According to CCTV5, the European Cup has entered the knockout phase, and 16 teams will compete fiercely to win the highest honor in European football. In such a contest, how to evaluate the strength and performance of each team is a very meaningful topic. Our common method is to look at the team's record
According to CCTV5, the European Cup has entered the knockout phase, and 16 teams will compete fiercely to win the highest honor in European football. In such a contest, how to evaluate the strength and performance of each team is a very meaningful topic. Our common method is to look at the team's performance, points, goals and other data, but these data can not fully reflect the true level of the team, because sometimes it will be affected by the strength of the opponent, good or bad luck, the referee's decision and other factors. So, is there a more accurate, objective and scientific method to evaluate teams? The answer is yes, that is to use * * the expected number of goals (xG) * *.
The number of expected goals (xG) is an indicator of football data analysis. It calculates the probability of goals for each shot according to the position, angle, distance, defensive pressure and other factors of each shot, and then adds the probability of goals for all shots to get the expected number of goals for a team or a player in a game. This indicator can reflect the attack efficiency and quality of a team or a player, and can also be used to compare the performance of different teams or players. Generally speaking, the higher the number of expected goals, the more opportunities the team or player has to attack, the more threatening it is, and the more likely it is to score goals; The lower the number of expected goals, the less opportunities for the team or player to attack, the weaker, and the more difficult it is to score.
According to the data of European Cup group matches, we can see some interesting phenomena. For example, although the French team qualified as the first team in the group, their expected goal count was only 3.8, lower than their opponents Germany (4.2) and Portugal (6.1), indicating that their attack was not as strong as people thought, but they gained an advantage by solid defense and efficient opportunity. For another example, although the Italian team has won all three games, their expected goal count is only 5.4, lower than their group rivals Turkey (5.6) and Switzerland (6.0), indicating that their attack is not as good as their actual goal count (7), but they won by luck and opponent's mistakes. For another example, although England only scored two goals, their expected goal number was 7.1, higher than their group rivals Croatia (3.9), Czech (4.1) and Scotland (4.4). This shows that their attack was not as bad as their actual goal number (2), but suffered from luck and tenacious resistance from their opponents.
According to these data, we can see that the strength and performance of some teams are underestimated, while those of some teams are overestimated. Next, we will use a table to show the ranking of the expected goals in the European Cup group matches and the difference between the expected goals and the actual goals for your reference.
team |
Expected goals |
Actual goals |
difference |
Spain |
nine point eight |
six |
-3.8 |
Portugal |
six point one |
seven |
+0.9 |
Switzerland |
six |
four |
-2.0 |
England |
seven point one |
two |
-5.1 |
Netherlands |
six point nine |
eight |
+1.1 |
Belgium |
six point eight |
seven |
+0.2 |
turkey |
five point six |
one |
-4.6 |
Italy |
five point four |
seven |
+1.6 |
Germany |
four point two |
six |
+1.8 |
France |
three point eight |
four |
+0.2 |
Czech Republic |
four point one |
three |
-1.1 |
Scotland |
four point four |
one |
-3.4 |
Croatia |
three point nine |
four |
+0.1 |
Sweden |
three point seven |
four |
+0.3 |
Denmark |
three point six |
five |
+1.4 |
Ukraine |
three point four |
four |
+0.6 |
Austria |
three point three |
three |
-0.3 |
Welsh |
three point one |
three |
-0.1 |
Finland |
two point nine |
one |
-1.9 |
poland |
two point eight |
four |
+1.2 |
Slovakia |
two point seven |
two |
-0.7 |
Hungary |
two point six |
three |
+0.4 |
Russia |
two point five |
two |
-0.5 |