Technology

The Premier League is a cut-throat environment where even minor advantages can mean the difference between glory and disappointment (new Manchester United board member and serial sporting winner, Sir Dave Brailsford, for example, is known for his ‘marginal gains’ theory).

Now Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping football clubs to get ahead of the competition, offering teams a powerful tool to gain a competitive edge through data-driven insights.

Here's how AI tools are transforming top-level football in England:

1. Tactical superiority

AI can analyze mountains of data from past matches, including player movements, formations, passing patterns and shot locations. This match analysis allows coaches to identify weaknesses in their own team's play and exploit vulnerabilities in their opponents' tactics. Earlier this year, Google DeepMind unveiled its prototype AI football tactician, developed in collaboration with Premier League club, Liverpool, that recommends positional changes for players standing at corners – potentially leading to fewer goals conceded.

AI models can now go beyond analyzing past performance with predictive analytics. By factoring in player fitness, weather conditions, and even psychological factors, AI can predict how opponents might react to different strategies, allowing coaches to develop tailored game plans that maximize their chances of success.

AI can also simulate different tactical scenarios during a match, allowing coaches to test formations and substitutions before they’re implemented on the pitch. This "what-if" scenario planning helps coaches to make informed decisions in the heat of the moment.

2. Performance optimization

AI is already assisting with scouting and recruitment through its ability to analyze data on young players from around the world, identifying hidden gems who might have been flagged up by traditional scouting methods. This helps clubs recruit talent that fits their playing style and fills the necessary gaps in their squad.

AI can analyze a player's technical skills, physical attributes, and even psychological data to predict their future performance. This performance prediction helps clubs when it comes to deciding on contract renewals, playing time and potential loan deals.

AI can also analyze player data from training sessions to identify areas for improvement. With squad sizes increasing, this allows coaches to create a personalized training program that targets each player's specific weaknesses – ensuring that each member of the squad gets the attention they deserve.

3. Injury prevention

AI is playing a significant role in risk assessment. It can analyze training data, such as heart rate and movement patterns, to identify if a player is at risk of injury or burnout. This early detection allows teams to implement preventative measures that keep their star players on the pitch.

In their own way, Premier League footballers are finely tuned machines and – as with any other machines – they need to be looked after and have their workloads managed. AI can help to optimize player training schedules, ensuring they aren’t overtrained or underprepared. This reduces the risk of injuries and keeps players at peak performance throughout the season.

4. Enhanced fan engagement

Personalized content is now taking off in numerous walks of life. AI chatbots can interact with fans, answering questions, providing personalized content and offering exclusive, behind-the-scenes access. AI is also being used to enhance things like Premier League fantasy football, which engages many thousands of football lovers on a weekly basis. 

These developments foster even deeper connections with fans and increase revenue streams. AI-powered tools can also provide fans with in-game tactical analysis, in real-time, helping them understand the game beyond just the score line and increasing their overall enjoyment.

5. Organizational change: AI-assisted draws

This year’s Champions League, featuring Premier League teams Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool, has seen an expansion, from 32 to 36 teams, with a new more complex format – and this means that the traditional manual process of drawing teams ‘from a hat’ can no longer be relied upon.

The old group stage, where eight groups of four teams would play each other ‘home’ and ‘away’, has been replaced by a single 36-team league phase. This means that clubs will now play eight different teams. This year’s draw, in August 2024, saw the teams seeded and put into four pots of nine – with AI then used to select the appropriate fixtures, based on multiple variables. This data-led approach increases the propriety of fixture selection, and has reduced the draw time, from around four hours to just over half-an-hour.

AI is not a silver bullet

There are still a number of limitations to consider around the technology. The effectiveness of AI models heavily relies on the quality and quantity of data they’re trained on. Biased or incomplete data can lead to inaccurate insights, so it’s vital that clubs consider data quality. And, while AI can provide valuable data, human coaches and analysts are still essential for interpreting this data, making decisions, and adapting to unforeseen circumstances during a match – sometimes a coach’s intuitive feel for a match situation or the potential impact a player might have will be far more effective than an AI’s cold, data-driven approach.

Then there are the ethical considerations. There are some concerns about the potential for AI to widen the gap between rich and poor clubs who have access to vast amounts of data and resources. At the moment though it seems that, in the Premier League, it might be that those smaller clubs are actually the ones using new technology to elevate their status.

