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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Scholtes, Alexander, Karakuş, Oktay
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.13707
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author Scholtes, Alexander
Karakuş, Oktay
author_facet Scholtes, Alexander
Karakuş, Oktay
contents This study employs Bayesian methodologies to explore the influence of player or positional factors in predicting the probability of a shot resulting in a goal, measured by the expected goals (xG) metric. Utilising publicly available data from StatsBomb, Bayesian hierarchical logistic regressions are constructed, analysing approximately 10,000 shots from the English Premier League to ascertain whether positional or player-level effects impact xG. The findings reveal positional effects in a basic model that includes only distance to goal and shot angle as predictors, highlighting that strikers and attacking midfielders exhibit a higher likelihood of scoring. However, these effects diminish when more informative predictors are introduced. Nevertheless, even with additional predictors, player-level effects persist, indicating that certain players possess notable positive or negative xG adjustments, influencing their likelihood of scoring a given chance. The study extends its analysis to data from Spain's La Liga and Germany's Bundesliga, yielding comparable results. Additionally, the paper assesses the impact of prior distribution choices on outcomes, concluding that the priors employed in the models provide sound results but could be refined to enhance sampling efficiency for constructing more complex and extensive models feasibly.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2311_13707
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Bayes-xG: Player and Position Correction on Expected Goals (xG) using Bayesian Hierarchical Approach
Scholtes, Alexander
Karakuş, Oktay
Applications
Machine Learning
This study employs Bayesian methodologies to explore the influence of player or positional factors in predicting the probability of a shot resulting in a goal, measured by the expected goals (xG) metric. Utilising publicly available data from StatsBomb, Bayesian hierarchical logistic regressions are constructed, analysing approximately 10,000 shots from the English Premier League to ascertain whether positional or player-level effects impact xG. The findings reveal positional effects in a basic model that includes only distance to goal and shot angle as predictors, highlighting that strikers and attacking midfielders exhibit a higher likelihood of scoring. However, these effects diminish when more informative predictors are introduced. Nevertheless, even with additional predictors, player-level effects persist, indicating that certain players possess notable positive or negative xG adjustments, influencing their likelihood of scoring a given chance. The study extends its analysis to data from Spain's La Liga and Germany's Bundesliga, yielding comparable results. Additionally, the paper assesses the impact of prior distribution choices on outcomes, concluding that the priors employed in the models provide sound results but could be refined to enhance sampling efficiency for constructing more complex and extensive models feasibly.
title Bayes-xG: Player and Position Correction on Expected Goals (xG) using Bayesian Hierarchical Approach
topic Applications
Machine Learning
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.13707