Like his spectacular 68-yard goal earlier this year, newly signed Montpellier striker Wahbi Khazri is one of the most prolific long-range shot specialists in Ligue 1 Uber Eats history. Take a look at the Franco-Tunisian's impressive numbers...
The scorer of the longest goal of the season in Ligue 1 Uber Eats (68 meters) on October 30, 2021 with ASSE against Metz, Wahbi Khazri is a player known for not hesitating to take his chances, especially from distance. At 31 years of age, and with 236 Ligue 1 Uber Eats games under his belt, the Tunisian international and new Montpellier striker (68 career goals in the league) is almost unsurprisingly top of the list of Ligue 1 Uber Eats top scorers from outside the box over the past ten years.
Indeed, since the 2012-13 season, Wahbi Khazri has scored 19 long-range goals. His last one being the one against Metz - the most spectacular of all. And his best season in this area was his first in Ligue 1 Uber Eats with SC Bastia: five goals in 2012-13. During the past season (21-22), he scored twice from outside the box for Saint-Etienne. This puts him once again in the top ten of specialists, albeit at a distance from leader Martin Terrier (5, Stade Rennais), while Hwang (4, Bordeaux) and Clauss (4, RC Lens) complete the podium.
Top scorers from outside the box in Ligue 1 Uber Eats (since 2012-13):
1. Wahbi Khazri: 19
2. Angel Di Maria: 17
3. Dimitri Payet and Nicolas de Préville: 16
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Memphis Depay: 15
7. Florian Thauvin: 14
8. Edinson Cavani and Clément Grenier: 11
10. Martin Terrier, Benjamin Bourigeaud, Romain Alessandrini, Alexandre Lacazette, Nabil Fekir and Romain Hamouma: 10
Historic long-distance specialist
Tunisia striker Khazri is also one of the players who has taken his chances most often from long range over the period. Only Dimitri Payet is ahead of him. In terms of long-range shots on target, he also ranks high (84), once again second only to the Frenchman (134).
Most shots from outside the box in Ligue 1 Uber Eats (since 2012-13):
1. Dimitri Payet: 384
2. Wahbi Khazri: 304
3. Angel Di Maria: 258
4. Andy Delort: 249
5. Florian Thauvin: 246
6. Ryad Boudebouz: 221
On average, based on the number of games played since the 2012-13 season, Wahbi Khazri is on a par with Di Maria (1.31 shots outside the box per game), but behind Mario Balotelli (1.86), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (1.7), Teji Savanier (1.66), Memphis Depay (1.54), Dimitri Payet (1.41) and Neymar (1.36), among those who have hit at least 100 shots from outside the box in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. It remains to be seen when his 20th career strike will come...
Finally, the Tunisian striker's long-range ability is demonstrated by the fact that he has the highest total of goals scored from direct free-kicks of any player who played in Ligue 1 Uber Eats in 2021-22.
Direct free-kicks in Ligue 1 Uber Eats:
1. Wahbi Khazri: 8
2. Dimitri Payet and Ryad Boudebouz: 6
4. Benjamin Bourigeaud, Téji Savanier, Neymar Jr, Sébastien Corchia and Farid Boulaya: 4
