Scout Is Out: How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Modern Football

Artificial intelligence has long stopped being a geek’s toy — it has become a secret weapon of top football clubs. From scouting 14-year-old talents in remote African regions to preventing injuries of multi-million-euro stars, AI is transforming football so much that even Guardiola sometimes looks at his tablet more often than at the pitch.

Bookmakers also actively use neural networks. The ability to process massive amounts of data has taken prediction quality to a whole new level. Any legal bookmaker’s app will already offer ready-made predictions for every match. For example, Winline’s software can be downloaded and installed in just a couple of minutes.

Scouting 2.0: How Algorithms Find Talents

Forget about the old guy with a notebook sitting in the stands of a rundown stadium in Argentina. Today, clubs use digital platforms that analyze millions of minutes of video and data.

AiScout. Chelsea are big fans of this program and use it extensively for player recruitment. The developers signed a contract with the London club back in 2022 — there is an official publication about it on Chelsea’s website.

AiScout allows any kid to record himself on a phone, upload the video, and within 10 minutes the AI produces a rating based on 70+ parameters, comparing the player to young versions of Kevin De Bruyne or Lamine Yamal. In January 2021, Burnley even searched for talents via social media. To get into the club’s academy, players had to upload a video to AiScout and receive algorithm approval.

Burnley repeatedly searched for talents via social networks

SciSports (a Dutch company whose software is used by RB Leipzig and the entire Red Bull football group). Their Recruitment model analyzes not only current performance but also predicts a player’s development 5–7 years ahead. Leipzig have been using SciSports for player recruitment for several years now.

SciSports have been working with RB Leipzig for a long time

StatsBomb IQ is the latest toy used by Liverpool and Arsenal. The model is fed data from 360° cameras and optical tracking: how a player moves off the ball, finds space, presses. In 2024, Liverpool signed Dominik Szoboszlai with the help of StatsBomb. The first records of StatsBomb’s cooperation with the Merseyside club appeared in the startup’s online blog back in 2019.

StatsBomb have been analyzing Liverpool data since 2016

Tactics: How Neural Networks Help Coaches

Google DeepMind. Between 2022 and 2024, the developers jointly created TacticAI with Liverpool — an AI that proposes optimal player positioning for corners in seconds. The result? In the 2023/24 season, Liverpool scored 40% more goals from corners than expected (xG is a modern metric that predicts the number of goals in a match or season).

In collaboration with Liverpool, Google DeepMind created one of the best corner analytics tools

The Analyst (Opta + StatsPerform). The program processes video from all matches and analyzes each club’s potential. The platform is adored by commentators and… Mikel Arteta. Before every match, Arsenal’s head coach receives a 50-page report detailing opponents’ typical behavior during corners, the most intense periods of matches, and much more. In a 2024 interview, Arteta said:

“We prepare for matches as if we know 85% of the opponent’s plan.”

The Digital Doctor: How AI Prevents Injuries

Zone7. A startup working with Liverpool, Sevilla, Leeds, Napoli, and half of MLS. The system collects data from GPS trackers, heart rate monitors, sleep quality, and more. In the 2022/23 season, Liverpool reduced total injury days by 40% — saving hundreds of millions of euros.

Zone7 collaborates with many famous clubs

Kitman Labs. An Irish company whose software is used by Chelsea, Manchester United, and others. Their Injury Predictor model can say in real time:

“If Bukayo Saka plays the second half now, there is a 67% risk of a minor hamstring injury.”

The approach is similar: data from GPS trackers, wearable sensors, medical tests, and more. Since 2023, the platform has been used by all youth academies of the English Premier League.

Kitman Labs are used by all EPL youth academies

Article prepared by Legalbet expert Yanis Plisko.