2025 nwsl week 21: xG race charts & g+ pass networks

My new xG race charts are here and I love them. Since I’m always going on about shot quality and xG per shot and yadda yadda, I figured why not just include a list of good-to-great shots in the race charts? Well, now that’s done.

Every xG race chart will have this handy sidebar which will call out good-to-great shooting opportunities from both teams. Since average xG per shot can fluctuate in the league, the limit is set to .15 xG chances and above. Happy shot quality scrutinization to all who celebrate!

g+ passing/receiving networks explainer

The xG charts are straightforward, but the pass networks include custom data from American Soccer Analysis in order to spotlight passing and receiving impact. These are measured using ASA’s goals added (g+) metric, which calculates how much each touch—in this case passing & receiving—changes their team’s chances of scoring and conceding across two possessions.

(If you want to fully nerd out, here’s a deep dive into the methodology of g+.)

• Player bubble position: Average passing position

• Player bubble size: Passes attempted

• Player bubble color: Passing g+ rating

  • Passing g+: Pass value added (according to xPass)

• Ring color: Receiving g+ rating

  • Receiving g+: Pass value added through reception

• Lines: Pass volume between players

week 21

I promise I didn’t plan it like this but this is a perfect illustration of why I think allowing rebound goals after missed or saved penalties is harsh and should be stopped. The punishment for a foul in the box is an unobstructed shot from 12 yards, which is a .76 xG chance.

Rodman missed hers, but the ball was batted out in a spot where she got a second chance, this time worth .68 xG. One foul led to two shots that totaled 1.44 xG. I’m always here for goals, but this seems cruel and the people who write rules about soccer should do something about it imo.

angel city

Angel City’s ‘get in wide areas and go vroom’ thing had the Spirit shook in the first half. Miyabi Moriya on the left was kept pretty well occupied by having to defend Trinity Rodman, but her compatriot on the right, Gisele Thompson, more than made up for it.

washington spirit

The Spirit don’t really want to get into transition scraps but Angel City’s width and speed make that hard to avoid. It’s pretty rare to see a Spirit g+ passing network in which no one had an above average goals added passing performance. Every team has an inexplicable menace, and Angel City just might be theirs.

Another fun one for the new good/great shots feature. Lotta quality chances missed in this one, and you can see that three shots were responsible for .78 of Orlando’s 1.15 total.

orlando pride

After dropping their center backs too deep and trying to vroom a bit last week, Orlando returned to their norm. Well, somewhat. Ally Watt ain’t Barbra Banda, but was the highest outlet, and she put up positive receiving g+. But all that orange and red in midfield represents negative passing g+, which is an extra large oof.

north carolina courage

With Jaedyn Shaw yeeted to Gotham and Ashley Sanchez missing her second straight game due to injury, Manaka Matsukubo is enjoying having the space to torment defenses with her off ball movement. Her high receiving g+ from an advanced central position is chef’s kiss stuff.

Another race chart that lets me show off the fancy new feature. Chicago didn’t register a single shot over .15 xG, while Houston racked up eight. such chances (EIGHT!) One was a penalty, but my math tells me that still leaves seven.

Also, the good/great chances started to pile up after the midway point of the second half. Either Chicago just wanted to go home, or Houston figured something out.

houston dash

Somehow this led to twenty-two shots, with eighteen being taken inside the box. That is genuinely outrageous. Some, not all, but some, can be explained with letting Yaz cook. If this continues I’ll have to do a deeper dive because what do you mean you took 18 shots inside the box in an NWSL game.

chicago tsars

Chicago had a comfortable share of the possession but couldn’t do much with it. The further vertical you get, the more Casper-y the passing connections get. And since they were starting the buildup so deep—and getting stuck there—Houston were constantly a pass or two away from getting into the box.

Ella Masar handed over a re-committed squad that was having a lot of fun and picking up results, so I’m gonna need to Norwegians to leave the unseriousness at home.

Utah got three average-to-low xG shots to find the back of the net and rode it to a 3-2 dub. Rahsing created three good/great shots, scored only one, and took an L because of it. Cold world, no Snuggie.

utah royals

Paige Monaghan has been having a mini-renaissance and I’m kinda here for it. She was responsible for Utah’s two highest quality chances, and though she didn’t finish them, her deep green receiving g+ showed how much of a menace she was able to be off the ball.

rahsing louisville

Oof Purp.

Seattle didn’t have a shot that registered xG until the 63rd minute. Kansas City are simply a very mean soccer team.

kansas city current

Look how high the Current positioned themselves. All but two players are in Seattle’s half and the ones who aren’t are near the midway point of the center circle. This is bullying.

seattle reign

The soccer equivalent of being stuffed in a locker.

These two coaches had a mid-off but at least it was sorta entertaining. Given San Diego’s struggles, I’m not sure why Jonas Eidevall decided his team could clamp a team up for half an hour and ride it to a 1-0 win. They’ve conceded five goals in their previous two games, and Reyna Reyes’ quick reaction made it six in three, and kept the Wavé with just one win since June 22nd.

portland thorns

lol wut

Sometimes I can believe the conspiracy/sometimes common sense theories that Emma Hayes has very strong opinions about where USWNT stars should play. But then I watch Sam Coffey suffering through GaleBall every week and don’t know what to think.

san diego wavé

This is me playing EAFC25 (derogatory). Gimme one defensive midfielder and five attacking midfielders and I’ll give you some of the most beautiful one-touch passing sequences you’ll ever see. But also Paris FC ain’t winning the UWCL in real life either, so.

Keeping Racheal Kundananji on the bench telegraphed Albertin Montoya’s gameplan to keep it close until he could bring her on to grab a result. Gotham didn’t create any good/great shots, but Rose Lavelle still scored and Kundananji came on to rescue a point rather than scoring to grab all three.

bay fc

The narrowness and ‘you shall not pass’ midfield was a sacrifice that hurt Bay in buildup and still led to being down a goal at halftime. If the decision to start Kundananji on the bench was #shookethness and not rest or injury management, then I hate it. Bay is too talented of a squad for their coach to be benching their star player in hopes of grinding out a 0-0 or 1-1 draw against anyone who isn’t the 2025 Kansas City Current.

nj/ny gotham fc

If Juan Carlos Amorós is gonna commit to the Rose Lavelle-Jaelin Howell-Jaedyn Shaw midfield I might have to send him an edible arrangement. It’s chaotic and another thing I would do on EAFC25 but this time that’s complimentary.

It assigns Rose more defensive duties, but also allows her to explore space off the ball, which is how she got into the box to receive a throughball from Esther. Shit sucks out there and times are hard, I need this midfield in my life.

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