'What we do isn't rocket science': how FC Midtjylland started football's data revolution

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Since 2014, the Danish champions have been the poster child for using metrics to gain an advantage on the competition

Think of it as the Moneyball derby. Not so long ago, the idea a club could gain a vital edge using mathematical models – let alone employ a theoretical physicist or track key performance indicators (KPI) – would have left real football men choking on their meat pies and Bovril. But when Liverpool host Midtjylland in the Champions League on Tuesday, it will not only be a meeting between the champions of England and Denmark, but one between the twin vanguards of the sport’s analytics revolution.

Midtjylland became the movement’s poster child in 2014 when they started using deeper metrics – such as expected goals and pre-assists to an assist – to better evaluate player performances, find undervalued bargains and to shatter myths and easy narratives.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/oct/25/what-we-do-isnt-rocket-science-how-fc-midtjylland-started-footballs-data-revolution

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