One bruising night in Dortmund aside, Celtic have made an impressive start to their 2024/25 campaign. A late Nicolas Kuhn strike at Dingwall before the international break maintained a 100 per cent record in the league that has seen Celtic win all seven of their opening Premierships matches, scoring 22 and conceding just one in the process.  

Wins over Hibs and Falkirk have set up a League Cup semi-final tie against the only other unbeaten side in the league, Aberdeen. Before that heavy defeat in Germany to Borussia Dortmund, there was also a fine 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park that got Brendan Rodgers’ side on the board in the new-look Champions League.

One of Rodgers’ most effective contributors in the opening weeks of the season has been Japanese forward Daizen Maeda. Recently hailed by Rodgers as one of the best in world football for pressing the opposition from the front, Maeda is currently the club’s top goal scorer in all competitions (six). He’s also weighed in with two assists so far this season.

Here, we look closer at the numbers behind dazzling Daizen’s excellent first few months of the season…

Goal threat

Maeda’s six goals so far this season have been equally split across the league, Champions League and League Cup. The Japan international has found the net in some of Celtic’s biggest games so far this season, including strikes in both Champions League matches (the latter of those was a mere consolation in the end in Germany) and the opener in the Glasgow Derby in September.

Numbers-wise, Maeda is currently averaging 0.37 non-penalty goals in the league. Although still a small sample of just 5.4 90s per played, this is his highest goal return average per 90 since his 0.44 per 90 when he joined in the second part of the 2021/22 season.

As the below radar shows, his best run in front of goal in the league since then has come from the same xG per 90 he had last season (0.34 per 90). He is, however, getting more shots away, 2.24 per 90 compared to 1.90 per 90 last season, and having a good few more touches in the box, 8.39 per 90, compared to 5.75 per 90 last season.

His average quality of chance (xG per shot) has dropped slightly, from 0.18 to 0.15 this season. These are still good quality chances, though, as the below shot map highlights. Maeda has always had high-quality chances during his time at Celtic (his average xG per shot in the league across his four seasons is just over 0.17).

However, the criticism has often been there just hasn’t been enough volume. That higher shot volume and touches in the box are therefore encouraging. His shot volume this season is again only bettered by his 21/22 number (2.51 per 90), while his average touches in the box per 90 so far this season is his highest since he joined.

He has at times over the last few seasons, not made the most of the chances he has got to as well. However, his Shot on-ball-value (OBV), which contains both decision-making information and shot execution information on a player, shows that as well as volume increases, his efficiency has improved at the start of this season too. Maeda’s 0.04 Shot OBV is by far his best during his time in Glasgow, up from -0.03 per 90 last season. It also markedly improved on his 22/23 (-0.03 per 90) and 21/22 (-0.05 per 90) numbers.

Chance creation

As mentioned, Maeda has chipped in with a few assists in the opening weeks of the campaign. As the chart below highlights, much of his underlying chance creation numbers are up on last season as well.

Small sample warnings again, but his 0.15 xG Assisted per 90 is up from 0.07 per 90 last season. That is just off his 22/23 and 21/22 levels of 0.16 per 90. Similarly to his goal threat, volume metrics are up, though. His 1.30 Open Play Key Passes per 90 is the highest number across his four seasons, while his Open Play Final Third Passes and Successful Crosses are also up on last season.

 

This has led to a bit of a drop in average quality per chance with his 0.11 xG Assisted per Shot is the lowest of the four seasons. This is still not a drastic drop, and like his goal threat, Maeda’s chance creation quality has usually been pretty high, but it is the volume that has just not been there. Perhaps the trade-off in slightly less quality of chance for more volume is worth it, though? One to return to when there is a larger sample size. 

Pressing

One thing that has, to absolutely no surprise, seen little shift either way is Maeda’s USP – his genuinely world-class attributes without the ball.

Domestically, only one other player in the Premiership this season (minimum 300 minutes played) betters Maeda’s 27.88 PAdj Pressures per 90 in the league. As the above radar also shows, albeit again in a small sample and just small margins, he is also regaining the ball back at a higher level than last season, both in his general pressing and his counter-pressing (a pressure that occurs five seconds or less after a player’s team has lost possession to the opposition).

No other moment typified Maeda’s relentless work-rate out of possession more than at St Johnstone last month. With Celtic winning 6-0 in the 86th minute, he tracked Saints’ David Keltjens from the home side’s defensive third all the way deep into Celtic’s half to win the ball back.

This earned further praise from his manager, with Rodgers saying post-match: “Nothing pleases me more than Daizen Maeda making a tracking run in the 86th minute because it tells you the hunger and mentality in the team.”

Conclusion

Maeda’s early season form shows he is more than just a pressing machine. He is currently more efficient in front of goal than he ever has been in his time at Celtic while also providing a higher volume of chances for his teammates again.

Still early days in the season yet, but this, coupled with that elite-level work out-of-possession, has seen Maeda become a pivotal figure in Celtic’s dominant start to the campaign, that one night in Dortmund aside.

If he can maintain these kinds of levels after the international break, then there is every chance he could go on to have his best season in Celtic colours.