In case you were watching the Premier League action this afternoon, there was some history made in Serie A.
In a match between Atalanta and Empoli on Monday, Atalanta had an incredible 47 shots, including 17 on target, but failed to score in a scoreless draw. According to Paul Carr of TruMediaSports, Atalanta’s expected goal number of 5.86xG was the highest for a team without scoring a goal in his company’s 85,000 game database.
[READ, WATCH: Arsenal defeats ten-man Watford on the road]
Atalanta had 47 shots and 5.86 xG in today's SCORELESS DRAW vs Empoli.
— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) April 15, 2019
That's the highest xG total without scoring in any of the 85K games in our dataset. pic.twitter.com/BUjEgPcQbq
Per Opta, Empoli goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski’s 17 saves was the most since when Opta started recording data during the 2004/2005 season. The 21-year-old is on loan with Empoli from Fiorentina, who signed him in 2016. He’s featured for Poland youth national teams all the way to the Under-21s, but he has yet to make his full international debut. Of course, he’s behind former Arsenal goalkeepers Wojciech Szczęsny and Łukasz Fabiański in the pecking order.
17 - @EmpoliCalcio 's Bartlomiej Dragowski has made 17 saves, Serie A record for a goalkeeper since 2004/05 (since Opta have these data). Superman. #AtalantaEmpoli
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) April 15, 2019
After 32 games, Atalanta sits in the Europa League qualification places in the Serie A table, finding itself in sixth place with 53 points. A win on Monday would have jumped Atalanta into a tie for fourth place in the table with AC Milan, which are just two points ahead of Atalanta.
