DeepMind and Liverpool FC develop AI to advise on football tactics

An artificial intelligence model can predict the outcome of corner kicks in football matches and help coaches design tactics that increase or decrease the probability of a player taking a shot at goal. Petar Veličković at Google DeepMind and his colleagues developed the tool, called TacticAI, as part of a three-year research collaboration with Liverpool Football Club. Corner kicks are awarded when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, and can be a good scoring opportunity for the attacking team. Because of this, football coaches develop detailed plans for various scenarios, which players learn ahead of games. TacticAI was trained on data from 7176 corner kicks in England's 2020 to 2021 Premier League season, including each player's position over time and their height and weight.