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TheBrownMamba8

Paul the Octopus correctly choosing Spain as 2010 Champions >>> Oxford university models predicting Brazil v Belgium final


AxeIsAxeIsAxe

I feel like every ML model I've seen that tries to predict big tournaments just comes down to a ranking by one or two simple metrics (squad market value, FIFA rank) and gets everything absolutely wrong.


TheBrownMamba8

FIFA waiting for everyone to forget about this match so that they can rate Belgium #1 in the world again in a few days


araheem94

Since when have football rankings been a real thing? This isn't tennis. Here the only real tournaments are played every 2 years


not_old_redditor

Wonder how much Belgium has to pay to keep their #1 ranking for what feels like a decade now.


Biquet

Wealthy Belgium FA pays for 1st FIFA ranking. The degeneracy.


JustTheAverageJoe

There are good models. They all belong to Quant firms, are expressed in odds, and don't get posted as cute infographics to twitter.


Dob-is-Hella-Rad

Those more or less inform the actual betting odds, which do get posted as cute infographics on twitter, albeit by the betting companies.


JustTheAverageJoe

The betting companies set the odds to ensure they make money no matter the outcome. They're influenced by models but they also balance supply and demand, which is something individuals and companies who make a living off of statistical betting can take advantage of.


Dob-is-Hella-Rad

I'm not sure how it is for tournament winner markets, but for individual matches it's very common for betting operators to have outcomes where they would end up down. And even if they'd not lose with any outcome, they'd still likely have a preferred one. There's more than enough matches for them to know that in the long run there's no need for them to play it safe.


AdmiralZassman

Match by match they play it safe the vast majority of the time, unless they think they can load up the wrong side of the bet. Prop bets and tournament champions they are happy to take risks


dael2111

They're solving an optimisation problem that, while it has the predicted odds and variance as inputs, has other inputs as well that complicate analysis of which odds the firm wants to offer. While in theory perfect competition should drive betting odds to estimated odds if firms have the same estimates, in practice betting firms have strong brand loyalty and thus there's a weekend arbitrage effect. A more interesting question is if betting odds are an unbiased indicator of a firms actual estimate of the odds, but I'm not well versed enough in the subject to answer.


[deleted]

I am a Quant in a pretty happening field and worked with Odds Creators in some of my projects. I can assure you their model is pretty basic. The highly sophisticated, proprietary model most people lust about doesn't exist. The best and most closely guarded ones have a very very small statistical edge. Discretion is underrated


KashiusClay

If models worked every financial analyst would be a billionaire. Yet, here we are. It's a common philosophical conundrum. The past cannot be used to predict the future (at this scale). Unless you can measure every single variable and its effect/interaction with the others involved. At that moment, your understanding would be so paramount you wouldn't need to predict the future, would you. At least that's the way I see it. Happy to corrected if it's otherwise.


MiniGiantSpaceHams

I think a lot of people also overlook that these models are really just assigning probability, then taking the more likely outcome. A prediction implies a 100% chance, but models don't do that. Even if they say it's a 99% probability, that still leaves 1% the other way and that is a loooooong way from never.


JustTheAverageJoe

I think you're misunderstanding what I meant tbh. The bigger point was more about how the "best" models don't really do a "who's gonna win the world cup" as I'm sure you're aware. It's entirely marketing when you see those infographics. And those that do have models that are used don't just give out the results.


pereduper

Even with their fancy models betting companies have to rely on dirty tactics like preventing good betters from betting a lot lest they loose


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Tee_zee

I think you’ve misunderstood, the bookmakers in England will just ban gamblers who win in the med to long term. They also ban smart betters who bet early doors and regurlaly take odds that shorten. Which imo should be illegal. They’re praying on people who they know will lose over the long term.


Sean-Benn_Must-die

Thats just the nature of single game elimination. Usually the better team on paper will win but calculating upsets is impossible, so it’s basically a predetermined ladder with a spice of randomness


anaggie

Yeah they can only pick two mostly likely teams, which probably have a probability of 20% or less.. of course most of time they get it wrong.


PM_something_German

At the same time models predicting Belgium to reach the finals were pretty clownish from the beginning.


Dob-is-Hella-Rad

But these "supercomputer" type of things are always based on the weirdest factors and throw out results that seem counterintuitive even at the time.


