Date that Liverpool are using incredible data science during matches, and effects are extraordinary was published: January 15, 2020

Summary of Article

This article, published on the site of English Premier League Team Liverpool, details the ways in which the soccer team uses advanced data analytics to improve the team’s on-field chances of winning.

Liverpool’s Advanced Analytics effort starts from the top down, with team owner John Henry having long embraced efforts to integrate data analytics into sports. The team employs a team of data scientists led by professionals with doctorates in mathematics and physics. The crux of the team’s work revolves around what Liverpool calls “Pitch Graphing” (pitch is a commonly used term for the a soccer field). The team takes pictures of the field throughout the game, creating modified heat maps to determine which sections of the field are controlled by Liverpool, and which are controlled primarily by the other team. These graphs allow the team to delve even further, producing complex analyses which calculate the probability of a goal being scored based on various actions that could be taken on the field at a given moment in time. These probabilities, while not perfect, are relayed to manager Jurgen Klopp, who takes in the information as part of his process of creating a strategy for a game. As the article says, Klopp’s specific gameplans are secretive and include a variety of components, but conclusions gleaned from data analytics certainly comprise an important part of the team’s preparation and strategies.

Basic Article Stats

Article.Retweets.on.Twitter Article.Likes.on.Twitter Article.Likes.on.FB
316 1600 5

Author Information

Josh Williams, the author of this article, is a “Football Scouting Writer” for Reach PLC, a large news organization operating out of London. His primary interest appears to be the intersection of data analytics and the English Premier League, which he covers extensively. Other Liverpool issued news articles can be found using the link below. Other articles written by Josh Williams, as well as his social media accounts, can be found further down the page.

## [1] "https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news"

Liverpool News Articles

What Do I Think?

I think the article provides an interesting and unique insight into the way that professional sports organizations can utilize data analytics to improve on-field performance. Too much of the time, the specific preparation procedures used by teams are clouded in secrecy, but this piece does an excellent job of giving concrete examples of the usefulness of statistics without revealing proprietary secrets. As someone who does not consider myself to be a soccer fan, this piece has broad appeal because of its unique insight into the presence of data in the world of sports.

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##   region population sex age education income statusquo vote
## 1      N     175000   M  65         P  35000   1.00820    Y
## 2      N     175000   M  29        PS   7500  -1.29617    N
## 3      N     175000   F  38         P  15000   1.23072    Y
## 4      N     175000   F  49         P  35000  -1.03163    N
## 5      N     175000   F  23         S  35000  -1.10496    N
## 6      N     175000   F  28         P   7500  -1.04685    N