Artificial intelligence in football is here to stay

AI is revolutionizing the Premier League by providing data-driven insights that give teams a competitive edge. While a number of clubs are using the technology, some are guarded about exactly how they are employing it. This is likely because – in the case of smaller clubs like Brighton and Brentford – it is allowing them to punch above their weight to maintain their position in the top-flight. While some limitations exist, AI is here to stay, continuously evolving and offering new possibilities for the beautiful game.

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Midjourney’s AI image creator is adding major new editing options to its platform, as announced by CEO David Holz on Discord. You'll be able to edit an uploaded image using generative AI, as you could only do with images that AI has created until now. Notably, this will be a web-based tool, expanding Midjourney's Discord-centered and exclusive features.

While AI editing tools for images have been around for a bit, they are almost always restricted to images created with the same AI model doing the editing. Midjourney is taking the leap into allowing you to edit an image you want to edit rather than having the model make the initial creation.

That's technically impressive since it means the model must understand more about an image that it didn't design from scratch. However, it may also be risky since other models may have held back from providing it as an option due to concern over people using it to mess with pictures of real people without their permission or to employ the AI for less-than-benevolent purposes.

Once the image is uploaded, you can edit it in several ways. You can zoom in or out, adjust the angle, and otherwise play with the image without needing Discord and with just a single command. You can also use a digital brush for inpainting, allowing for more precise modifications. The most notable new element is the Retexture feature, which lets you precisely alter colors and other details while keeping the image's shapes and objects intact.

Midjourney Edits the Future

Questions about the ethics of the creation and editing of AI images have led to heated debates, lawsuits, and other arguments. That makes Midjourney's decisions important for how its rivals and regulators figure out rules to set up internally and for the industry. Midjourney has agreed to embed metadata in AI-generated images so that they can always be identified, though not the more comprehensive C2PA standard as of yet. These are issues that Midjourney is well aware of.

"Because these new features are so powerful we're going to restrict the deployment of them to a subset of the current community and increase our human moderation over the outputs (there's also new more advanced AI moderators which we feel will do a great job)," Holz wrote. "Honestly, we're not sure how to precisely restrict deployment of this feature, so we want to put a survey out there and get your opinions. We'll use these results to calculate what percentage of the userbase we'll reach with different restrictions and try to balance accessibility vs volume."

For the average user, the ability to easily manipulate images with AI could make using Midjourney more appealing and make photo editing a lot easier. And as AI image makers become more common Midjourney wants to be more accessible. That's why the company decided to abandon Discord as its only outlet, though it's still a major center for the company's creations. Midjourney likely doesn’t want to be left out simply because some don’t want to sign up for Discord.

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Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need clues.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Wordle hints and answers, Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #499) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• DESIGNER
• ENGINEER
• HATCH
• TAG
• GALILEO
• MARCO POLO
• MASTERMIND
• VIKING
• BINGO
• PIONEER
• LUXURY
• CONCOCT
• HAUTE
• VOYAGER
• UNO
• HIGH-END

NYT Connections today (game #499) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• Yellow: Check the label
• Green: Come up with a plan
• Blue: For all mankind
• Purple: The clue's in the name

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #499) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: BRAND-NAME
• GREEN: DEVISE
• BLUE: NASA SPACECRAFT
• PURPLE: GAMES WHERE YOU SAY THE GAME’S NAME

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #499) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #499, are…

• YELLOW: BRAND-NAME DESIGNER, HAUTE, HIGH-END, LUXURY
• GREEN: DEVISE CONCOCT, ENGINEER, HATCH, MASTERMIND
• BLUE: NASA SPACECRAFT GALILEO, PIONEER, VIKING, VOYAGER
• PURPLE: GAMES WHERE YOU SAY THE GAME’S NAME BINGO, MARCO POLO, TAG, UNO

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

There are days when the NYT's difficulty scale for Connections seems a little off. It's all a matter of opinion, of course; one person's impossible-to-solve group could be someone else's cakewalk. But today I felt like all four were roughly the same toughness, and the supposedly worst one, GAMES WHERE YOU SAY THE GAME’S NAME, was one of the easiest.