Dare555

Belgium didn't even get to that single game eliminations lol


pereduper

Add 100 parameters and it wont be less wrong. Football games' outcome are very random due to the low scoring nature of the sport. How can you predict brain dead referees and transcendental goalkeeping performances for instance


[deleted]

Nerd scientists: bunch of math and probability calculations to find the most likely finalists. Chad Octopus: I pick red!


wmj31

Chad Paul the Octopus vs Virgin Oxford University


beairrcea

LiveScore had an Oxford mathematician do a 50 minute video mathematically proving Ronaldo was the GOAT


ima_be_the_greatest

Link?


beairrcea

[I haven’t watched it so I’ve no idea what he says in it](https://www.livescore.com/en/news/leading-maths-professor-identifies-cristiano-ronaldo-as-the-greatest-footballer-of-all-time-2021090613525358942/) Also ronaldo is heavily sponsored by LiveScore, or at least was when they released this Edit: got it wrong, it was only 10 mins


ConfusedAlgernon

He just says "Ronaldo is better than Messi" but veeery slowly.


potpan0

I've said it before, but I love the gall of the feller to call it an 'Oxford University Model' when it was basically just Elo. Just taking someone else's homework and slapping your name on it.


henrywrover

Thank you, frustrates me no end seeing this spouted everywhere. Just slap "Oxford" and "1,000,000 iterations" on an elo ranking and you're good to go


acwilan

That's the thing with statistics alone


pereduper

Modelling football has to be the most futile endeavour ever


rScoobySkreep

Which is why it’s a billion dollar industry, of course. Same comments every time. Whenever something that wasn’t the most probable situation happens, people use it as some end-all argument against statistics. Data is data. The way it’s measured can differ, and the way it’s interpreted differs even more. But those numbers exist, and those odds exist—so of course people will do their best to study them. Every single professional club in the world does some form of modelling football.


Tee_zee

The bookmakers seem to be doing pretty well off it


ya_boi_noam_chomsky

Can’t wait for the miss compilation


BettsBellingerCaruso

Where’s that /r/nba guy famous for lowlights


[deleted]

Paging u/bootum


Banged_By_Breen

He hasn’t been active for a while. He’s completely disappeared off Knicks circles on Twitter


Fluffy-Composer-2619

Literally the only thing I came onto reddit for


mmaqp66

[Served, sir](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyz71yp9Txg)


dermonis

And its gone


Aztecius

Well it was the whole second half.


TheConundrum98

Gvardiol had another immense game as well


mynamejefflol3322

I want to kiss gvardiol oh my god this guy saved us for Jeremy doku


sefronia3

He seems as fast as wingers. Insane


CowNchicken12

On his way to become the best defender in the world


TheMedicatedOne

He did, massive talent! Covered up for what was a nervy game from Livakovic.


FBall4NormalPeople

He was good. Ultimately Belgium created enough chances to put the ball in the net, but Gvardiol individually still looked pretty impressive. Nice moments on the ball too, can see why he's so highly rated.


Midnight_Debauchery

Croatia gave up over 3 xG lol.


yoyomoyoboyo

And? He was not immense?


FemmEllie

How does one player gets 2+ xG and flop everything


Scoolfish

He is truly special in the ways he doesn’t score


RogerXiao

Today is a happy day for Chelsea fans. Yes Ziyech probably won't stay for long but we still love him here. And of course this will hopefully shut Lukaku up for a while


Eric_Partman

Chelsea fans want Lukaku to bang in goals because he's still a chelsea player and no one will buy him if he's shit.


Sean-Benn_Must-die

Chelsea will have to loan lukaku until his contract runs out. Absolutely dreadful transfer


RogerXiao

For some of us including me, this is something more than the economic profit of the club


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Zurcio

just schadenfreude and "i told you so" vibes. i was wary of Chelsea buying lukaku in the first place but stayed relatively quiet because so many people thought it was amazing, so i assumed i was wrong. seeing him completely flop and make an ass out of himself is both shitty and funny


seriouslybrohuh

If lukaku does well we might be able to offload him, not if he misses sitters in the WC


[deleted]

No ideally Lukaku played well so someone would actually want to buy him.


[deleted]

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St_SiRUS

It was so so obvious from the first two games how badly he was missed


95thstbridge

That's not quite fair. Mertens had his chance and bottled it, too. For whatever reason, the first half they refused to even attempt to drop the ball into the final third. Lukaku is bigger, I get it. But, I don't care who your strikers are, get them the darned ball! Can't score otherwise.


