Ball possession

A metric quantifying how much a team is actually in possession of the ball. Available as pure time or as percentage of possession (compared to the opponent).

Wyscout uses a ball possession percentage calculation approach based on pure time spent in possession of the ball. A Possession is a sequence of events with the ball of the same team. Time where the ball is out of play (either out of field or, for example, setting up a set piece) is not counted as possession for any of the two teams. Opponent actions that do not constitute a meaningful ball possession, like lost duels, missed balls and rebounds that are immediately picked up, do not break possessions.

Other data providers might use a simpler algorithm, which only takes into account accurate passes made by two teams, however, since not all passes are created equal and take different time to complete, the pure time algorithm provides more accurate results.

Open play possessions

Possessions that doesn't start from a set piece (Free Kick Cross, Free Kick Shot, Corner, Throw In or Penalty). Open play possessions are split in following values according to their duration:

• Short: (0-10 sec)
• Medium: (10-20 sec)
• Long: (20-45 sec)
• Very long: (45+ sec)