‘How an Algorithm Could Change Sports Forever’ – the Global Media Reaction to Liverpool’s Zone7 Partnership

Zone7’s recent announcement that it is expanding its service with Liverpool FC for the next two years, and now includes the women’s and Under-23 teams, was international news. Liverpool’s successful season in which they competed in all 63 games available to them in all competitions landed the League and FA Cups, and though they lost the league to Manchester City and the Champions League final to Real Madrid, it was an immensely successful season for Jurgen Klopp’s side. And that was also reflected in days lost due to injury; Liverpool 1,008 days due to injury in 2021/22, down from over 1,500 in 2020/21, a 30% reduction. Furthermore, days lost to substantial injuries (ie periods of inaction longer than nine days), fell from 1,409 in 20/21 to just 841 in 21/22. And Zone7 and Liverpool’s relationship being made public created buzz around how Klopp’s men were able to effectively manage their squad of players over the most gruelling of seasons. The story was picked up in multiple territories across the world, including the UK, USA, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden, Norway, and many more. In the UK, the Telegraph’s Jeremy Wilson led on how Liverpool had embraced Zone7’s product and how it was assisting them in competing on all four fronts. The Daily Mail led that the Zone7 algorithm could be something that ‘changes the world of sport forever’, referencing how the AI is being used by other clubs in the Premier League as well as NFL and NBA teams in the United States.

Via The @Telegraph, Zone7 is proud to announce an extended working agreement with Liverpool FC (@LFC).

“Liverpool have slashed number of lost days this season to injury by more than a third and retained such remarkable performance across 61 games.”https://t.co/SdiS2RlC8X — Zone7 (@Zone7ai) May 18, 2022

Liverpool.com pointed to the improvements in the defensive department season-on-season, with Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez being available for much more of the campaign in 21/22. In Sky Sports’ exclusive interview with Jurgen Klopp, the work of Zone7 in providing assistance and recommendations on keeping players fit is referenced.  And in the Athletic’s long-read to round out the season, both Simon Hughes talks about the work involved in ensuring players are ‘to form conclusions as to whether a player is overloaded and underloaded.’ Further afield, El Espanyol in Spain reported on the extension of the service and looked to compare the fitness of Liverpool players in relation to Real Madrid building up to the Champions League final.  The Wall Street Journal looked at the overall AI explosion in sport and where Zone7 fits as part of this revolution. Record, one of the biggest publications in Mexico, discussed how Liverpool are one of the modern data innovators within the game, including Zone7 and beyond.  But the message also reached further afield. There were mentions in of the relationship, in Brazil, in Norway, in Sweden, in Poland, in Italy and in Vietnam.

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