24 Pages Posted: 28 Feb 2013 Last revised: 2 Mar 2016

Date Written: September 30, 2014

Abstract

We present statistical evidence that games with a smaller number of open crosses tend to lead to more goals. When we estimate the impact of open crossing on scoring of the individual teams using the multilevel Poisson regression model, we conclude that the net effect of crossing is negative for all the teams in all studied competitions. The quality of the attacking team is the major explanatory factor on the number of missed scoring opportunities due to open crossing while the actual conversion of open crosses to goals plays only a minor role.