Preston North End: League-leading Milutin Osmajic stat emerges as biting ban looms | OneFootball

The Montenegrin forward could be missing for a good chunk of games.

Preston North End striker Milutin Osmajic is facing a potentially lengthy ban after allegedly biting Blackburn Rovers defender Owen Beck, which could be a big blow for them given he leads the league in one key area.

If you were to say that tempers flared in the heated game between Preston and Blackburn, you'd probably be selling it a bit short.

The game itself, as a footballing contest, wasn't too interesting.

There weren't a tonne of clear-cut chances for either side, and a draw was probably a fair result in the end. What caught the headlines was the fact that both sides ended the game with 10 men, and one of the instances surrounding it.

Shortly before the half-time whistle blew, Preston's Sam Greenwood put in a very strong challenge from behind on Lewis Baker which he was sent off for. In a similar proximity to the end of the next half, Blackburn full-back Owen Beck was shown red for swinging a leg at Duane Holmes, who tried to carry on playing after the referee had blown his whistle for a foul on Osmajic.

In response to Beck's foul, Osmajic quickly grabbed hold of him and appeared to bite him. The Liverpool loanee let the referee know about this before the red card was brandished in front of him, but the striker never received any punishment, and he still hasn't.

He's played two games since and scored a brace against Watford on Wednesday night. It looks like his time escaping punishment for his alleged act is going to come to an end though, as Preston brace themselves for a ban.

Milutin Osmajic set for biting ban

The Sun's Alan Nixon has reported, via his Patreon, that the Lilywhites are hoping for just a four-game ban for the 25-year-old.

Other instances of players biting another player include when Luis Suárez bit Branislav Ivanovic and, in the Championship, when Jefferson Lerma did the same to Sheffield Wednesday's Josh Windass in 2020.

He was handed a six-game ban, while Suarez was handed down a 10-game suspension for his act, although this wasn't the first time he had done something like this, and it wouldn't be the last either.

Preston are hoping that a guilty plea from Osmajic will reduce the punishment he receives, as per Nixon.

They are fully prepared to lose him for a number of matches. That will be a blow for them, as it would be for any club, as he leads the Championship in one key stat.

The stat that Milutin Osmajic leads the Championship in

The Montenegrin leads the English second tier when it comes to non-penalty expected goals (xG) per shot. According to Opta, xG: "measures the quality of a shot based on several variables such as assist type, shot angle and distance from goal, whether it was a headed shot and whether it was defined as a big chance."

Penalties have an xG of 0.76, as per Wyscout, so non-penalty xG is worked out by taking away the xG built up from penalties away from their total xG number.

According to FBref, Osmajic has a non-penalty xG of 2.4 and a non-penalty xG per shot of 0.41. That second number is 0.13 higher than any other player in the Championship.

This means, so far this season, on average, he has been the player that has been most likely to score from every non-penalty shot he has taken.