Author: Soccerment Research
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Midseason reviews 2022/23: Serie A
A stellar start to the season has seen Napoli gain an edge over the rest of the field. Our advanced metrics show that the top spot is well deserved, while Roma are the side with the largest underperformance compared to Expected Points. The two sides show the largest improvement in xG difference compared to 2021/22,…
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Shot quality and results in football
We investigate the link between shot quality, as measured by the team average xG per shot, and both results (in terms of wins) and performance (measured with our Expected Points model), for the top 5 European leagues. We find a strong link between xG per shot difference (xG per shot minus xG per shot conceded,…
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The Very Exclusive xOVA Club
We introduced Expected Offensive Value Added, or ‘xOVA’, to facilitate scouting for creative and skilled players, who are able to have a great impact in the final third of the pitch. Therefore, forwards, wingers and attacking midfielders top our xOVA charts. For example, in our database, the highest seasonal xOVA (22.27) was produced by Lionel…
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Measuring pressing success: Buildup Disruption Percentage (BDP)
Pressing is a fundamental part of many teams’ game plan in modern football. At the same time, it is difficult to measure it accurately using event data. While PPDA is certainly a very useful metric, in our view it would be advisable to complement it with different, indirect measurements of how teams are able to…
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Data-driven scouting for Newcastle
After the takeover from PIF, Newcastle United was set to become one of the main players in January’s transfer market. This has indeed been the case, with the Magpies already completing two important signings. In this piece, we use our extensive dataset to scout for interesting players in the positions where Newcastle seems to be…
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Soccerment's Expected Points model
Expected Goals (xG) models allow us to quantify the chance quality of individual shots. This gives us the chance to quantify the probability of a team winning, losing or drawing the match, based on the two team’s total xG during the match. In turn, this can be translated into an expectation value for points gained…
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Midseason reviews 2021/22: Serie A
According to our advanced metrics, Inter Milan are performing better under Inzaghi than they did under Conte last year, when the Nerazzurri won their 19th Scudetto. Whilst AC Milan have been reaping more points than expected based on the scoring chances they created, Juventus accumulated fewer points than they deserved, according to our xPts model:…
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Expected Threat
One of the cornerstones of measuring offensive contributions in football is based on a very simple fact: the likelihood of scoring a goal in the next few actions depends heavily on the distance to goal at any given moment. It follows, therefore, that the most valuable actions, besides those directly related to scoring such as…
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The rejuvenation of Crystal Palace
Last summer came with many changes for Crystal Palace, with the end of Roy Hodgon’s tenure, the appointment of Patrick Vieira as manager and a very busy transfer window, which led to a very interesting team rejuvenation. If we compare the start of the current season with the same period of 2020/21, the Eagles have…
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Top 5 leagues through the "xLenses"
League football is back after an intense international break. Time for recapping what has happened so far in the European top 5 competitions. We have analysed them using our advanced metrics (xPoints, xG, xA, xOVA, etc.), which sometimes confirm the tables’ initial verdicts (like in the case of Napoli), while in other cases highlight how…
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