Stathursday: Andreas Skov Olsen, the new star of Bruges

Every Thursday, we zoom in on some interesting statistics provided by our data partner StatsPerform in the 'Stathursday' section. This week, we focus on Andreas Skov Olsen's performance in 2022. Since the Danish winger joined Club Brugge in January, he made his breakthrough in the Jupiler Pro League.

In the winter mercato of 2022, Blauw-Zwart snatched Andreas Skov Olsen from FC Bologna in the Serie A. The 22-year old Dane played a crucial role in Club Brugge's overtaking of R. Union Saint-Gilloise, which would eventually result in the third consecutive title. Early on in the new season, Skov Olsen is already on fire.

Both against KAA Gent in the Supercup and against KRC Genk on the first match day in the Jupiler Pro League, the Danish international delivered the winning goal. The right wing attacker has played his way into the hearts of the Bruges fans and has earned many Fantasy Pro League players a lot of points. 

Big impact

Since his first game in February, Skov Olsen has played 18 games for Club Brugge. In that time, the winger was good for 8 goals and 9 assists. In the calendar year 2022, no one is involved in a goal more often. KAA Gent’s Tarik Tissoudali (12 goals, 3 assists) and Sporting Charleroi’s Vakoun Bayo (11 goals, 2 assists), who signed at Watford, are on the podium.

Every 73 minutes Skov Olsen contributes to a Bruges goal. Among those who played at least 300 minutes in 2022, only Tissoudali did better. The Moroccan international helps KAA Gent to a goal every 72 minutes on average. The former striker of Club Brugge Bas Dost, third in this ranking, did so every 88 minutes. There’s a big gap between the duo before him.

Efficient dribbler

The sprightly Dane is very efficient, as the xG data show. In 2022, based on the chances he got, the model of Stats Perform predicted 2.8 goals for Skov Olsen. In reality he has 8 goals, which is a difference of 5.2 between 'expected goals' and 'actual goals scored'. Nobody performed better in that respect either. It shows that the Bruges winger needs little to score.

Together with Hans Vanaken, he had the most shots at goal (32 times) for the champions Club Brugge. 17 of those were shots on goal. With a shooting accuracy of 70 percent, he is one of the best players in the Jupiler Pro League. Of the players who shot more than 20 times on goal in 2022, Skov Olsen has been outperformed only by Tissoudali (85 percent) and Laurent Depoitre (75 percent).

Skov Olsen's main strength is his ability to out-muscle an opponent and then shoot on goal. He scored twice and provided four assists after a carry-on (moving the ball five metres or more). No player in the Jupiler Pro League did better in 2022. Has the new star of the Jan Breydel Stadium risen?

Put your Fantasy Pro League Team together

Fans of the Fantasy Pro League - the game in which you become a manager yourself and have to put together the best team every day - already knew Skov Olsen's tricks. Almost half of you had selected him. Will he be in your team again next weekend?