The Top 10 Football data websites that will give you the edge over the bookies

Which websites are good for the data which can help you win bets? Andy Schooler takes a look…

Soccer Stats

Like many of the sites I’m about to mention, SoccerStats offers a huge amount of data. However, I find it particularly effective on the data-viz front. I often use this site to look at how a particular team has performed against a group of opponents (i.e. the top-half sides or those above/below). SoccerStats provides coloured grids which show those results – green for a win, red for a loss – and makes the whole process easy. Another example of good data viz would be goal times – the site sets out in which period of the game goals have been scored (and conceded) by a certain team and shows that via a block graph.

Transfermarkt

Another great resource but one I feel comes into its own for card punters. It has fair-play tables for virtually every competition you can imagine, making it easy to find which teams are the bad boys and which are the referee’s pet. There’s loads of player data too with card records available for a certain competition or against a particular team. Goals and assists punters will also find the player database of great use although watch out for the odd piece of erroneous data – the site is a bit like Wikipedia in that its data is provided by users – while I’ve noticed assists figures can include penalties won which isn’t the case with the bookies.

WhoScored

Arguably the king when it comes to player stats. Passes, shots, fouls, tackles; you name it, they’ve got it. It’s updated live too so is a great tool for tracking your props bets. Again, I could go on and on but I’ll focus on the things I particularly like about the site which you’ll struggle to find elsewhere. First, heat maps. These are available for big competitions like the Premier League and show exactly the areas of the field a player has populated. I also like the feature which shows the areas in which a team likes to attack (left/centre/right), plus the breakdowns of the types of goal teams score (e.g. set plays).

StatBunker

Another site packed with stats but I like it for two main reasons. First, it has well laid out penalty data. How many have teams conceded/been awarded/scored? How does the home and away data compare? There’s also player data showing penalties taken/scored/missed/saved. Second, goal method is available so it’s easy to find the best players for headed goals and/or how many they have scored with each foot. As props markets continue to expand, this level of detail can be great for punters.

Soccerbase

One of the original football data websites. Its appearance has barely changed over the years, although its ownership has – it’s now run by Spotlight Sports Group which also owns the Racing Post. It’s a quick and easy way of looking at a team’s results for the season or a player’s goal record. The layout makes it simple to spot winning sequences or goal streaks. Team line-ups, goalscorer and carded players info, plus some stats, can be found by clicking into individual matches.

WinDrawWin

This site’s ‘statistics’ section offers much for a punter with tables showing the best and worst teams for metrics like over 2.5 goals and both teams to score available for leagues all over the world. I’m not a big corners punter but the data here will be of plenty of use for those who are – it’s easy to sort the teams for total corners, corners won and corners conceded.

Premier Injuries

The site’s ‘injury newsroom’ is a really useful one-stop shop for injury news in the English top flight. Not a data site but does what it says on the tin – those who run it track Premier League player injury updates, adding any known return dates, as well as the latest fitness-related comments from managers and club statements.

FBref.com

Brilliant resource, rich in player data from across the world. I don’t have enough words left to do it justice but will highlight the way I use it most. I find it particularly useful for researching shots and fouls. For teams, it’s easy to sort high-to-low to see those who shoot or foul the most. There’s also the ability to look at how each team’s opponents do, therefore creating a list of how many shots teams concede and how often they are fouled themselves. Players can also be listed in the same way so you can compare players in the same squad or – in a mega list - the same league. Match-by-match data for each player can also easily be accessed in list form.

PlayerStats

A subscription service but you soon realise what you are paying for. For me, that’s the layout which I’ve not been able to find elsewhere. Essentially you get every player in a club’s squad shown on the same page and you can then tell the grid to show the desired metric. Shots, tackles, fouls committed, fouls drawn, cards – the list goes on and on. Basically, all the numbers you need are right in front of you rather than having to click through numerous pages. The odd piece of data is missing but it’s hard to be too critical of PlayerStats, which also provides great data for in-play punters – one useful feature shows a list of the leading foulers in a game so you are ready to pounce in the card markets.

Opta Stats Hub

Lots of next-level data here but I find the Hub particularly useful for info regarding set-plays. There’s data on goals, expected goals and shots from such situations – both for and against – which gives a great picture of which teams are good and bad at defending corners and free-kicks. I often feel the value in the shot markets lies with the defenders and this site helps firm up my thinking when it comes to such bets. Loads of leagues are featured, including a number of the top European women’s competitions.