Phenomenal finishing can make Tzimas huge hit for Brighton
You are here to read about new £22 million Brighton striker Stefanos Tzimas, I know. But first we need to talk about what happened at the end of January, when the Albion lost 1-0 at home to Everton.
Over 105 painful minutes against the relegation threatened Toffees, Brighton managed just a single shot on target. And calling it a shot is being pretty generous too.
A heavily deflected effort which looked like it was looping onto the top of the net anyway was helped on its way by a probably unnecessary tip over from Jordan Pickford.
The Albion were that bad in front of goal, they needed the England number one to stat pad them their only on-target effort.
Everton was admittedly an extreme example of ineptitude when it comes to getting shots on target. Over the course of the 2024-25 campaign so far, Brighton rank 12th in the Premier League with a shot accuracy of 32.5 percent.
Which is where Tzimas comes in. Data analysis from Net World Sports has found that Tzimas boasts 66.7 percent shot accuracy in Bundesliga 2 for FC Nurnberg this season. Meaning he forces the opposition goalkeeper into a save every 1.5 efforts he takes.
This is better than any player in the English top flight in 2024-25. From Mo Salah to Erling Haaland to Cole Palmer. Yes, the same Palmer who scored four goals in 45 minutes for Chelsea against the Albion back in September.
Tzimas has netted 10 times for Nurnberg from 48 shots, giving him around a one in five conversion rate. 32 of those 48 efforts have been on target.
How do those numbers from Tzimas compare to his future Brighton teammates? Kaoru Mitoma has been the Albion’s most accurate player so far this season, putting 41.0 percent of his shots on target. Five goals from 39 efforts gives Mitoma a one in eight conversion rate.
Joao Pedro is less accurate than Mitoma but more deadly. 40 percent shot accuracy with a conversion rate of one in six for the forward who plundered 20 goals in all competitions under Roberto De Zerbi in 2023-24.
That makes Pedro the most clinical Brighton player so far this season. In between bouts of waving his arms at the crowd seconds after Julio Enciso has sliced another shot from 30 yards out for a throw.
No data exists for Enciso by the way. Possibly because it would take an analyst weeks to count the number of his shots wide, high or last seen hurtling towards the International Space Station at a rate of knots.
The Brighton player Tzimas has been likened to most following the announcement of his upcoming transfer to Brighton is top scorer Danny Welbeck.
Like Dat Guy, Tzimas combines the power and control of a classic number nine with an ability to cut in from the left flank using pace and directness.
Welbeck has 35.9 percent shot accuracy this season. His six goals have come from 39 efforts, giving him a conversion rate of just over one in six. Not as good as Pedro. Slightly better than Mitoma. Nowhere near Tzimas.
What does all this mean? Potentially nothing. Which should please those of you who have read this far, only to be told the preceding 500-odd words could be pointless.
Having such impressive shot accuracy in Bundesliga 2 is one thing. Reproducing that form in the Premier League quite another.
Defenders are quicker both physically and mentally. Tzimas will have far less time and space when faced with Virgil van Dijk or John Stones than up against a German second tier centre back.
At the same time, part of being a good finisher comes from natural ability. To have a 66.7 percent accuracy rate suggests Tzimas has that, irrespective of the level he is currently playing at.
It would explain why a host of Europe’s leading clubs were interested in Tzimas before Brighton landed his signature.
Not many strikers attract the attentions of Liverpool, Spurs and Aston Villa after only half a season of Bundesliga 2 action and 462 minutes in the Greek top flight at PAOK.
From those 462 minutes with his boyhood club, Tzimas scored five times. He averaged a goal every 95 minutes despite still being a teenager. Again, that is impressive regardless of how good or bad you might think the Super League is.
The Albion were crying out for a striker who could get a shot vaguely on target in that defeat to Everton. It was a similar story when more points were dropped at home to Brentford, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Ipswich Town.
For all the excitement generated by Amex victories over Chelsea, Manchester City, Spurs and Manchester United, Fabian Hurzeler is still yet to oversee a win at home against a club in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
This represents a glaring area of improvement. If Tzimas can provide the accuracy needed for the Albion to start overcoming struggling opponents, he might well end up being the man who fires Brighton back towards the top six.
