Football statistics

If you have thought about trying your hand at tipping, or just need some assistance with your own betting, then statistical analysis is an integral part to making informed and ultimately successful selections.

A recent innovation in the world of football has been the proliferation of sites offering readily-available statistics detailing team and player performance from the big world leagues. Here is a quick review of just two currently available on the market, with others to be covered in future articles.

Whoscored.com

Whoscored.com offers a multitude of team and player statistics covering all of the major European leagues as well as the top flights in Brazil, Argentina, China and the USA, not to mention the Champions and Europa League. One innovation that is particularly welcoming is the assist to goalscorer information which can automatically be used to consider the effectiveness of a goalscorer with or without his chief collaborator. Did you know Yannick Bolasie has assisted Romelu Lukaku four times this season, a combination beating any other duo? A recent innovation has been the player comparison tool, ensuring easily displayed records of key opposing players. Whoscored.com also applies a ranking system using their unique team and player metrics which have an eye-watering number of filters that can be applied, including dribbles, interceptions, and aerial prowess, to name but a few. The live game analysis and preview sections are also valuable components of this well-presented site.

Squawka.com

Another impressive source for European, not to mentions Australian, United States and Mexican football statistics is Squawka.com, which has an interesting take on the club and player performance score ranking system using defence, attack and possession-based metrics. A particularly useful filter on this ranking system is home and away performance. Just a cursory filter view using this premise reveals Arsenal to be the strongest performing away team in the English Premier league, while Chelsea take the honours at home. Player performance can also be evaluated in this way; Eden Hazard is unsurprisingly the league’s strongest home performer, but slips down to fifth in the away performers list, displaced by Alexis Sanchez. Another feature of Squawka.com is the ability to filter player statistics by a diverse variety of categories. These filters include, among others, average pass length (in metres), the number of forward and backward passes, and defensive errors. The comparison matrix allows for a contrast of players who have featured in a number of the world’s best-known leagues in the past five seasons using the filters of your choice, and all statistics on squawka.com are revealed in a visually-appealing manner. With news, live scores and a dedicated football gaming section, Squawka.com is far more than just a statistical hub, and is a veritable gem for information relating to the 20 English Premier league teams.

The Best?

Although there are many more statistical sources available that will be covered in the coming weeks, a valid question would be to ask which site is the best. Of course deciding is a totally subjective task as you would tailor your search depending on the bet you were looking to make at any given time. Perhaps the best advice is to regularly use a combination of these tools in your quest for success – that’s certainly what the experts do.

Steve Paget