What Are Shots Created in Football? Meaning and Betting Rules Explained

Shots created is a football betting stat that counts every attacking touch a player makes that leads to a teammate having a shot at goal. In one match it adds up three Opta events for that player: key passes, assists and fantasy assists. The bigger the number, the more chances the player made.

It started as a Sky Bet market and now runs on Paddy Power and Betfair as well, because all three sit under Flutter and share the same sportsbook platform and the same Opta data. The rules are identical wherever you bet it.

The name only exists in betting. It is not the same as chances created or shot-creating actions, two football stats it gets mixed up with. Here is the short answer first, then the rules in full.

Key takeaways

• What it is. A player prop that adds up across the match. Counts three Opta events for one player: key passes, assists, and fantasy assists.
• How to score one. Make a pass that leads to a shot, set up a goal, or be the last attacker on a move that ends in a goal through a deflection, rebound, won penalty or forced own goal.
• Where to bet it. Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betfair, all on Flutter's shared platform with the same rules.
• Settlement. 90 minutes plus stoppage time. No extra time, no shootouts. Bet is voided if the player does not play.
• Common lines. Over 1.5, over 2.5, and over 3.5 for the best creators.
• Not the same as chances created. Chances created (Opta) is key passes plus assists only. Shots created adds fantasy assists on top.
• Not the same as SCA. Shot-creating actions counts the last two actions before any shot. SCA totals are much higher.
• Where to research it. Use chances created averages from FootyMetrics and add a bit extra to allow for fantasy assists.

What counts as a shot created

Three Opta events sit under shots created. Any of these three adds to a player's total during the match.

1. Key pass. The final pass from one player to a teammate who then has a shot that does not go in. Missed shots, saved shots, and blocked shots all count. If the shot goes in, it becomes an assist instead. If a defender touches the ball on its way to the teammate, it stops being a key pass.

2. Assist. The final touch from a teammate that leads to a goal. The ball bouncing off a defender still counts as long as it reaches the scorer. Assists are not given for own goals, goals scored straight from a corner or free kick, or penalties unless the penalty taker passes for someone else to score.

3. Fantasy assist. A credit given to the last attacking touch before a goal in seven specific situations where a regular Opta assist cannot be awarded:

• A defender's touch on a pass that still ends in a goal.
• A handball that gives away a penalty or free kick which is then scored.
• A blocked shot or missed attempt that bounces to a teammate who scores.
• A saved shot that leads to a rebound goal.
• A shot that hits the post and falls to a teammate to score.
• A foul that wins a free kick or penalty which is then converted.
• An own goal caused by the player's attacking touch.

The fantasy assist part is what makes shots created bigger than the stats it gets confused with. Any move that ends in a goal earns a credit, even when the normal assist rules would not give one.

Which bookmakers offer shots created

Sky Bet introduced shots created, and it now shows up on Paddy Power and Betfair too. The three are Flutter brands and run on the same Paddy Power Betfair sportsbook platform, so a market built for one tends to roll out across all three with the same wording.

It is the same stat and the same settlement on each, because they all settle off the same Opta data feed. A player's shots created total for a match does not change depending on which of the three you use. What can change is the price and the lines on offer, so it is worth checking all three for the best number before you bet.

Outside the Flutter brands, most bookmakers still price the closely related chances created, or plain key passes and assists, rather than a market called shots created.

How shots created bets are settled

Three rules to know before you place one.

• 90 minutes only. Stoppage time counts. Extra time and penalty shootouts do not.
• Opta data. Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betfair all settle off the same Opta feed, the data behind most player props at the major bookmakers.
• Player must play. If your selected player does not appear in the match, the bet is voided and the stake is returned. Some lines may be voided if the player is substituted very early. Check the small print of the bet before placing.

Betting on shots created

Lines for shots created are set at over 1.5, over 2.5, and over 3.5 depending on the player.

Position matters more than anything else. Number tens, deep playmakers, and inverted wingers are the players who do this for a living. Strikers who finish chances more than they create them tend to have lower totals even if they score a lot. Holding midfielders who pass sideways instead of forward also fall short of lines that look easy on paper.

Hit rates matter more than season averages. A player averaging 2.4 chances created per match who only cleared over 1.5 in 5 of their last 10 games is less reliable than a player averaging 1.9 who cleared the same line in 8 of 10. One or two big games can skew an average. The hit rate tells you how often they actually get there.

You can combine this market with recent form on player trends and matchup filters on the player props finder. Bookmakers are still working out the right prices for new markets, so the early weeks are usually where the best value sits.

Shots created vs chances created on Opta

Most bettors trip up here. Football data sites like FootyMetrics, FBref, Sofascore and FotMob report chances created, which is Opta's official term. Chances created equals key passes plus assists. Nothing more.

Shots created is bigger. It is chances created plus the seven fantasy assist situations above. A player's shots created total for a given match will usually match their Opta chances created number, but it can run one or two higher in matches with deflected goals, rebounds, or won penalties.

If you are researching this market using public data, take a player's chances created average as the lowest number to expect. Their actual shots created in a given match might be one or two higher.

Shots created vs shot-creating actions (SCA)

There is a separate football stat called shot-creating actions, often shortened to SCA. It is published by FBref and StatsBomb, and it is not the same thing as the shots created market. If you Google "shots created" looking for free data, SCA is what you will mostly find.

The difference matters. SCA counts the last two attacking actions before any shot, not just the final pass. Those actions can be a pass, a successful dribble, a foul won, or a defender winning the ball back to start an attack. Two different players can be credited for the same shot under SCA.

The shots created market is narrower. It only counts three Opta events for one player at a time. A player's SCA total on FBref will almost always be higher than their shots created total for the same match, because SCA is broader and credits two players per shot rather than one.

If you are using SCA data to research this market, treat it as a rough guide only. The line you actually want is closest to chances created plus a small allowance for fantasy assists.

Where to find shots created data on FootyMetrics

No data site publishes "shots created" under that name yet, because the term is a bookmaker market label rather than an Opta stat name. The closest equivalent is chances created, and FootyMetrics tracks it across 115+ leagues.

Three places to look:

• Match-by-match chart on player pages. Open any player like Frenkie de Jong, pick "Chances created" from the More stats dropdown, and the chart shows the player's chances created per match against any line you set. The Avg, P90, and Hit rate numbers update with every filter change.
• Stats table on player pages. Same data in table form, with one column per match. Filter by home or away, opponent difficulty, started matches only, and how many recent games you want to include. Sort by AVG or P90.
• Team pages. The team page player table lets you pick Chances created as the stat and compare every player in a squad across recent matches, so you can spot who is actually doing the creating.

Before a match, the workflow is simple: look up the player's chances created hit rate for the line on offer, then check whether the opponent gives up lots of shots, since more shots means more fantasy assist chances.

The stats behind shots created

If you want the exact Opta wording for any of the events that count towards shots created, the stat definitions glossary has the full list with betting notes. The most relevant entries:

• Shots created: the full definition.
• Key pass: the event that comes up most often.
• Goal assist: how assists are counted.
• Chances created: the Opta equivalent.
• Fantasy assist: the seven situations that make shots created different from chances created.

Sky Bet publishes the full settlement rules on its football general rules page. Opta's underlying event definitions are on the Stats Perform site.