Make what you like of Opta but they got the stats almost spot on at the London Stadium today writes Michael Talbot.
After=match stats mean very little at time particularly possession but prior to the game Opta gave some data which proved absolutely spot on.
Spot on Hammers/Man U stats
Having looked at all available data including recent performances and player stats, suggested, they claimed the most likely outcome of the match would be a West Ham United victory and the probability they quoted was 51.97%.
For the match to go the other way and the Irons to be beaten by the Reds showed a probability of 25.15% and a draw 22.9%.
They got the score line wrong but only by one goal quoting a probability of a 2-1 win for the Hammers which only carried another probability of 9.7%.
The next most likely score lines for that outcome are 1-0 (8.74%) and 2-0 (8.01%). The likeliest Manchester United win is 1-2 (6.4%), while for a drawn score line it is 1-1 (10.57%).
In terms of possession – often seen as absolutely key in these games – the Hammers had just 35 per cent and United therefore 65 per cent so that’s data which can often be thrown out of the window.