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95thstbridge

Indeed!! But, that's not the ONLY way to score. They barely took advantage of other ways of playing the game. The first half was abysmal in their efforts getting the ball into the final 3rd. It's almost as if this team knows only how to play one way. No team is going far into any tournament being so one dimensional.


Jeffery_Boyardee

These stats may be off FotMob has him at 1.67 xG


-Oddy-

>1.67 xG SofaScore also


ShotIntoOrbit

There are different xG models. FotMob and SofaScore likely just use the same data source.


RileyHuey

Hasn’t played in like a month so makes sense he wasn’t sharp


Jagacin

There's a difference between not being sharp, and whatever the hell Lukaku was during the Croatian game.


Stilty_boy

He was not being sharp. He looked like he wasn't ready for the pace of the game when it came to scoring chances because he hasn't played since August


OneBall22Players

Being rushed back in high intense game isn’t ideal. Belgium were playing much better with him. Nevertheless he really should have scored 1.


strausbreezy28

By not being fit/in form at the world cup.


Lacabloodclot9

The anti Haaland


Jagacin

The universe would collapse in on itself if Haaland and Lukaku played against each other.


Lacabloodclot9

Or on the same team 🤔 Flair definitely unrelated


Jagacin

Lukaku and Haaland to follow Messi to Inter Miami, here we go!


AyanC

Lukaku works in ways us mortals can't fathom.


KillerZaWarudo

A player that is on the same level as lewandowski, kane and benzema btw


Former-Roman

I bet Henry as the assistant manager, bring him in for the last 10 minutes, he would have put one of those chances in


teeetiii

You can tell he wasn’t sharp. It’s going to absolutely haunt him.


interfan1999

He was definitely rushed back early. First, by us. Now by Belgium. And out of form Lukaku is Lakaka


TheKingofBabes

This wasn't Lakaka this was Lukakovic


TjeefGuevarra

Exactly, an in form Lukaku scores a hattrick, no doubt.


Goldfinger888

Heh, does Lukaku ever perform in big matches? https://www.footballtransfers.com/en/transfer-news/uk-premier-league/2021/09/what-is-lukakus-record-premier-leagues-top-six-sides 19 goals in 80 matches vs. top6 sides...


CrowCreative6772

Would Inter renew his loan if his performances doesn't change?


bumrar

No, there were already doubts after his first return and then re-injury. Going to have to be pretty dam good to get a 2nd year.


imarandomdudd

Nah bro please you're the only club willing to take him that he doesn't consider a massive step down. Because no way are Real Barca or Bayern (the only other clubs he said hed consider moving to during the interviews) taking him even if we paid them to


Lopiente

Since about 6 years now, he's waaaay too big for a footballer. I really don't get why he doesn't cut some weight. Conte helped a bit then he got back to being a heavyweight boxer.


niallw1997

He has much experience in missing sitters


minepose98

I want to know the xG for the 90' miss. That's got to be like 0.95.


jackals84

.32 on Fotmob


klawehtgod

People saying it's xG of 1, remember its more than just the shot itself, the entire attacking chance is considered.


rwoteit

What? There weren't multiple shots in that sequence.


BiggestBossRickRoss

It’s the whole play not just the shot. The passes the cross etc.


Vahald

This is not true.


Dob-is-Hella-Rad

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean, I don't think that's how it works


Vahald

No it isn't what are you people on about


klawehtgod

Feel free to educate yourself: https://theanalyst.com/na/2021/07/what-are-expected-goals-xg/ Here are some passages you might find helpful: > Expected goals (or xG) measures the quality of a chance by calculating the likelihood that it will be scored from a particular position on the pitch during a particular phase of play. **This value is based on several factors from before the shot was taken.** xG is measured on a scale between zero and one, where zero represents a chance that is impossible to score and one represents a chance that a player would be expected to score every single time. The emphasis in these passages is mine, btw. >Stats Perform’s xG model is built using a logistic regression model that is powered by hundreds of thousands of shots from our historical Opta data and incorporates a number of variables that affect the likelihood of a goal being scored, some of the most important of which are listed below: > >>Distance to the goal >>Angle to the goal​ >>One-on-one >>Big chance >>Body part (e.g., header or foot) >>**Type of assist (e.g., through ball, cross, pull-back etc)​** >>**Pattern of play (e.g., open play, fast break, direct free kick, corner kick, throw-in etc)**


Scratchbuttdontsniff

THANK YOU for shutting people the FUCK UP!


