Okay so today I wanted to share how I finally stopped feeling totally lost looking at football stats, specifically for a match like Leeds United vs Bristol City. Seriously, those tables full of numbers used to just make my eyes glaze over. Let me walk you through my messing around with it.
Right, this all started because my buddy Mark, who’s a big Leeds fan, kept going on and on about “expected goals” and “shot accuracy” after their last game against Bristol City. I mean, what does this tell me? Nothing! I wanted to actually understand why Leeds won (or lost), not just see random percentages.
I figured out how it works. First thing I did? I opened up the match stats page – you know the one, usually has like 10 or 15 different categories. Immediately felt overwhelmed. Possession %, total shots, shots on target, corners, fouls… just a big jumble. I decided my old way of trying to look at everything wasn’t cutting it.
My experiment: I forced myself to focus on just THREE things from the get-go:
- Shots on Target: This one seemed obvious. Did Leeds actually make the Bristol City keeper work? Or were all their shots flying wildly over the bar?
- Possession: Did Leeds have the ball most of the time? Or were they just sitting back and countering?
- Passing Accuracy: Were they able to actually string passes together, or was it a scrappy, messy game?
So, for this Leeds vs Bristol City example (I used a real game, just imagine it!), I looked just at those. Saw something like:
- Leeds: Shots on Target = 6
- Bristol City: Shots on Target = 3
- Leeds Possession: 58%
- Leeds Pass Accuracy: 79%
Suddenly it started making sense! This told me:
- Leeds were controlling the ball more (58% possession).
- They were doing okay keeping it (79% pass accuracy).
- Most importantly, they were getting twice as many shots actually on target (6 vs 3). That usually means they were creating better chances or just shooting more accurately.
THAT’S when it clicked for me. Instead of getting swamped by twenty numbers, comparing just these three key ones side-by-side gave me a super quick snapshot of how the game actually flowed. It wasn’t the whole story, obviously, like who scored or when, or any amazing saves. But it showed me the pattern of play. If Leeds had those stats and won 2-0, it kinda lines up, right?
Turns Out Stats Work Better When You Compare
The biggest mistake I used to make? Just looking at Leeds’ stats alone. “Oh, 6 shots on target”. Okay… is that good? Bad? No idea. Seeing it next to Bristol City’s 3 immediately gave it meaning. Leeds were doing better in this specific area during that game.
And honestly, that’s enough for me most days. It gives me a quick way to see which team was pushing harder, which team was maybe relying on defense or counter-attacks (low possession, low shots, but maybe high pass accuracy in their own half – not covered by my three!), or which team was dominant but wasteful (high possession/shots, low shots on target!).
It’s not rocket science, and it doesn’t replace watching the actual goals. But next time I see “Leeds United vs Bristol City Stats,” this little comparison trick lets me grab the main idea in like 10 seconds without needing a degree in football analytics.