DO YOU consider yourself a big football fan? If the answer is yes, you probably like to analyze matches while watching them. Maybe you even have ideas on how you would lead the team during the game. But would you like to learn how to analyze football matches like a professional?
By reading this article, you can improve your football match analysis and go from a casual football fan to a seasoned football statistics analyst.
Preparing Before Kick-Off
Your soccer game analysis should start before the game starts. This way, you won’t spend the first 15 minutes trying to figure out what’s happening. You’ll understand the tactics right away during the first minute.
Here is how to analyze a soccer game before it even starts:
First, research the default formation: check the previous matches of both teams. Which formation do they prefer? 4-3-3? 4-2-3-1? This will show you whether the teams prefer a more defensive or aggressive style. You’ll also notice if the manager has made some significant changes for this match in particular.
Assess the risk tolerance. Will your team make riskier decisions to ensure a win, or will it stay more cautious and defensive? This depends on the context of the match. Are the teams competing on who will win the cup or stay in the league? Or is it a mid-season game where the stakes aren’t that high?
Finally, check if there will be any changes in the player’s lineup. Maybe there are injured or suspended players who play a key role in the team’s formation and game strategy. Their absence might force the team to completely change its tactics.
Finding Reliable Match Information
To be able to conduct a meaningful team and player performance analysis, you need reliable match information. You can find this information online, on platforms such as 180Score. These platforms offer historical team performance metrics, including the stats from all previous matches between the two teams.
You’ll get deep insights into what happens when two specific teams meet, and help you understand what to expect from their future matches. By finding all relevant data and seeing it all in one place, you notice hidden trends and patterns that you would miss otherwise.
Key Statistics to Monitor During a Match
There isn’t only one right way to do football data analysis, but some football metrics are essential for understanding what’s actually happening on the field. There is a small catch there, though. Instead of focusing on basic stats (such as goals scored), you should focus on football advanced stats.
Here are some of these football stats explained:
Expected goals (xG): It shows a mathematical probability for a shot to become a goal.
Shot-creating actions (SCA): All offensive actions (passes, dribbles, drawn fouls,…) that lead to a goal.
Passes per defensive action (PPDA): How many passes the offensive team will make in the attacking three-quarters before the defense team tries to intercept or challenge.
Pass accuracy: The percentage of completed passes compared to the total number of attempted passes.
Expected threats (xT): Shows how much danger a player is causing by moving the ball from one zone to another.
These are only some of the advanced metrics important for tactical analysis in football, but they are a good start. Once you understand them, you can explore other metrics and learn what they mean for the match you want to analyze.
Post-Match Analysis Techniques
Once the match is over, your real work begins. Again, don’t focus on the stats everyone can see, but look for hidden details. For example, focus on what happened right before goals were scored. Goals are rarely caused by a goalkeeper’s error. They happen because the midfield structure broke down.
Also, look at how metrics changed after scoring goals. When the result is still 0-0, the teams stick to their tactics until one team scores. However, once the team scores 1-0 or even 2-0, this team will change its tactics and become more defensive to protect its lead. The other team will become more aggressive in an attempt to overtake the lead (or at least get a draw).
Building Your Own Evaluation Framework
To become better at analyzing football matches, here are some tips:
Focus on the statistics instead of your emotions, biases, and gut feelings
Write everything down instead of trying to memorize it
Divide your analysis into several key components (structural compactness, attacking depth, midfield efficiency, etc.)
Conclusion
Football match analysis is no longer something exclusive to professionals and experts. Even casual sports fans can start to analyze matches and understand the game on a much deeper level.
Article written by Keiran Pike