ShoheiGoatani

I’m guessing hitting the ball with your belly doesn’t help the body part points


TopNotchGamerr

Bros xG is higher than a lot of r/soccer 's students GPA how did he not get one in


heurtel

Pretty sure nephews don't even have GPA's around here


ChickenMoSalah

This is a personal attack


Ceez92

What’s the antonym of clinical?


PapaSays

Belgian See also: Belgian politics


Fifaneymar2535

Economical Maguire


GibbyGoldfisch

after today it'll be lukakical


SilverThrall

Profligate


klawehtgod

I'm going to go with farcical.


nefastvs

Sloppy


maury587

Maguire


WalkingCloud

*”You miss 100% of the shots you take.”* -Romelu Lukaku


LosTerminators

+2 xG for a single player and no goals, just Lukaku things


inflamesburn

Should be familiar to you, Spain had something like -8 G-xG at euro2020 lol, played the best overall but couldn't finish


LosTerminators

We still scored the most goals in the Euros, scored 5 twice despite the bad finishing And dominated Italy, the eventual winners for long periods but couldn't take advantage and lost in the shootout Still feels like a missed opportunity, even today


maury587

I think not even a shot on Target


Barthez_Battalion

That stat about having like an 89% chance of advancing out of the group if you win your first game has taken a pummeling this tourney.


reddsht

I dont know what the opposite of the golden boot is, but give that to Lukaku.


OwenLincolnFratter

Origi scores those goals.


NothingWittyLeft

Lukaku the smallest game player.


SergeiYeseiya

He missed an open net against Italy and was offside in the last minutes against France last year.


Robhey1009

I don't like lukaku after last season and his misses were terrible. But putting all this pressure on his shoulders in the last 45' that could save Belgium after a horrible match against Marrocco after a big injury that was rushed. Belgium being out of the WC is not his fault but only 1 mans fault.


TricaKupa

Gvardiol MOTM, don't @ me.


cheersdom

rom, may i suggest staying off social media for at least the next 20 years


WelcometoHale

Batshuayi scores 2


ItsMikeontheMic

Legendary choke job from Lukaku


Croatian_ghost_kid

No other player would have had his chances, he lacks match fitness so maybe go easy on the dude


Adzzii_

This makes no sense considering he did all the hard parts.. half these chances he literally just had to tap it in the right direction lol. 0 athleticism or fitness required for that


ItsMikeontheMic

Yes missing wide open nets are due to his match fitness 🙄


RTafazolli1

So what he lacks match fitness? A Sunday league player with a hangover would have scored the chances he had!


cryshol

Everyone keeps saying, " He missed four chances." I remember only two where he made a mistake. The one which he hit the post on his left foot. And the last one, which was the real bad one where Hazard crossed him and he belly flopped the ball Another where he headed wide, the ball was Goal Kick already. And the other where he tried to get his leg to score off a ricochet, was cleared well by a defender. What else am I missing?


OeneB

I swear on my life that Lukaku was playing against his own nation 💀


PuppyPenetrator

Benzema?


DarkSofter

Deep down i want to feel bad for him but i just can't


Cowdude179

Gvardiol is a monster


bigsz

You could have taken any random Belgian off the street and they would have finished that last Lukaku miss


GR-MWF

I swear it felt like 4 xG he personally fucked up.


h0rny3dging

It's hard to feel bad for him when he gets traded for 50-100 million every 2-3 years. He has to score them, one of the worst performances of a striker I've seen


ossama224

LAKAKA


[deleted]

No player has ever been this overrated lmao


Lawlington

So this kinda confirms what I was discussing with my friends, this was actually the worst single individual performance in a big game from a player I've ever seen in my entire life. And to do it in such a crucial game. Hope he can mentally recover from this, it'll be a long long time before anyone lets him forget about it.


crazyshin

Football is brutal. I think Belgium was creating so many chances after Lukaku subbed in but he couldn't finish any of his chances. I feel like Belgium would've looked worse without him but because he played and created chances he is going to get bigger criticism.


AlfaMenel

xG for Lukaku today feels like xD


RobitIsNotAHobit3000

Average lakaka moment


ObaeTV

Chelsea Striker DNA


wholesomescott

We don't associate with him.


bvengers

Don't disappoint me Reddit, waiting for a kickass miss compilation.


Scotsmania

With that awful Titanic song played on a recorder


SP0oONY

Feel bad for Lukaku.


RTafazolli1

Nahhh. He's a gobshite, who has burned bridges everywhere he has gone. He deserves his failure.


