ABSTRACT
Much of the data analysis undertaken in soccer is associated with sports betting, which is a multi-billion-dollar global industry. This chapter explains the fundamentals of betting in soccer and shows how R can be used to develop strategies for betting on the outcome of matches in the English Premier League. The concept of match odds is also explained, with two betting strategies in particular, value betting and arbitrage, discussed in detail. Fully working R code is presented for both strategies, with the performance of each evaluated using historical match data from the English Premier League. As such, the chapter is an introduction to the subject of betting on soccer matches and aims to make the reader aware of how the sports betting industry operates as well as provide example R codes that can be adapted for betting purposes.
