How to Find the Best Replacement for VVD Using Data Science
A data driven approach to identify the best replacement for the injured Liverpool Center Back Virgil Van Dijk
8 min readNov 14, 2020
TL;DR
In this article, we scout for the best alternative for the injured Reds defender Virgil Van Dijk.
The steps involved in the process is as follows:
Data Collection:
All relevant player stats are collected from fbref.com
KPI Generation:
Key Performance indicators are created for evaluation of players
Data Wrangling:
Data cleansing and feature engineering are performed
Finding the Players most Similar to VVD:
Players with KPIs similar to VVD can be found using proximity measures
Conclusion:
Commenting on the findings of the excercise
Introduction
Virgil van Dijk is arguably the most important player for the Reds. Since his arrival at Anfield in January 2018, for the record transfer fee, he has been an integral part of the team, leading from the back.
