In Matchday 13 of the 2019/20 Serie A, Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio defeated Roberto De Zerbi’s Sassuolo 2-1 at the Mapei Stadium. Below, a statistical analysis of the game between the Biancocelesti and the Neroverdi.
Sassuolo vs Lazio: Expected Goals (xG) Step Plot
The diagram above summarizes every shot taken by Lazio (16 in total, 6 on target) and Sassuolo (12 in total, 1 on target) in the match. Each shot is represented by a step and the height of the step measures the xG outcome of that shot; the higher the step, the more likely that the shot taken should have been converted. A dot with a player’s name represents when a goal was scored; as pictured above, the goalscorers were Ciro Immobile (34′), Francesco Caputo (45′), and Felipe Caicedo (90+1′).
In addition, the coloured bar in the top left of the diagram shows the probability of the Lazio winning the match (34%), Sassuolo winning the match (37%), or a draw occurring (29%).
Better known as a summary of all simulations, the y-axis represents the cumulative xG – how many goals should be scored – and the x-axis represents time. The Biancocelesti had a cumulative xG of 1.12 and the Neroverdi had a cumulative xG of 1.16.
Sassuolo vs Lazio: Outcome Probability Bar Chart
Each chart in the diagram above is a summary of a 10,000-time simulation of the probability of how many goals Lazio (most likely 1) and Sassuolo (most likely 1) should have scored; the colored bar is the actual number of goals the Biancocelesti (2) and the Neroverdi (1) scored.
Sassuolo vs Lazio: Pass Network Plot & Shot Location Plot
The diagram above shows the pass connection between players, represented by nodes. The size of each node denotes the number of touches each player has while the size and shade of the line between players indicates the frequency of the pass connection. The direction of the connection is not shown. As seen, Lazio’s most active players on the ball were Francesco Acerbi, Patric, and Luis Alberto; Sassuolo’s most active players on the ball were Marlon Santos, Federico Peluso, Francesco Magnanelli, and Alfred Duncan. In addition, the five main connections for Inzaghi’s men were between Strakosha-Acerbi, Lulic-Acerbi, Luis Alberto-Immobile, Correa-Immobile, and Milinkovic-Immobile; the five main connections for De Zerbi’s men were between Santos-Peluso, Magnanelli-Peluso, Santos-Magnanelli, Duncan-Magnanelli, and Romagna-Toljan. These aforementioned connections are outlined in light blue (Lazio) and green (Sassuolo).
In addition, this diagram shows the coordinate of where each shot was taken, plotted as dots. The size of the dot shows the xG; the bigger the dot, the higher the chance that the ball should be finding the back of the net. Colored dots represent goals. Overall, Lazio had 498 passes with an 81.1% accuracy rate while Sassuolo had 594 passes with an 85.9% accuracy rate.
This content is part of the collaboration between The Laziali and Cheuk Hei Ho.
