Soccer Analytics (Chapman & Hall/CRC Data Science Series)

Book info: Soccer Analytics (Chapman & Hall/CRC Data Science Series) (Paperback, 396 pages) – Chapman and Hall/CRC, 2024. Language: English.

Sports analytics is on the rise, with top soccer clubs, bookmakers, and broadcasters all employing statisticians and data scientists to gain an edge over their competitors.

Many popular books have been written exploring the mathematics of soccer. However, few supply details on how soccer data can be analysed in real-life. The book addresses this issue via a practical route one approach designed to show readers how to successfully tackle a range of soccer related problems using the easy-to-learn computer language R. Through a series of easy-to-follow examples, the book explains how R can be used to:

• Download and edit soccer data
• Produce graphics and statistics
• Predict match outcomes and final league positions
• Formulate betting strategies
• Rank teams
• Construct passing networks
• Assess match play

Soccer Analytics: An Introduction Using R is a comprehensive introduction to soccer analytics aimed at all those interested in analysing soccer data, be they fans, gamblers, coaches, sports scientists, or data scientists and statisticians wishing to pursue a career in professional soccer. It aims to equip the reader with the knowledge and skills required to confidently analyse soccer data using R, all in a few easy lessons.

Editorial Reviews Review "The book can be useful to all those interested in analyzing soccer data, including sport managers and owners, coaches and players, ... bookmakers and gamblers, sports scientists and statisticians, ... Each chapter contains explanation of methods and numerous examples, with multiple R codes and their outcomes, ... about sixty real-soccer-game examples are analyzed." Stan Lipovetsky. Technometrics 2025, 67(4), 725-726

"As someone who shares with the author a lifelong interest in sports in general and soccer in particular I fully agree with the authors' premise of writing this book. The organization of chapters around picking up specific skills is useful. The provision of R scripts and data (through a Github page associated with the book) is welcome and will encourage readers to delve into their own analytics. I believe that this book overall successfully covers its targeted niche." ~Alexander Aue, Journal of the American Statistical Association


"The book can be useful to all those interested in analyzing soccer data, including sport managers and owners, coaches and players, ... bookmakers and gamblers, sports scientists and statisticians, ... Each chapter contains explanation of methods and numerous examples, with multiple R codes and their outcomes, ... about sixty real-soccer-game examples are analyzed." ~Stan Lipovetsky. Technometrics


The class in Soccer Analytics at UC Davis is a "crash course in how the sport harnesses the power of statistics and data analytics", with course material based "on the book Soccer Analytics: An Introduction Using R, which shows how the programming language can be harnessed to predict match outcomes, rank teams, construct passing networks and assess match play, among other strategies" ~UC Davis Letters and Science, "From the Field to the Classroom: Soccer Analytics and Data Science at UC Davis" About the Author

Clive Beggs is Emeritus Professor of Applied Physiology in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University in the UK. He is both a physiologist and a bio-engineer, who has worked for many years with leading research teams around the world on a wide variety of medical and sport related projects – publishing many scientific papers in both fields. With a background in mathematical modelling of clinical and biological systems, he also has expertise in data analysis and machine learning, which he regularly uses in his sport performance work. Clive is both an amateur runner and soccer fan, and it is his life-long interest in sport and mathematics that has prompted him to write this book.