# Machine Learning in Football Betting: Prediction of Match Results Based on Player Characteristics
## 3 Simulation Study
### Data Sources
#### 3.1.1 Player Characteristics and Skills  
Baseline for our simulation study are several characteristics and skills on player level, reported and collected prior of each season (We are grateful to [[https://www.fifaindex.com](https://www.fifaindex.com)]([https://www.fifaindex.com](https://www.fifaindex.com)) for supplying the information.). Figure 1 gives an overview on the size of data that has been available for each season. Overall, we used statistics of 19,998 different players, with a total of 204 teams across the 10 leagues for each season. In total, we have 68,323 observations, as many players are reported across several seasons. Interestingly, there is a sharp increase in players information available each season from 2006/2007 to 2008/2009--after that season, the number of players remains on the same level (around 6000 players per season).  
Table 1 shows descriptive statistics of individual features and skills of all football players used for our machine learning approach. To be more specific, we consider the body measures, pass accuracies, agility, reaction, and aggression for every player that has been part of a the five European major leagues  
Figure 1: Amount of players characteristics in total and on average per team, reported per season.  
(first and second league each). Most of those variables are within a range from 1 to 100--however, the maximum value of 100 has never been associated with any player so far.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Min.** & **Quart. 1** & **Median** & **Quart. 3** & **Max.** & **Mean** \\ \hline
**1. General** & & & & & & \\ Age & 15 & 21 & 25 & 28 & 46 & 25.20 \\ Height & 150 & 178 & 182 & 186 & 204 & 181.68 \\ Weight & 50 & 71 & 75 & 80 & 110 & 75.74 \\ \hline
**2. Ball Skills** & & & & & & \\ Ball Control & 5 & 54 & 64 & 72 & 97 & 60.18 \\ Dribbling & 1 & 44 & 60 & 69 & 97 & 55.16 \\ \hline
**3. Passing** & & & & & & \\ Crossing & 1 & 40 & 56 & 66 & 95 & 52.18 \\ Short Pass & 1 & 53 & 63 & 71 & 97 & 59.63 \\ Long Pass & 3 & 45 & 57 & 66 & 97 & 54.66 \\ \hline
**4. Shooting** & & & & & & \\ Heading & 1 & 47 & 58 & 68 & 95 & 55.31 \\ Shot Power & 2 & 48 & 61 & 71 & 97 & 57.95 \\ Finishing & 1 & 30 & 48 & 63 & 97 & 46.89 \\ Long Shots & 1 & 35 & 53 & 64 & 96 & 49.55 \\ Curve & 1 & 36 & 52 & 64 & 93 & 49.67 \\ Free Kick Accuracy & 1 & 34 & 48 & 61 & 97 & 47.04 \\ Penalties & 3 & 41 & 52 & 63 & 96 & 51.00 \\ Volleys & 1 & 31 & 47 & 60 & 93 & 45.51 \\ \hline
**5. Defence** & & & & & & \\ Marking & 1 & 25 & 49 & 65 & 96 & 45.95 \\ Slide Tackle & 2 & 25 & 52 & 66 & 95 & 46.83 \\ Stand Tackle & 1 & 26 & 55 & 69 & 94 & 49.08 \\ Tackling & 1 & 28 & 53 & 68 & 95 & 49.77 \\ \hline
**6. Physical** & & & & & & \\ Acceleration & 13 & 59 & 68 & 75 & 97 & 66.08 \\ Stamina & 9 & 58 & 68 & 75 & 96 & 65.22 \\ Strength & 3 & 59 & 67 & 75 & 96 & 65.88 \\ Balance & 15 & 56 & 65 & 73 & 96 & 63.96 \\ Sprint Speed & 14 & 60 & 68 & 75 & 97 & 66.52 \\ Agility & 15 & 56 & 65 & 74 & 96 & 63.99 \\ Jumping & 14 & 59 & 67 & 73 & 96 & 65.85 \\ \hline
**7. Mental** & & & & & & \\ Aggression & 2 & 49 & 62 & 72 & 97 & 59.21 \\ Reactions & 11 & 58 & 65 & 71 & 96 & 64.20 \\ Att. Position & 2 & 37 & 55 & 66 & 96 & 50.98 \\ Interceptions & 4 & 28 & 52 & 66 & 94 & 48.64 \\ Vision & 1 & 44 & 56 & 66 & 97 & 54.27 \\ Composure & 3 & 51 & 61 & 69 & 96 & 59.37 \\ \hline
**8. Goalkeeper** & & & & & & \\ GK Positioning & 1 & 9 & 13 & 21 & 96 & 18.58 \\ GK Diving & 1 & 7 & 10 & 13 & 93 & 15.23 \\ GK Handling & 1 & 8 & 11 & 14 & 91 & 16.18 \\ GK Kicking & 1 & 8 & 11 & 14 & 95 & 15.92 \\ GK Reflexes & 1 & 7 & 10 & 13 & 94 & 13.36 \\ Reflexes & 1 & 20 & 21 & 23 & 96 & 24.31 \\ Handling & 1 & 20 & 21 & 23 & 93 & 23.93 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: Descriptive statistics of player features from season 2006/2007 to 2017/2018.