"I THINK what you have seen in our season so far is that when we have needed people to step up and take the opportunity, they’ve done that. Earlier in the year it was different players and now it is different ones stepping up. The one undeniable fact is that it has been a collective effort."

It's a squad game when it comes to goals and Ange Postecoglou had the right of it in that quote: this Celtic side shares the burden.

With the Hoops now having surpassed the 125-strike landmark with three games of their season to go, we dig into some of the facts and figures behind that total...

The goals

To start, let’s list the basics.

Celtic have scored 126 goals in 57 matches – that’s an average of 2.21 goals per game. That total has come via 22 different goalscorers (that doesn’t include Nicky Devlin, Bálint Vécsei or Timo Letschert, who all scored own-goals for the Hoops this term).

No Celt has managed to hit 20 yet - Kyogo Furuhashi is the closest with 17 - and only four of the squad have reached double figures. There are, however, nine who have struck five times or more. Talk about sharing the load.

How does this compare though? Is it unique for Celtic in recent seasons? Not quite – but it’s still impressive. Let’s take a closer look at the past five seasons (i.e. from Brendan Rodgers’ Invincibles onwards).

This campaign's goals and goals-per-game totals have already surpassed that of the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons while the raw total sits level with the 2017-18 team. It’s unlikely – although, when you’re capable of two 6-0s and a 7-0, not impossible – that Postecoglou’s men get near the return racked up by the 2016-17 or 2019-20 Celtic teams.

In terms of diversity of scorers, the current side’s 22 is equalled by only the 2020-21 side. Of the scoreless players likely to get decent game-time between now and season's end, Carl Starfelt is probably the best bet to move this year's team clear.

Nine different players reaching five goals or more is about par for the course – only the 2019-20 season saw double-digits worth of Celts contribute that. With Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate, Callum McGregor and James Forrest all on four for the season going into the final four matches, this season’s iteration could yet surpass that.

Reinforcing the team-first culture Postecoglou is imparting is perhaps the fact this season’s top two goalscorers – Kyogo and Liel Abada – account for just 25 per cent of the squad’s goals. This is the fewest the combined top two scorers have contributed in the past five seasons. Last season’s top duo – Odsonne Edouard and Mohamed Elyounoussi – take that mantle with 39 per cent of that team’s total output.

The scorers

We’ll take a quick look at the top five goalscorers here.

Kyogo has garnered 17 goals from only 14.2 xG, meaning he has overperformed by almost three. The Japan international is also accurate with 51.6 per cent of his shots.

Abada (15 goals, 15.01 xG) is performing almost exactly as expected in front of goal albeit with lower shot accuracy of 40.6 per cent while Giorgos Giakoumakis’s 13 goals have come from 12.5 xG at a 51 per cent clip.

Celtic Way:

Rounding off the top five, Jota (12 goals, 11.1 xG) is perhaps surprisingly close to his expected output despite his 37.7 per cent shot accuracy while David Turnbull (nine goals, 8.5 xG) is in a similar mould with an even worse record of hitting the target at 29.6 per cent.

Also of note is the fact Abada joined the club containing Moussa Dembele and Tom Rogic (16-17) as well as McGregor (17-18) and Scott Sinclair (18-19) in scoring in the league, both domestic cups and European competition in a single season.

The chances

WyScout notes Celtic have taken 976 shots this season and average about 6.2 on target per game. Their total xG for the season of 131.97 means they have underperformed by almost six goals relative to the chances they’ve manufactured.

Rangers, in comparison, have taken 970 with an average of 5.8 on target per game. They have also underperformed in front of goal with 113 actual strikes versus 118.2 xG.

Apropros to nothing except some wider footballing examples, and with no attention paid to the level of opposition at all, England's top two demonstrate numbers that reflect a clinical season in front of goal (Manchester City's latest Champions League semi-final exit notwithstanding). City average 6.5 shots on target per game and have overperformed their xG by around 11 this term (135 goals v 124.3 xG). Liverpool? Just the 6.1 shots on target per game and an overperformance of almost 14 (139 v 125.3 xG).

Statistically, the best chance Celtic have had all season was James Forrest’s point-blank toe-poke off the post against Hearts in the Premiership back in December:

The games

Interestingly, Celtic have scored twice in a game more often than they have once this campaign. Indeed, they have enjoyed a full league season (38 matches) worth of games where they scored two or more and have accumulated 33 games with an xG in excess of two.

In terms of individual matches, the 3-2 victory against Hearts in August saw them get off the most shots (35) while the 6-0 win over Dundee remains the match with the most shots on target (15).

READ MORE: The late Celtic goals that have propelled Ange Postecoglou to verge of Premiership glory

The most ‘clinical’ display was the February Glasgow Derby triumph in which eight of the Hoops’ 12 shots found the target with three hitting the net from 1.86 xG.

Celtic have only been held scoreless seven times this term; five of those were in the league, with the other two coming in the Europa League and Europa Conference League respectively. Livingston are the only team to keep the Hoops at bay twice.