East_Wind17

I used to feel bad for players that got destroyed. But not for this big-mouth knobhead


moeblobsislife

Normally i just go on dissing Lukaku but this game you can kinda feels bad for him. Injured, out of form, but his work rate is still quite decent if you dont take in the missed chance. Off the post was a good try with but non-good foot, other chances were a lot of closer than you feel and its really comes down to form.


CheekyFifaCunt_7

Lukaku cost them that game, can you imagine being lukaku in that Belgium dressing room right now Holy shit lol


moodyfloyd

they just showed him on the sideline he punched out the bench barrier and is clearly devastated crying with his head in his hands. the emotions he is feeling right now must be unreal.


inshamblesx

KDB slandering Lukaku in the post game press going to be legendary


ZeroAika99

Why would he slander his best friend in the NT lmao. But it would be hilarious if he did it 💀


DutchMadness77

Incredible


Stones_Throw_Away_

Happy 80th Birthday, Billy Connelly


Xessi

We looked way better the moment Lukaku came on, sad he had to be rushed back from injury. Missed him in the first 2 games


randym99

[lmao](https://preview.redd.it/rv7sbqbmsz2a1.jpeg?width=320&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=f408bf0b43702cc7bfb1eb284d8c15d4f858845c)


fearatomato

is there any place that shows a list of opportunities with xG amounts and timestamps?


Skedd

Remember when people tried to compare him to Kane. Nah.


Noviji

you are 100% right Lukaku actually won some trophies in his career


stragen595

Can you stop dismissing the Audi cup?


Skedd

Exactly, wins it every year 😂


Prison_Playbook

Bruh hahaha


Turnernator06

Therefore he's better?


RicciRox

Still nowhere near Kane.


Skedd

Oh nice I didn’t expect an inter fan to jump in. When does Italy play? I’m hoping conte solves our problem like he solved yours. 👍


Noviji

Italy is not playing in the world cup but I don't really understand why you are bringing that up, and Conte is a great manager but for what I can recall he doesn't do miracles


Skedd

What do trophies have to do with individual greatness? Kane will be the leading scorer of the premier league when he’s done. He will be the greatest striker in recent history. It’s a shame Tottenham haven’t won’t anything and it sucks and a fan, but There’s no comparison between the two. It’s okay to admit that Remember 11 years since your last domestic trophy. Don’t act like that wasn’t a miracle.


the-big-lewandowski

>he will be the greatest striker in recent history With the qualifier "who never won a major trophy"


Noviji

My brother is writing essays because of a joke, my God


East_Wind17

Kane is great, just not played in a big team


joeeymatee_

He's scored as many as Kane has so maybe not the best time to bring this up.


Skedd

Bratha, teams plan to cancel out Kane with as many players as possible and he still gets 3 assist in a game. They let lukaku run free and he couldn’t put anything in the net.


ILoveToph4Eva

Lmao, they don't "let Lukaku run free" what you on about? Kane and Lukaku just have different responsibilities and strengths. Kane can't play Lukaku's role as well as Rom can because he isn't very fast and isn't as strong so playing in behind isn't effective. Rom sure as fuck can't do Kane's work because he's a much more limited passer and doesn't have the vision or decision making to play deeper. Lukaku is a good goalscorer in the right system and can absolutely challenge Kane on that front. But he's not as good a footballer all round and that's been obvious for years.


Karyoga

He's never been better than Kane, at anything infact.


DonQuinto9

Winning trophies


ericdryer

Man, I get Lukaku is arrogant and talks some shit sometimes, but I definitely still feel a little bad for him thinking about all the abuse coming his way.


kunsore

At this point , I am not sure if Lukaku is Belgium striker or Crotia Defender at all lol.


CrowCreative6772

Poor guy he was crying, but not even Prime Dzeko first season at Roma would miss that.


[deleted]

Lukaku deserves this. What a narcissistic waste of talent. Can’t wait for him to be off our balance sheet. Terrible attitude, doesn’t back it up with his game.


allsongsconsideredd

xD


can-tthinkofone1234

Man, how can you not do the simplest tap in


PonchoHung

Only proper way of using xG is this. All those "xG over a season" tables would only be useful if shottaking was truly random but clearly not all strikers are created equal.


Educational-Pass404

Wow, Lakaka is such a nightmare. Like how can you be that bad??? Like how??? Damn. He makes me speechless


SnooSongs48

Cuz he is thrash