Dundee United signed Finnish midfielder Ilmari Niskanen from Bundesliga side FC Ingolstadt 04 in the summer. The midfielder plays as a winger on the left side for the Scottish club. He has featured in nine games for his new club and is the joint highest goal contributing player for his side. The 24-year-old scored a winning goal against Ross County, and is becoming a fan favorite amongst Dundee United fans.
Ilmari Niskanen has started in eight matches for Dundee United and has featured in nine games for the Scottish club. He has scored one goal, and his expected goal rate is 0.47. The winger has attempted nine shots with a shot accuracy rate of 33.33%. Niskanen has been impressive with his passing and has provided three assists already this season. The Finnish international has created an expected assists rate of 1.43.
The above pass map shows all the 150 passes attempted by Niskanen for Dundee United. The player has featured from the left side and has a pass accuracy rate of 74.67%. The winger is on set-piece duties on the right side and has attempted 27 crosses in the season so far. The pass map shows that his 28 passes have landed inside the opposition’s penalty area. Out of these 28 passes, six passes have landed inside the opposition’s 6-yard box. His passes also include one smart pass and three smart passes. The 24-year-old has also attempted nine long passes.
Niskanen has attempted the most number of passes towards right-back Scott McMann. The winger has attempted 23 passes towards him, but those passes have a negative threat rate. His ten passes towards Peter Pawlett created the highest threat rate of 1.192. The second-highest threat rate is created from passes towards striker Nicholas Clark. He has also provided one assist each to Peter Pawlett, Ian Harkes, and Kieran Freeman, with Freeman converting that pass into a goal.
When looking at the above chart, the general rule is that the longer the bar, the better the performance – you can see the league average in the middle, and the % is the percentile rank the player is in. The above chart shows the attacking and creativity stats of Niskanen in comparison to other midfielders in the league.
The winger averages 1.176 shots per 90 and has scored one goal this season. He has taken 19 touches inside the opposition penalty box and averages 2.48 touches in the opposition’s box per 90. Niskanen has a high win% when we look at the successful dribbles bar. The 24-year-old has attempted 24 dribbles so far this season, and his success rate is 91.67%. He also averages 7.9 attacking actions per 90 and has a 47.5% success rate.
Ilmari Niskanen has performed better than most of the midfielders in the league. His stats are better than the average value, and he has proved handy with his passing. Dundee United is ranked fourth in the league and all the players have contributed equally to their success this season. Niskanen’s work on the field is getting appreciated, and the winger is enjoying his time in the Scottish Premiership.
