A causal investigation of pace of play in soccer

Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive investigation of playing with pace in soccer. The investigation begins by introducing two quantitative definitions of pace whose calculations are facilitated through the availability of player tracking data. In the study, the primary scientific question concerns whether playing with pace is an advantageous strategy in terms of playing style. This is a question that has not been adequately resolved in either soccer or hockey. Here, we use methods of causal inference to investigate the relationship between pace in soccer and shots. It is determined that playing with more pace than the opponent throughout a match confers an advantage of approximately two additional shots per game. As a byproduct of our analysis, other soccer insights related to pace are obtained.