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*******Spurs v PSG*******Official OMT*******

If xG was as scientific as it’s labelled by people who like to use it then it would be a set number. Different outlets report different xG for the same games so it can’t be accurate
The are all a accurate within their own model
The key is what you use it for
The games between different ones is negligible
 
If xG was as scientific as it’s labelled by people who like to use it then it would be a set number. Different outlets report different xG for the same games so it can’t be accurate
That's just a reflection of the fact there's different methodologies for modelling chance creation and coming up with a 'quality' measure. The numbers don't have to be identical across methodologies, as long as you stay internally consistent.
 
That's just a reflection of the fact there's different methodologies for modelling chance creation and coming up with a 'quality' measure. The numbers don't have to be identical across methodologies, as long as you stay internally consistent.

Which doesn't make sense. If you have 5 different models giving 5 different answers it doesn't matter how internally consistent they are they are showing different results.

The old saying you put brick in you get brick out.
 
I just don't get why fans are interested in "match stats"
Does having most possession, shots, shots on target, successful passes or tackles, algebra figures mean your team will win or lose? I don't think it does, the only "stat" that matters is goals scored the rest is just fodder for "experts" to chew on and confirm thier opinions.

It's an Americanisation of sports coverage. Because their sports are so boring and interrupted, they kind of need something else to do during the dead time. Whereas global sports have always had much more flow, and are about momentum rather than quantitative measures.
 
Which doesn't make sense. If you have 5 different models giving 5 different answers it doesn't matter how internally consistent they are they are showing different results.

The old saying you put brick in you get brick out.
It’s choosing one source as your output
Clubs don’t look at these different models and think what could we do different
They do it themselves with their own data teams
We could both have a tape measure and get slightly different results if all the variables aren’t fixed. They aren’t in football, that’s for sure
All data can be used up make better decisions when used in the right way and you understand the input
 
It's an Americanisation of sports coverage. Because their sports are so boring and interrupted, they kind of need something else to do during the dead time. Whereas global sports have always had much more flow, and are about momentum rather than quantitative measures.
This
I’ve heard a mate who is a spurs fan and an NFL fan claim that all the set pieces come from the NFL model
When I told him and the team who won the league in Sweden IIRC from maximising set pieces he didn’t believe me
 
If xG was as scientific as it’s labelled by people who like to use it then it would be a set number. Different outlets report different xG for the same games so it can’t be accurate
It's a somewhat glorified shot statistic.

But it also tells us more than a shot statistic.

A stat doesn't have to be 100% accurate to be useful.
 
There's more to it than the quality of your finishing, surely. An individual xG stat (ie for a single goal attempt) is a measure of the quality of the chance, so (xG total)/(shots total) measures your average quality of chances created in the game. If a goal is scored from a chance created, then 1/xG for that chance is probably a measure of a combination of finishing quality/goalkeeping quality and some coefficient of the amount of luck involved, however you want to measure that (the larger the value, the better the finishing and/or the poorer the keeping and/or the luckier the goal, 1/xG values always being >= 1.0). The ratio (goals scored)/(total xG) therefore gives the average measure of that combination of quality and luck over the game.
You can obviously draw some conclusions when you look at the numbers and the context of variables like you mention, factors like luck or goalkeeping quality are also just averaged, but as a raw stat its really just telling you the quality of the chance on average. That isn't particularly informative by itself, you need to place them versus the quality of your finishing or similar depending on what you are trying to determine. For me xG alone doesn't tell you much without combining it with some other data point.
 
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I just don't get why fans are interested in "match stats"
Does having most possession, shots, shots on target, successful passes or tackles, algebra figures mean your team will win or lose? I don't think it does, the only "stat" that matters is goals scored the rest is just fodder for "experts" to chew on and confirm thier opinions.
Possession says more about style of play and game flow than quality.

Shots, and somewhat better xG tells a bit. It won't tell if a team will win or lose a game. But give me an xG for of 0.1 or 2.0 in any given game and I'll take the latter. Give us an average xG for of 1.5 for the rest of the season and we're almost certainly going to get better results than if it's 1.0 (assuming no changes to xG against).

Results are what matters. But results are over time clearly linked to performances. xG gives an indication of performance while obviously not being some perfect factual answer. I'd rather see a loss with xG numbers like against PSG than a loss with xG numbers like against Arsenal. At least the PSG game gives us some realistic reasons to think we'll do well in the future.
 
