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Sensible Stats / Research blog

Football research.
Tactics under scrutiny.

Research reviews, tactical deep dives and statistics that have been asked some awkward questions. Sources, caveats and a reasonably restrained sense of humour.

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Established studies meet recent research, opening up questions about penalties, corners, emerging managers and tactical ideas returning in new boots.

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Latest edition ·

Corners, computers and the inconvenience of evidence

Established research ·

TacticAI: Can AI improve football corner kicks?

The corner committee has acquired a computer

Liverpool’s TacticAI collaboration offers coaches new ways to arrange a corner. What would turn an appealing suggestion into evidence of better football?

Source: Nature Communications · Peer reviewed

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Recent research ·

SoccerNet 2026: Can AI reliably analyse football?

First establish that the tackle actually happened

AI can help turn football video into event data. A 2026 SoccerNet report shows why the gap between counting actions and understanding a player still matters.

Source: arXiv · SoccerNet challenge report · Preprint

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How we review research

Each article links to its original sources and labels preprints. We separate reported findings from interpretation and explain what the evidence does not establish. Paper dates and our review dates are shown separately.

Research is editorial analysis. Forecasting changes still need suitable data and independent evaluation: see our accuracy and methodology.

Have a paper or correction to suggest? Get in touch.