The Copa Libertadores are back with its Final Four. Who will advance to the final in Guayaquil in October? Can Vélez Sársfield crash the all-Brazilian party? (Expected goal “slash lines” are in format: goals from open play / goals from set play / goals from penalty. Metrics are for all Libertadores matches up to first […]
My plan to preview the Quarterfinal round of the Copa Libertadores did not work out as planned. Due to the constraints of time, my thumbnail sketches of the Quarterfinal matchups will have to be even sketchier than usual. At any rate, let’s go. (Expected goal “slash lines” are in format: goals from open play / […]
The Brazilian Série A championship has just passed the midpoint of its season. Here is the league table after the Round 19 matches conducted last weekend. Actual and expected Brasileirão Série A table, 2022 season after Round 19. Match data from DataFactory Latinoaméricano. Palmeiras lead the championship by four points from Corinthians, followed by Fluminense, […]
South America’s premier club competition resumes this week with the round of 16 matches. Below is a thumbnail sketch of the eight matches with my own (hopefully data-informed) predictions thrown in. I’ll fill in the predictions during the week. (Expected goal “slash lines” are in format: goals from open play / goals from set play […]
It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these posts! But I hope to write more of them in the near future. This year’s edition of the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores has felt more like a “normal” tournament from the pre-Covid era. Covid is still around, of course, but the fans have returned (for better […]
At the beginning of the year, I started to teach an online college course on Data Analytics at a four-year university. This was a completely new experience for me as I had never taught a course before at any level. It was work that was terrifying, uncertain, and demanding, but ultimately very fulfilling. I had […]
Sports leagues around the world have had to adjust to conducting their competitions in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s particularly challenging for a continental competition that takes place in multiple countries. For CONMEBOL to complete the remaining 96 group stage matches of the Copa Libertadores, in spite of the pandemic that continues […]
Argentina’s River Plate and Brazil’s Flamengo, two footballing giants of their respective countries, will meet Saturday in the 2019 Copa Libertadores Final in Lima, Peru. It’s the first Final of the neutral site era (although some might see the rescheduled second leg in Madrid as the true start of the era). Last year’s final was […]
Boca Juniors and River Plate have sucked up most of the oxygen in the Copa Libertadores, but the second semifinal tie presents an explosive matchup between two Brazilian powerhouses. Grêmio and Flamengo meet in an encounter of a recent champion (and semifinalist for the third consecutive year) and a side who haven’t reached this stage […]
River Plate and Boca Juniors — the most explosive derby in South American football and perhaps anywhere else — meet again in the Copa Libertadores for the second time in ten months. Instead of meeting in the final, this time they will meet in the semifinal over two legs. There are some differences in this […]
