Owen - The forgotten man

Opta remind Fabio Capello about what he's missing by looking over Michael Owen's scoring record.

Opta take a look at Newcastle's fit-again striker

Even though Michael Owen has been seemingly forgotten by England manager Fabio Capello, the former Liverpool and Real Madrid man is in fact the most deadly striker in the Premier League so far this season - of any nationality. The Newcastle striker has been in prolific form, scoring trademark goals for the Magpies. His six goals so far this campaign have come from just 15 shots, the best ratio in the league. Owen has made 12 appearances this season, four from the bench, and his shooting accuracy of 80% is among the best. The 28-year-old hasn't taken a shot from outside the box yet this season but this has not affected the potency of his game.

Top 5 Premier League players - Goals to shots ratio (10 or more shots)
Player	Club	Shots	Goals to shots ratio
Michael Owen	Newcastle United	15	40.00%
Gabriel Agbonlahor	Aston Villa	19	36.84%
Samir Nasri	Arsenal	12	33.33%
Mido	Middlesbrough	13	30.77%
Nicolas Anelka	Chelsea	47	27.66%

Owen has scored 40 goals for his country and 142 in the Premier League, for Liverpool and Newcastle, but Capello is still reluctant to include the striker in his squads. Despite the regular selection of the ageing and largely underplayed David Beckham, the Italian has so far overlooked Owen as a front man, instead preferring Gabriel Agbonlahor, Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney and Owen's former Anfield partner Emile Heskey. His recent record in the Premier League is hugely impressive. In a record dating back to the end of last season, Owen has scored 12 goals in 19 Premier League games for Newcastle.