Understanding football match statistics

A final score does not always tell the whole story of a match. Statistics help you understand who controlled the game and who created the better chances, as long as you know what each number measures.

Possession

Possession is the share of the match each team had the ball, worked out from the number and length of their passing sequences. High possession shows control but not danger: a team can keep the ball in its own half for long periods without creating anything, while a counter-attacking side may win with 35% of the ball.

Shots and shots on target

Total shots counts every attempt at goal, including those that are blocked or go wide. Shots on target are only the attempts that would have gone in without a save by the goalkeeper. A team with many shots but few on target is often shooting from distance or under pressure.

Expected goals (xG)

Expected goals estimate the quality of each chance. Every shot gets a value between 0 and 1 based on thousands of similar past shots: where it was taken from, the angle, whether it was a header, the type of pass before it and other factors. A penalty is worth around 0.76 xG, while a shot from 30 metres may be worth less than 0.05.

Adding up these values gives the number of goals a team "should" have scored with average finishing. A team that wins 1-0 with 0.4 xG against 2.5 xG was probably lucky, or had an excellent goalkeeper.

Passes and pass accuracy

Pass accuracy is the percentage of passes that reached a team-mate. Teams that pass short and sideways usually have higher accuracy than teams that play long balls, so this number is best compared between similar teams.

Discipline and set pieces

Fouls, yellow cards and red cards show how physical a match was. Corners show which team pushed forward more, although they rarely turn into goals. Offsides can reveal a team that is often trying to run behind the defence.

Player ratings

Player ratings, usually from 1 to 10, combine many actions into one number: passes, duels won, chances created, goals, assists, saves and errors. They are a useful summary, but they reward visible actions and can undervalue players whose work, such as positioning, is harder to count.

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