemouth
Week 7 was a gritty, well deserved victory for the boys down in Leicester. While Hermansen has been playing lights out so far this season (saving rough 1 goal above expectation per game this season), the offense has struggled. This week, they took full advantage of their opportunities, scoring above expectation against someone in net whose name means something. Leicester might have been robbed of a penalty kick, something to make the win much more comfortable, but they did not seem to need it. It seems all they need is their guy Hermansen in net, and the rest will sort it out. Just go out there and score.
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xG Rating: +1.95
Season xG Rating: +6.89
Week 6: Leicester @ Arsenal
Leicester City 2 - 4 Arsenal
Week 6 was undoubtedly the highlight of Hermansen's season thus far, regardless of it being the game with his highest number of goals conceded this season. One of those goals was an own goal, but it was a very well put together play and had a good chance of being scored regardless of the tip from his defender. Because of the quality of that opportunity, I gave that play an xG of 0.5, where normally an own goal would not count for any xG. Arsenal played this game dominant offensively, and for a period of time the game looked as if it was Leicester's to win. Had Hermansen not put up a +2.68 xG rating, there never would have been any doubt about Arsenal taking a dominant win this week. This game unleashed a monster, and I am excited to see if Hermansen can keep up the form moving on to an opponent they could beat and take their first victory of the season.
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xG Rating: +2.68
Season xG Rating: +4.94
Week 5: Leicester vs Everton
Leicester City 1 - 1 Everton
Hermansen's good form took a strong shape in this match versus Everton. Allowing only one goal with an xG of 1.83 is a solid rating, regardless of the fact that the scored goal had a relatively low xG compared to some of his other saves. For a team at the bottom of the table, extracting any point from any game is a very valuable task. Without these above average performances in this game and the last, it's almost a certainty that they would be at 1 point through 5 games. With the average point total needed to survive relegation in the Premier League typically being between 37 and 38 points, continuing to get big draws may serve to push Leicester over the line and keep them alive for the 2025-26 season.
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xG Rating: +0.83
Season xG Rating: +2.26
Week 4: Leicester @ Crystal Palace
Leicester City 2 - 2 Crystal Palace
Hermansen started to soar above expectations in Week 4. This started a cycle of consistency that few predicted continuing. He seems to be getting better and better each week, regardless of what big names he is facing. One of the two goals this game was a last minute penalty kick, something that lies between 80% and 90% in success rate, so it is fair to look past his consistency to let in multiple goals per game. He continues to impress, to shock, to thrive. It's a shame we did not get to see him take a dominant win, but it is coming soon.
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xG Rating: +0.90
Season xG Rating: +1.43
Week 3: Leicester vs Aston Villa
Leicester City 1 - 2 Aston Villa
This game is where Hermansen began his exponential climb. This yet again looks like a very​ average performance, yet it was against a high quality opponent, so it was fair to assume either a higher goal against total than 2 or to expect him to finally crack and put up a weak performance. Regardless of all that, he stepped up his game. Aston Villa has been regularly outperforming their xG this season against higher quality opponents, and Hermansen was able to keep them below expectation.
xG Rating: +0.16
Season xG Rating: +0.53
Week 2: Leicester @ Fulham
Leicester City 1 - 2 Fulham
Coming off of a solid Week 1 performance, Hermansen put up a decent performance, but so far his worst of the season so far (through six games played). This is his only performance with a negative xG rating, being -0.04. This number is almost negligent, practically being an average game, but it's negative. This is only worth pointing out due to the high volume of positive ratings coming up for him.
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xG Rating: -0.04
Season xG Rating: +0.37
Week 1: Leicester vs. Tottenham
Leicester City 1 - 1 Tottenham
Week 1 took a solid start with a draw to one of the league's top teams. Hermansen took a big step forward from Championship soccer to hold Tottenham to just one point in his Premier League debut. He attained his first positive xG rating of +0.41, holding his team to fewer goals than was expected against a number of quality opportunities. This game served as a lens into his upcoming success at one of the top levels of soccer internationally.
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xG Rating: +0.41
Season xG Rating: +0.41