DFL and AWS add “Set Piece Threat” and “Skill” Bundesliga Match Facts to increase range of real-time advanced analytics
2 March 2022 – Two new Bundesliga Match Facts powered by AWS are about to give fans deeper insights into the action on the pitch. “Set Piece Threat” and “Skill” will debut on Bundesliga Matchday 25, which features the Top Match between FC Bayern München and Bayer 04 Leverkusen. “Set Piece Threat” delivers a new perspective on a team’s scoring ability from free kicks and corner kicks, while “Skill” ranks Bundesliga players in four different categories to highlight the skills they bring to their teams and positions.
Set Piece Threat: In modern football, teams score more than a quarter of all goals from set pieces. “Set Piece Threat” quantifies a team’s threat posed by a free kick or corner by comparing the team to the league average. This BMF goes beyond distinguishing between goal or no goal but also evaluates the quality of the chance and the shot itself. The new stat can be used during live broadcast games; for example, ahead of free kicks and corners to show how much danger exists in the current matchup compared to the league average, or whenever set pieces and the related strength of a team are being analysed.
Skill: Every player in the Bundesliga brings their own specialised skills to the game that complements the players around them and makes their team stronger. The new “Skill” Match Fact combines and compares the cumulative stats of every Bundesliga player to assess their skills across different categories. The stat features four player profiles:
- a “Finisher” who excels at scoring goals in terms of number scored and efficiency in front of goal
- a “Sprinter” who generates maximum speed on the pitch and does that more often than other players
- an “Initiator” who accumulates assists, and second assists, consisting of a high number of difficult passes
- and a “Ball Winner” who is able to create a lot of turnovers from the opposing team by winning the ball in an aerial or ground duel, or intercepting an opponent’s pass.
If a player ranks in the top-10 league-wide for a given skill, the player will be highlighted in the live broadcast and in the Bundesliga app.
Bundesliga Match Facts enhance fan engagement by helping audiences better understand the probability of a goal and the strategy involved in decision-making on the pitch. They are generated by gathering live match data and analysing them in real-time. The DFL uses AWS capabilities to train, deploy, and scale the machine learning models used to generate and deliver them as on-screen graphics during broadcasts and in the official Bundesliga app. Fans, coaches, players, and commentators can use the Match Facts as visual support for analysing a team’s decision making.
These two new Match Facts join Shot Efficiency, Passing Profile, Speed Alert, Average Positions, xGoals, Most Pressed Player, Attacking Zones, and Average Positions – Trends to bring the total number of insights available for Bundesliga fans to ten. The whole range of Bundesliga Match Facts and how they help to analyse football matches can be seen in the BMF Zone on bundesliga.com.
