The influence of crosses, shots, corner kicks and defensive movements in the results of Premier League matches

Abstract

The technology growth allowing analysis acts to gain more efficiency in football has increased, with performance analysis researches being conducted, since the knowledge of performance indicators that can determine success in football and the need for more predictive analysis to better comprehend them are essential. So, in account of these aspects this research aimed to investigate the influence of crosses, shots, corner kicks and defensive movements in winning Premier League (PL) football matches. The methodology adopted consists of a quantitative, descriptive and documentary research, which the sample is represented by all PL 2015/2016 matches. The analysis acts were made by the utilization of the association technique, present at data mining process, with the support of the software Weka. Results demonstrated the influence of variables in PL victories, suggesting that making a higher number of crosses than opponents was not effective to win PL matches, but that making more shots on goal than opponents was a positive indicative to predict victories, as having more defensive movements and less crosses than opponents as well. About corner kicks, results demonstrated that there is no influence of this component at match results.