Analytics Leicester Arsenal

I decided to look at my match report analysis of Leicester’s win over Arsenal (via mufc.com) to see if it can help with this analysis. The first thing that struck me while reading it was the number of shots and crosses that Kante and Reus faced. Kante can be considered as a standard starter in this role at Arsenal.  For Kante, his numbers are pretty remarkable. He was beaten for dribbles (3) in the box and won possession back (15) more than his opponents. At a time when Arsenal’s forward play was more patient, Kante won back possession on average more than his opponents did. Kante faced almost double the number of shots in the box (5) than his opponents in the match. The only other Arsenal player who faced more shots was Ramsey who faced a total of five, including one that was betting. Kante made five more crosses (20), including one that was a last minute toe-poke. The production of Jamie Vardy’s goal tally over the past 10 years has been akin to the TV series Breaking Bad. His production across these years has been astonishing, but more surprising is the way in which he maintained his production despite coming to Leicester City. In essence, Vardy put up tremendous numbers for a free transfer, but those numbers are not out of the ordinary when looking at the best strikers of the Premier League. So, the question then becomes, “Is Vardy really that good?” To answer that question, we need to look at the performances of other players in the league that are similar to Vardy, while also examining Leicester’s 2015/16 campaign. So we turn our lens to MLS, as we compared Vardy’s 2016/17 stats with the best strikers in Major League Soccer in the 2015/16 campaign. Before joining the Foxes, Burnley used a combination of data-driven technology and human intelligence to find value in the market. In May 2017, Burnley announced a new transfer platform called SportsID, an offshoot of ClubSense, with the intent of using AI and machine learning to aid in player recruitment. The scouting platform promises to deliver a range of bespoke analytics based on a target’s lifestyle, motivation, personality and motivation. Burnley has accumulated a vast network of data using ClubSense and through sports data aggregators, which often have remote scouts and also have access to data through collaboration with schools and amateur football clubs. Burnley also uses a local scouting network as they look to identify players in the county of Norfolk and the surrounding areas. Data helps identify ideal Burnley strikers, level of tactical intelligence helps us make decisions which stop us from overspending pic.twitter.com/kehOm1oTUH 1. Burnley’s final-third possession drops by more than one-third: Although the Burnley side has still had the most shots of any team in the Premier League over the past two seasons, this season they have had a major decrease in their final-third possession (that’s the section of the pitch containing half of the field). Leicester were much better in that department than Burnley. The Premier League has long been a major testing ground for analytics. Clubs like Red Star Belgrade and Manchester United have been among those in the industry who’ve deployed data scientists to create football coaching and training methods. Clubs like Chelsea, West Ham and Leicester developed strong expertise in data and its use during their Premier League title-winning campaign. These clubs have all embraced data as a competitive weapon, creating a competitive advantage on the football field. Leicester’s success under Ranieri was a cornerstone of their success. As a group of astute data analysts, they were able to spot trends and patterns in their opponents as well as their own team. Leicester City fans celebrate after their championship victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, August 28, 2015. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images) Vardy isn’t Leicester’s only threat either. Riyad Mahrez has also been in fine form this season, scoring goals in 2 out of his 5 appearances for the Foxes. It is safe to say they are Leicester’s most dangerous attacking players when they are fully fit. Manchester United is a team that has improved under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. In the 2019/20 season, they won the EFL Cup and the Premier League. He also led them to the Europa League title in the previous season. Since then, they have retained the EFL Cup and won the Champions League. Although they are on course to reach the last 16 of the Champions League, they will have to overturn a 7-goal deficit against Shakhtar. In the 2018/19 season, Manchester United won both the Premier League and the EFL Cup. The last season, Manchester United managed to win the Premier League, the EFL Cup and the FA Cup. They also reached the semi finals of the Champions League. However, they missed out on reaching the Champions League final. In this season, they are in their best form yet, winning the Premier League by eight points. Manchester United was 0.4% more creative in the first phase. Alexis Sanchez (average = 2.5) was the most creative player in this phase, followed by Ander Herrera (2.4) and Marcus Rashford (2.2). United also scored the most goals when these three players were in the team. In the final third, Anthony Martial (3.6) and Sergio Aguero (3.6) were the most creative and the most potent scorers. As you can see from the above stats, City played at a higher pressing rate when the ball was lost as compared to when they won it back and they more often than not had at least one City man attacking the ball which (according to Opta Stats) was 44%. While Leicester were slightly less aggressive when the ball was lost as they were only attacking 27% of the time. On the other hand, City won possession back at a 62% rate while Leicester were winning it back at 55% which shows their full backs were more successful and managed to prevent Leicester from building attacks. However, City's opening goal was a result of a glaring tactical error as City had played with their back to goal. Leicester pressed far higher and higher the ball was lost to a back pass. City's problem was that Riyad Mahrez wasn’t the right candidate to play a back pass – he’s more skilled at finding good passing angles and ways to move the ball forward as opposed to being a decent back passer. This led to City playing a half decent passing game as opposed to Mahrez trying to play the long ball. The second goal was one of City's few moments of tactical brilliance in the first half. They were clearly aware that Leicester had one man in their half as their first ball out of defence was a relatively long ball to David Silva’s man to give him more time to make a run and he eventually found space to feed a cutback to Gabriel Jesus. The third goal was a brilliant piece of defending. After winning a corner, Riyad Mahrez nearly got caught in possession which could’ve led to an opening goal for Leicester. In this moment of laxity from his defence, Kevin de Bruyne found space and put the ball in the net from an excellent position.