The origins of goals in the German Bundesliga

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The origins of goals in the German Bundesliga. / Anzer, Gabriel; Bauer, Pascal; Brefeld, Ulf.
In: Journal of Sports Sciences, Vol. 39, No. 22, 17.11.2021, p. 2525-2544.

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

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Anzer G, Bauer P, Brefeld U. The origins of goals in the German Bundesliga. Journal of Sports Sciences. 2021 Nov 17;39(22):2525-2544. Epub 2021 Jul 22. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2021.1943981

Bibtex

@article{dae019ebb5d74a3e9cbdc390b630560f,
title = "The origins of goals in the German Bundesliga",
abstract = "We propose to analyse the origin of goals in professional football (soccer) in a purely data-driven approach. Based on positional and event data of 3,457 goals from two seasons German Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga (2018/20,219 and 2019/2020), we devise a rich set of 37 features that can be extracted automatically and propose a hierarchical clustering approach to identify group structures. The results consist of 50 interpretable clusters revealing insights into scoring patterns. The hierarchical clustering found 8 alone standing clusters (penalties, direct free kicks, kick and rush, one-two{\textquoteright}s, assisted by header, assisted by throw-in) and nine categories (e.g., corners) combining more granular patterns (e.g., five subcategories of corner-goals). We provide a thorough discussion of the clustering and show its relevance for practical applications in opponent analysis, player scouting and for long-term investigations. All stages of this work have been supported by professional analysts from clubs and federation.",
keywords = "Sports analytics, Professional football (Soccer), Hierarchical Clustering, Tactical Analysis, Business informatics",
author = "Gabriel Anzer and Pascal Bauer and Ulf Brefeld",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",
year = "2021",
month = nov,
day = "17",
doi = "10.1080/02640414.2021.1943981",
language = "English",
volume = "39",
pages = "2525--2544",
journal = "Journal of Sports Sciences",
issn = "0264-0414",
publisher = "Taylor & Francis",
number = "22",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The origins of goals in the German Bundesliga

AU - Anzer, Gabriel

AU - Bauer, Pascal

AU - Brefeld, Ulf

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2021/11/17

Y1 - 2021/11/17

N2 - We propose to analyse the origin of goals in professional football (soccer) in a purely data-driven approach. Based on positional and event data of 3,457 goals from two seasons German Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga (2018/20,219 and 2019/2020), we devise a rich set of 37 features that can be extracted automatically and propose a hierarchical clustering approach to identify group structures. The results consist of 50 interpretable clusters revealing insights into scoring patterns. The hierarchical clustering found 8 alone standing clusters (penalties, direct free kicks, kick and rush, one-two’s, assisted by header, assisted by throw-in) and nine categories (e.g., corners) combining more granular patterns (e.g., five subcategories of corner-goals). We provide a thorough discussion of the clustering and show its relevance for practical applications in opponent analysis, player scouting and for long-term investigations. All stages of this work have been supported by professional analysts from clubs and federation.

AB - We propose to analyse the origin of goals in professional football (soccer) in a purely data-driven approach. Based on positional and event data of 3,457 goals from two seasons German Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga (2018/20,219 and 2019/2020), we devise a rich set of 37 features that can be extracted automatically and propose a hierarchical clustering approach to identify group structures. The results consist of 50 interpretable clusters revealing insights into scoring patterns. The hierarchical clustering found 8 alone standing clusters (penalties, direct free kicks, kick and rush, one-two’s, assisted by header, assisted by throw-in) and nine categories (e.g., corners) combining more granular patterns (e.g., five subcategories of corner-goals). We provide a thorough discussion of the clustering and show its relevance for practical applications in opponent analysis, player scouting and for long-term investigations. All stages of this work have been supported by professional analysts from clubs and federation.

KW - Sports analytics

KW - Professional football (Soccer)

KW - Hierarchical Clustering

KW - Tactical Analysis

KW - Business informatics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111431422&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/02640414.2021.1943981

DO - 10.1080/02640414.2021.1943981

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 34308758

VL - 39

SP - 2525

EP - 2544

JO - Journal of Sports Sciences

JF - Journal of Sports Sciences

SN - 0264-0414

IS - 22

ER -