Jack Clarke has been in excellent form for Sunderland this season, and he is presently the joint-top goalscorer in the Championship with Southampton’s Adam Armstrong, with seven goals.
Clarke scored 11 goals in 50 appearances for the Black Cats in all competitions last season. The 22-year-old is already four goals short of his goal total from last season, demonstrating how much the winger has grown in the last year.
Amad Diallo, on loan from Manchester United, stole the show when Tony Mowbray’s team reached the Championship playoffs in spectacular manner last season, but Clarke has assumed the Ivorian’s position as Sunderland’s talisman this time around.
After struggling to break into Tottenham Hotspur’s first-team and spending a couple of seasons on loan at the likes of Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers, we are now finally seeing why Spurs spent such a hefty fee on the attacker four years ag Best In The Championship?
Statistically, Clarke is the most potent forwards in England’s second tier right now. According to the BBC, the forward has taken 12 shots and scored seven which is a conversion rate of 58 percent. In contrast, Adam Armstrong, who has the same number of goals, boasts a conversion rate of 39 percent from 18 shots at goal.
However, the stat that really makes Clarke stand out from the rest of the pack is that he currently has a 92 percent shot accuracy in the league. Essentially, every time Clarke has aimed for the goal, it has hit the target 92 percent of the time.
His finishing has been elite this season too. Clarke has registered an expected goals (xg) total of 3.8, as per stats site FBref, and so is outperforming his xG by more than three goals, proving how efficient he has been when opportunities arise.
But it’s not just his ability to find the net that makes Clarke such a menace in the final third. The winger is in the top seven percent in the Championship for progressive carries with the ball.
In addition, he is in the top 17% for successful take-ons and the top 14% for touches in the opponent’s penalty area.
Author’s Opinion
Clarke is unquestionably a goal-scoring winger. Creating opportunities for teammates is maybe his one true shortcoming at the moment, but when it comes to tucking away chances, nobody in the Championship is better right now.
If Sunderland is to return to the promised land of the Premier League, Clarke will be the man to lead them there.
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