Defenders are usually square to the receiver. The few side-on receptions carry slightly higher possession value. Back-to is too rare to judge (7 events). Two matches only. Do not ship this as a KPI yet.
Two pose matches only: 1925299 and 1996435. Underpowered. supported=true for the pre-specified slope, with that caveat.
Analysis branch cursor/h1-body-shape-7aa4.
At pass reception, the nearest outfield defender's shoulder heading is compared with the vector to the receiver.
These values are not xG, xGOT, or xT.
1,408 of 1,455 receptions labelled.
Square/in front (facing within 45°): 1,153 (81.9%). Side-on: 248 (17.6%). Back-to: 7 (0.5%).
A random heading would be about 25% / 50% / 25%.
Median distance 6.7 m.
Slope of attacking-team possession EPV at the reception (possession_epv_for_start) on orientation score 0/1/2. Score 0 is square/in front, 1 is side-on, and 2 is back-to.
Estimate 0.00660 EPV per step. 95% bootstrap interval [0.00352, 0.01029]. It excludes zero.
Means: square/in front 0.0318 (n=1,129), side-on 0.0393 (n=242), back-to 0.0319 (n=7).
Side-on minus square/in front is 0.00745, interval [0.00381, 0.01136].
Back-to minus square/in front is about 0, interval [-0.00839, 0.00982]. It includes zero.
The slope is the square versus side-on association, not a back-to effect.
The same positive slope, with an interval that excludes zero:
These are not xG, xGOT, or xT.