How to Use FBref, Understat, and Other Football Analytics Sites
Want to do your own football analytics but don't know where to start? Good news: the data is free and publicly available. Here's how to actually use the most popular football analytics websites.
FBref (fbref.com)
FBref is the Swiss Army knife of football data. It's free, thorough, and powered by StatsBomb data. Here's what you can do:
Player comparison: Go to any player's page and click "Scouting Report." You'll see a radar chart showing how they compare to players in the same position across Europe's top 5 leagues. This instantly tells you a player's strengths and weaknesses.
Team stats: Each league has a page showing team-level stats: possession, shooting, passing, defense, and goalkeeping. Sort by any column to find which teams lead in specific categories.
Match reports: Every match has a detailed page with shot maps, xG timeline, and player statistics. Want to know if your team deserved to win? Check the xG.
Understat (understat.com)
Understat specializes in xG data for Europe's top 5 leagues. Its main advantages:
Shot maps: Visual representation of every shot taken, color-coded by xG. You can filter by player, team, situation (open play/set piece), body part, and result. This is incredibly useful for understanding a player's shooting patterns.
xG timeline: Shows how xG accumulated during a match. Spikes indicate dangerous periods. Flat lines mean nothing was happening. Great for understanding the flow of a game you didn't watch.
League table by xG: The alternative table based on expected points. Compare it to the actual table to see who's overperforming and underperforming.
Other Useful Sites
Transfermarkt: Not strictly analytics, but essential for market values, transfer history, and squad information. Great for context when analyzing players.
WhoScored: Match ratings, heat maps, and basic statistics. Less advanced than FBref but more accessible for beginners.
The Athletic / Opta: Premium content with exclusive data visualizations. Worth paying for if you're serious about analytics.
How to Actually Analyze a Player
Here's a step-by-step process for evaluating a player using free data:
- Go to FBref and find the player's scouting report
- Look at their percentile ranks in key metrics for their position
- Check if their stats are consistent over multiple seasons (one season could be a fluke)
- Go to Understat and look at their shot map — where do they shoot from? How efficient are they?
- Compare them to similar players in similar leagues
- Watch highlights to verify the data (stats can miss context)
Common Pitfalls
Don't compare across leagues blindly. A player with great stats in the Eredivisie might not replicate them in the Premier League. Adjust for league quality.
Per 90 minutes matters. A player with 5 goals in 30 appearances (averaging 60 minutes per game) might have a better per-90 rate than someone with 10 goals in 30 appearances (averaging 90 minutes). Always use per-90 stats for fair comparisons.
Sample size is king. Don't draw conclusions from 5 matches. Wait for at least 1,000 minutes of play before trusting the numbers.