You Don't Need Goals to Change Game State

I’ve written previously about the concept of game state and how a side prioritises their attacking and defensive resources.

It is well known that trailing sides often increase their attacking output when they are behind compared to when they were either level or ahead and this in turn impacts on the amount of defending their opponents are obliged to do.

Dependent upon the relative abilities of the two competing teams, a side seeking to get back on level terms often takes more shots and also accrues more products of attacking play, such as corners than was previously the case.

However, game state, as simply defined as the current score line does seem limiting and I’ve previously quoted the example of a top side playing out a goalless draw with a lesser team.

While the level scoreline would be increasingly welcome to the lower rated team as the game progressed, the opposite would apply for the better side in the matchup.

Therefore, quantifying “game state” should perhaps be done in terms that include the changing expectations of each team due to the passage of time and scoreline, rather than simply the scoreline.

I’ve suggested using the expected points each side would get on average from a match as a suitable baseline with which to begin measuring the evolving state of the game.

Here’s an example.

Chelsea entertains Everton and based on pregame home win/draw/away win estimations, Chelsea would expect to average 2.1 points compared to around 0.71 points for the visitors from the fixture.

40 minutes into a still goalless game and these numbers have respectively fallen to 1.9 and risen to 0.81. After 67 minutes and still no goal and Chelsea are faring even less well (1.66) and Everton are up to an average expectation of 0.90 points.

There have been no goals, but the state of the game is constantly drifting away from Chelsea’s expectations and surpassing Everton’s “par for the course”.

Chelsea's game state environment is gradually becoming less palatable to them and Everton's more so, simply through the passage of time and if this feeds through into the relative approaches of the sides, it should be seen in the match data.

Here’s a memorable 0-0 from 2016/17 when Burnley took a point in a stalemate at Old Trafford.

The host’s average expected points total started at around 2.3 points at kick-off compared to 0.55 points for the visitors, but it had fallen by over 10% when half time failed to see a score. So a gradual erosion of expectations, rather than a precipitous decline.

Burnley’s modest expectation was up to over 50% of their original with 20 minutes remaining and with United’s now tumbling by nearly a quarter compared to kick-off, their shot count began increasing as Burnley’s stalled.

        How Manchester United Piled on the Attempts as Burnley Frustrated them at OT.

This switch towards a more overtly attacking stance from the side leaking initial expectation as time elapses in a level match, forces their opponent to adopt a more defensive outlook and appears to be mirrored, on average in all such matches from the 201617 Premier League season.

72% of the goal attempts taken when the scoreline was level in 201617 were taken by the side whose expected points had slipped below their pregame estimation. Perhaps an important consideration when nearly half of all goal attempts from 201617 came while the scores were level.

Across all score lines, the inferior team in a match who had managed to improve their pre-game position, either through remaining level or taking a lead, attempted 31% of shots while that position persisted, but such sides upped this to nearly 46% against superior opponents when their current points expectation fell below their initial expectation.

These figures tally with intuition about how games develop, even in the absence of goals.

Therefore, the amount of change in a team’s pregame expectation may be a viable extension to the more commonly applied mere scoreline when assessing game state, particularly when we are still awaiting an initial goal.

For example, it is commonly assumed that increased shot volume from a side that finds themselves in a disadvantageous game state is partially balanced by a more packed defence.

This may lead to the expected goals from identical pitch locations being lower when defensive pressure is greater.

To try to test this I included a variable for game state within an expected goal model.for the 201617 Premier League, based around this continuous, time elapsed and score dependent calculation, rather than merely using the current scoreline.

Overall, a team playing with a current expected points total that had dipped well below their pre-game expectations, converted chances at a lower rate than identical chances where game state was much less of a factor.

In addition, as teams played with a poorer game state, their goal attempts were also more likely to be blocked by defenders than in similar situations when their game state environment wasn't as dire.

As an example, a side who had improved their position compared to pre-game by around 40% of their initial points expectation might convert a decent shot from the heart of the penalty area around 44% of the time.

But when faced with the same chance when their points expectation had fallen by a similarly large amount, they appear to only convert the opportunity 37% of the time.

This may be due to fewer defenders being around in the first instance as their opponents perhaps chased a goal of their own compared to the second situation when defence might be a higher priority for their opponents.