Midway through the second half of Everton’s 3-2 win against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, the ball fell to left-back Vitalii Mykolenko. The Goodison Park crowd bellowed “shoot” at him. It was, perhaps, an ironic request. Mykolenko has attempted 11 shots this season, and none of them have been on target, let alone actually gone in.

But Mykolenko isn’t the worst offender of the prolific shooters who haven’t scored a goal. Ten players from Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues have attempted more than double that number of shots, yet remain on zero goals this season. Here’s a rundown of the top 10 — with xG separating those with the same number of shots — along with some details about where they might be going wrong.

10. Arthur Theate, left-back/centre-back, Eintracht Frankfurt (22 shots)

After splitting his game time between full-back and centre-back this season, the positions of Theate’s shots reflect his contrast in roles.

On one hand, there’s a smattering of efforts from inside the box, mostly with his head from set pieces. He particularly likes a near-post run — with one of the headed efforts from close to the penalty spot, he nodded against the post early this season.

On the other, Theate absolutely loves storming forward with a late run to unleash long-range efforts from inside-left positions, which are generally wayward.

When Theate gets it wrong, he gets it very wrong. In fact, a couple of his efforts would make a good ‘spot the ball’ competition — see if you can find the ball in these next two screengrabs.

Clue: the ball is near the top of the frame in both of them, after Theate has completely got underneath the ball, and skied it.

9. Eddie Nketiah, centre-forward, Crystal Palace (23 shots)

Given his reputation at Arsenal for being an old-school penalty-box striker, it was somewhat surprising that Nketiah’s opportunities since moving to Palace last summer have largely come from an inside-right position in Oliver Glasner’s 3-4-2-1. In fairness, his link play and pressing have been impressive, but it’s still taking away his best quality. The man once famed for his prowess close to goal hasn’t managed a shot from in the six-yard box all season.

Nketiah did score twice in the Carabao Cup this season — including away at former club Arsenal last month, almost as if he’s automatically more comfortable at the Emirates. He also won a penalty at the weekend, converted by Jean-Philippe Mateta, whose good run of form means Nketiah won’t get a Premier League start in the No 9 position any time soon.

But when Nketiah has had goalscoring chances, he hasn’t taken them, most notably when dinking wide in a one-on-one situation late during the 3-1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion last month.

8. Jim Allevinah, right winger, Angers (23 shots)

A bit of a throwback as a right-footed right winger who is a crosser rather than a shooter, Allevinah arrived at Angers in the summer on the back of just four goals in his previous three Ligue 1 campaigns for Clermont. He wasn’t exactly promising much in front of goal. His record of 23 shots and only four on target is largely because so many of his shots are blocked — he doesn’t seem to shift the ball before shooting.

It’s not particularly typical of his shooting this season, but it must be said that attempting to score from this position — almost on the byline — was particularly ambitious.

7. Jesper Lindstrom, right winger, Everton (25 shots)

Another right-footed right winger — and wingers in Sean Dyche sides are generally tasked with running and crossing rather than providing a solid goal threat. David Moyes’ appointment might suit Lindstrom and he was impressive in the first half of the 3-2 weekend win over Tottenham, dropping back from the wing to become a wing-back out of possession.

Lindstrom has probably attempted to score too often from ambitious positions this season — although, given Dominic Calvert Lewin’s poor form in front of goal, you can hardly blame him for trying his luck rather than focusing on playing through balls from those positions.

There’s only been one particularly egregious miss — this volley from point-blank range in an early-season draw at Leicester City when Lindstrom would probably have been better stooping to meet it with his head.

6. Carles Perez, right midfield, Getafe (26 shots)

Another right winger — but this time a left-footed one. Perez is seemingly obsessed with trying to score Arjen Robben-esque efforts, eternally cutting inside and having a pop from long range.

But Perez is often shooting when under pressure from defenders, and with plenty of bodies between him and the goal. Two efforts in a 1-1 draw with Villarreal sum it up.