Which doesn't make sense. If you have 5 different models giving 5 different answers it doesn't matter how internally consistent they are they are showing different results.

The old saying you put brick in you get brick out.
That's a gross oversimplification. For example, there are also different ways of modelling the flow field and pressure distribution across a wing section under different conditions, at different Mach numbers and so on. They won't necessarily produce identical results in terms of raw numbers either, but the wings that are designed using them are still just as reliable.
 
It's an Americanisation of sports coverage. Because their sports are so boring and interrupted, they kind of need something else to do during the dead time. Whereas global sports have always had much more flow, and are about momentum rather than quantitative measures.

Is it?

Cricket was the first stat heavy sport I believe.
 
It’s choosing one source as your output
Clubs don’t look at these different models and think what could we do different
They do it themselves with their own data teams
We could both have a tape measure and get slightly different results if all the variables aren’t fixed. They aren’t in football, that’s for sure
All data can be used up make better decisions when used in the right way and you understand the input

You still have to rely on what input is put in. Is it a person or ai?
Posession is determined by how many passes a team makes compared to the other. So does someone sit there with 2 clickers watching the game? How reliable would that be?
Results have to be quick so no going back double checking.
Even if it's ai. It's trying to read a 3d game from a 2d image converted and reconverted. With an infinite amount of variables.

It's a guide but is massively fallable. As are humans.
 
You still have to rely on what input is put in. Is it a person or ai?
Posession is determined by how many passes a team makes compared to the other. So does someone sit there with 2 clickers watching the game? How reliable would that be?
Results have to be quick so no going back double checking.
Even if it's ai. It's trying to read a 3d game from a 2d image converted and reconverted. With an infinite amount of variables.

It's a guide but is massively fallable. As are humans.
They have cameras capturing a lot of it
Although… I don’t know how the stats companies do that
My nephew is doing it for derby county now so I have seen how he does it
It’s a series of short cuts on a key board watching the video
Useful when used with other things
 
Possession says more about style of play and game flow than quality.

Shots, and somewhat better xG tells a bit. It won't tell if a team will win or lose a game. But give me an xG for of 0.1 or 2.0 in any given game and I'll take the latter. Give us an average xG for of 1.5 for the rest of the season and we're almost certainly going to get better results than if it's 1.0 (assuming no changes to xG against).

Results are what matters. But results are over time clearly linked to performances. xG gives an indication of performance while obviously not being some perfect factual answer. I'd rather see a loss with xG numbers like against PSG than a loss with xG numbers like against Arsenal. At least the PSG game gives us some realistic reasons to think we'll do well in the future.
Not to be pedantic but I’m gonna be pedantic. 😆😅

If you have:
- 25 shots
- Total xG ≈ 2.0
- No individual chance over, say, 0.15 xG

Then what you really had was:
- Lots of low-probability efforts
- Probably many blocked shots, tight-angle attempts, or pot-shots from distance
- Pressure but not threat

So while the cumulative xG says “you created enough to score twice”, the experience of the match will tell us differently.
“We never really looked likely to score — we just took a lot of low-quality shots.” xG per shot, shot locations, big chances created, etc, is more informative not just the raw xG total.

What I find interesting is that in the period when we had Kane and Son I don't think we appreciated how far above the statistical norm their finishing was. Kane & Son were absolutely xG overperformers. xG models tell you what an average player would score. Kane and Son were not average players. We often had games where the xG said “1.1 expected goals,” but Kane would stick one in the top corner or Son would curl in something from 0.06 xG.
 
From the BBC article yesterday. Spurs have scored 20 times from an xG of 11.2, meaning they have scored about nine more than the average team would have, from the shots they have taken this season.

So here's a question. In fact two.

Why would I trust an indicator that is performing so incredibly badly? People get fired for way less.

Secondly, what will the score be at the weekend based on xG. Perhaps someone can tell me what they find.

I did find this though....Spurs were victorious in 53.2% of the Opta supercomputer’s simulations. A draw was the second most likely outcome, occurring in 24% of simulations, while Fulham came out on top in 22.8% of sims.

Even the super computer won't get off the fence and tell me the xG for the game.

It amazes me how everyone builds arguments around it. It's slightly more useful than a chocolate teapot but doesn't help me win at the bookies any more than my own judgment.
 
They have cameras capturing a lot of it
Although… I don’t know how the stats companies do that
My nephew is doing it for derby county now so I have seen how he does it
It’s a series of short cuts on a key board watching the video
Useful when used with other things

So a lot like var.
 
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