Can You Use Machine Learning Techniques For Predicting Football Results?

Source: towardsdatascience.com

Sports betting represents the most popular form of gambling. The main advantage is that we can use the analyses and statistics to improve the chances for a win. Another benefit is that we can choose different sports and combine them for higher odds. Also, there are hundreds of leagues available on betting sites. On the other hand, choosing a reliable bookmaker is important as well. You can check bookmakeradvisor to read more about the best online betting sites available today.

Furthermore, you have to know about various factors that can affect the result of any game. Also, it is crucial to understand how bookies are making odds. If you notice that certain odd got higher before the match started, that means the chances became lower for that wager to pass. Always compare teams and look for different things that could help you to determine the potential outcome of the game.

With the development of computer sciences and AI in recent years, we can read about different researches related to this topic. For example, there is special software that can predict results with high accuracy. However, sport is always full of surprises and it is tough to predict results in the long-term, even with a supercomputer. We can use machine learning to collect data and analyze them with improved precision, but the question is whether we can rely on those predictions so much.

How It Works?

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The advanced software used for predicting results of matches is using a large number of information, such as current form, quality of players, average years of the team, young talents, previous results, head-head-head scores, transfers made, and much more. With combinations of all those metrics, the software can provide us with detailed analyses and predict the potential winner of the league and following teams, along with the teams that will most likely be relegated.

The special software that gamblers are using to predict the result of every match is even more complex. It using more metrics and data about the teams, and includes potential injuries, weather conditions, judges, the importance of the game, and more. Also, it is combining previous outcomes as well, and collect data over time to be more precise.

Still, some factors cannot be predicted by any software. This is what makes any sport so attractive. For example, motivation and determination cannot be measured by any metrics and added to the program. Therefore, you should never rely only on these predictions and invest a lot of money.

The Accuracy

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As we already mentioned, there are some aspects where you can’t rely on any machine. Maybe players are having a bad day or they are simply not motivated enough to give their best to win. On the other side, numerous tactics and strategies can help teams to play much better. For instance, maybe the coach manages to find the best line-up and tactics to beat or at least draw with a much better team. Besides that, some players simply won’t have enough luck during the game, which can result in missing big chances, hitting the post, and more.

When we look at some of the predictions related to the Premier League before the season started, everyone was thinking that Liverpool will fight for the title again, and many experts thought that this club will eventually manage to win it again. Also, both experts and supercomputers were not able to predict such good performances of Leeds United, Aston Villa, or West Ham, while most of them were placing Wolverhampton in positions higher than 10.

The main reason for that is that machine learning will use the data from previous results and compare the quality of players of each club. However, it is not able to predict bad relations or lack of form, which is the case with Liverpool. This club managed to lose against weaker clubs during this season, and that happened too many times. The biggest surprise is the game lost against Fulham, who is struggling to stay in the league by the end of the season.

The injuries of some key players, especially in defense, represent an important factor for these results.  However, a lot of people think that there are some bad relations between stars in this club, Mane and Salah, and lack of a proper strategy by their coach.

Therefore, the supercomputer is not able to use this data since there is no metric available to measure them. In that matter, you should never take these predictions for granted since surprises are always possible. We can notice similar cases in other leagues, like a bad form of Barcelona and Real Madrid in the first half of the season, or series of losses of Dortmund in Bundesliga. We are sure that no one could predict that Barcelona would lose against Cadiz, not even the best supercomputer.

Conclusion

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Still, the technology is rapidly improving, and machine learning is using data collected from previous games to provide people with more detailed analyses and chances for various possible outcomes. In that matter, you can use this option to check the probability of some odds, and in most cases that can be accurate. However, there are some factors that cannot be measured, which leaves room for surprises.

With the development of this technology, AI is getting more capable of making more accurate predictions over time since it can collect more data from previous years and use more advanced metrics as well. With all of those features, it can be an excellent solution to use this technology as an assistance in the selection of odds for sports getting.

On the other side, you should never rely only on these forecasts. It is very important to analyze more about the teams and check whether there are some chances for surprising performances, bad relations between players and coach, and many other things. There is always a chance for the outsider to win against much better opponent, and it requires proper tactics, motivation, and luck, which cannot be used in machine learning.