Topic

Match breakdowns

Taking a single game apart to see how it was won.

A match breakdown looks at one game in detail: the plan each side brought, the moments the plan changed, and the evidence for both.

We also share our methods here, so you can watch a game the same way and reach your own conclusions.

Top-down diagram of a full pitch with the right-hand final third shaded, small light circles for passes in midfield, and shot circles of different sizes clustered around the right-hand goal.

Match breakdowns

Reading a match through its numbers: xG, field tilt and PPDA

Three numbers that tell you more than the scoreline: expected goals, field tilt and PPDA. What each one measures, how to read them together, and where they fall short.

By Niamh Doherty 22 October 2026 7 min read

Match breakdowns

Match breakdowns guides

Reading a match through its numbers: xG, field tilt and PPDA