Success-Score in Professional Soccer – Validation of a Dynamic Key Performance Indicator Combining Space Control and Ball Control within Goalscoring Opportunities

Abstract Typical performance indicators in professional quantitative soccer analysis simplify complex matters, resulting in loss of information. Hence, a novel approach to characterize the performance of soccer teams was investigated: Success-Scores, combining space control with ball control and the correlation between the two. Success-Score Profiles were calculated for 14 games from the German Bundesliga. The dataset was split into two groups: all data points above resp. below the 80th percentile of Success-Scores. Subsequently, the relative goalscoring frequency in those two groups was compared. All data points were sorted according to their Success-Score and split into equally sized eighths. These groups were tested for a rank order correlation with the number of scored goals. Finally, the Success-Scores of two teams with different success levels as well as their opponents’ Success-Scores were compared. Results indicated significantly higher goalscoring frequencies above the 80th percentile for Success-Scores and a statistically significant rank order correlation between the Success-Scores and the number of scored goals, rs(6) = 0.73, p = .04. The more successful team showed significantly higher Success-Scores. This novel performance indicator shows significant connections to success defined as scoring goals and final ranking in elite soccer and therefore shows potential in reconizing underlying performance.