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Win, lose, or draw: trends in English football match results

(blog.engora.com)
37 points Vermin2000 | 2 comments | 11 Jul 25 17:23 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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h46u5jytyhtg ◴[15 Jul 25 12:52 UTC] No.44570621[source]▶
I completely disagree with the premise of the article that draws are most boring and the wider the score difference the more interesting the game is.

Frequently draws are very exciting, they can make compelling viewing. In a game that is completely dominated by one team, there can be very little of interest.

An alternative metric would be the degree of uncertainty/jeopardy in the game. So a game that ends 1-1 has a high degree of jeopardy because at any moment a team can score and take point from the other team.

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1. WesleyLivesay ◴[15 Jul 25 13:01 UTC] No.44570688[source]▶
Agreed, classifying all draws as boring is just wrong.

There are boring draws, some are excruciating to watch because so little is happening.

There are also draws that are the most stressful, exciting, and action packed games you will ever see.

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2. empath75 ◴[15 Jul 25 15:22 UTC] No.44572125[source]▶
What makes draws interesting or not depends on two things, what is happening on the field (were there good chances? A lot of goals? Interesting strategic play?), and also the context of the game. Does the outcome matter for your team, or not?

Some of the best games I've ever watched ended in draws, but that point mattered for whether my team was going to take over first place or not, or whether they made it out of the group stage or not.

The really boring draws are when one team is basically just playing very defensively and also the game doesn't matter to either team.