And, on the subject of Villarreal…

5. Pape Gueye, central midfield, Villarreal (26 shots)

Traditionally considered a holding player — he even deputised in defence for Marseille last season — Gueye has been pushed forward into a No 10 role at times this season. And, sure enough, he looks like a defensive midfielder who has suddenly been asked to play as an attacking midfielder, and isn’t the most composed in front of goal, often trying to thump the ball as hard as possible while off-balance.

But let’s not be too harsh — Gueye has a good left foot, has hit the post twice this season and is actually very good at timing his runs in behind the opposition to get on the end of through balls. This effort against Athletic Club was a good example. He’ll probably find the net soon.

4. Maximilian Wittek, left wing-back, Bochum (28 shots)

A left-back who has been pushed forward to left wing-back after bottom-of-the-table Bochum’s managerial switch midway through the campaign, Wittek simply tries shots from incredibly ambitious positions, often from free kicks. An xG per shot of 0.04 means he’s only just reached the 1.0xG mark for the season.

The only genuine opportunity he’s missed looks less presentable on video rather than on the shot map — he slid in late at the far post trying to turn home a low cross, but it was a difficult chance.

3. Florian Lejeune, centre-back, Rayo Vallecano (28 shots)

An unusual shot map here, representing how Lejeune is an aerial threat from Rayo’s corners and an incredibly optimistic free-kick taker. Having scored a couple of memorable free kicks for Rayo in previous seasons, he has developed a reputation as a dead-ball specialist, but hasn’t yet found the target in 2024-25. The closest he has come was actually in the second phase of a corner, thumping a great half-volley against the woodwork away at Espanyol.

Another feature of Lejeune’s game is that, if the opposition head a cross clear, the centre-back absolutely cannot resist a ball rolling towards him, around 30 yards out. He sometimes connects well — but not always. This effort was horrendously sliced, sending the ball almost vertically into the air.

2. Valentin Mihaila, left winger, Parma (28 shots)

Another case of an inverted winger with a tendency to attempt some overly ambitious long-range shots.

Mihaila, 24, is without question a hugely exciting player — playing for Romania, he recorded one of the fastest sprints at Euro 2024. He has shown an ability to get goals and, in fairness, two of his 28 shots this season have struck the post. They were both good efforts from outside the box.

So Mihaila has probably been a touch unfortunate. But he also has a couple of problems. First, he’s extremely predictable, often cutting inside onto his right foot. When shown down the line by defenders, his shots are sliced hopelessly with his weaker left.

Second, when in more promising, close-range situations, he takes too many touches before getting a shot away. This situation against Milan was a good example — what should have been a clear one-on-one ended up being a scuffed shot, under pressure, going slightly away from goal.

1. Florian Sotoca, centre-forward, Lens (28 shots)

This is, regrettably, what we’re really after — an established centre-forward who simply cannot buy a goal.

A late bloomer who didn’t make his Ligue 1 debut until shortly before he turned 30, Sotoca was a major part of the Lens side that stormed to second place under Franck Haise in the 2022-23 season. But he’s rarely been prolific, never reaching double figures in a season during his half-decade spell at the club. Sotoca is more about other qualities: offering a focal point for attacks, winning aerial duels and holding up the ball.

His struggles under Will Still, however, have been obvious. With Lens leading 2-1 from the first leg in their Conference League play-off against Panathinaikos, Sotoca had an early penalty saved in the second leg in Athens, and the French side subsequently lost 3-2 on aggregate. His confidence seemingly hadn’t recovered, and despite being club captain, Sotoca has often found himself out of the side in recent weeks.

His most difficult game was at home to Brest, when the xG numbers suggested he had 0.97 goals’ worth of chances. First came a scuffed shot wide, under little pressure, from a hugely presentable cross.

Next came a tame shot at the goalkeeper — again, under very little pressure.

Sotoca can’t complain about a lack of service either — Lens have crossed the ball more than any other Ligue 1 side this season. And while the xG numbers would generally suggest Sotoca should eventually come good, ultimately this is just a flaw in his game.

From his five and a half years with Lens, he has underperformed his xG numbers by at least two goals every season and, overall, is 19 goals short of what the data would expect. Getting into the right positions is one thing, but strikers still have to provide the finish.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)