Not that I got the connection as such – and indeed, it was the one I solved by default – but I could clearly see that all four were games, and the fact that they were specifically games where you say the name wasn't really enough to obfuscate matters. After all, the only red herring was MASTERMIND, and that went nicely into the green group anyway.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Monday, 21 October, game #498)

• YELLOW: KINDS OF BEANS KIDNEY, MUNG, NAVY, PINTO
• GREEN: ATTRACT DRAW, GRAB, HOOK, PULL
• BLUE: AUTOMATIC GEAR SHIFTER POSITIONS DRIVE, LOW, NEUTRAL, REVERSE
• PURPLE: ___POOL CAR, DEAD, LIVER, WHIRL

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1002) - hint #1 - Vowels How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 5*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1002) - hint #2 - repeated letters Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #1002) - hint #3 - uncommon letters Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1002) - hint #4 - starting letters (1) Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1002) - hint #5 - starting letters (2) What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• A

• S

• A

• L

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1002) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1002, are…

• ADORE
• SMITH
• AFOOT
• LUCID

This was another relatively easy Quordle, with a repeated O in AFOOT but not much more to complicate matters. My trio of start words again came up trumps, there were no major decisions to make between two similarly spelled words and the whole thing only took me about two minutes. If only they were all so simple, eh?

As if to counteract the simplicity of the main Quordle, the Daily Sequence was a fair bit harder today, serving up LLAMA and its two repeated letters, COCOA and its two repeated letters, TITAN and its one repeated letter and the far-from-obvious RAMEN. Quordle giveth and it taketh away.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Daily Sequence today (game #1002) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1002, are…

• LLAMA
• COCOA
• RAMEN
• TITAN

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1001, Monday 21 October: TREAD, NINTH, GRIEF, UNSET
• Quordle #1000, Sunday 20 October: CORAL, WHOSE, HEIST, SOAPY
• Quordle #999, Saturday 19 October: GUSTY, BROKE, ENJOY, HAZEL
• Quordle #998, Friday 18 October: PUPIL, MOCHA, EGRET, NATAL
• Quordle #997, Thursday 17 October: BUILD, BIRTH, LURCH, SASSY
• Quordle #996, Wednesday 16 October: EERIE, SMIRK, HUNCH, EMBED
• Quordle #995, Tuesday 15 October: UMBRA, BRIEF, GRAVY, TORUS
• Quordle #994, Monday 14 October: ROGUE, STORY, EMCEE, AUNTY
• Quordle #993, Sunday 13 October: UNFIT, NYMPH, THUMB, PUREE
• Quordle #992, Saturday 12 October: SAUCY, UNDUE, EGRET, HELLO
• Quordle #991, Friday 11 October: RINSE, ANIME, PUSHY, ZEBRA
• Quordle #990, Thursday 10 October: UNTIL, MARSH, METAL, WINDY
• Quordle #989, Wednesday 9 October: TRIAL, HUSKY, DOWNY, TRADE
• Quordle #988, Tuesday 8 October: TROUT, HATER, BARGE, DOZEN
• Quordle #987, Monday 7 October: CAULK, HALVE, APING, HEATH
• Quordle #986, Sunday 6 October: FUDGE, TENOR, BEGAT, ROUSE
• Quordle #985, Saturday 5 October: ELECT, CROAK, FRISK, JAUNT
• Quordle #984, Friday 4 October: ELFIN, GRAIL, PATIO, RECAP
• Quordle #983, Thursday 3 October: TENTH, REMIT, CURVE, TOAST
• Quordle #982, Wednesday 2 October: ARGUE, CRANE, TOKEN, PRINT

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #233) - hint #1 - today's theme What is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Cool color!

NYT Strands today (game #233) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• BEAN
• BEES
• SAGE
• BOLT
• COAT
• WIRE

NYT Strands today (game #233) - hint #3 - spangram What is a hint for today's spangram?

• Sky and sea

NYT Strands today (game #233) - hint #4 - spangram position What are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

First: right, 5th row

Last: left, 5th row

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #233) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #233, are…

• COBALT
• AZURE
• TURQUOISE
• INDIGO
• NAVY
• PERIWINKLE
• SPANGRAM: THEBLUES

• My rating: Easy
• My score: Perfect

The theme clues for Strands can sometimes give away too much, and today was one of those days. 'Cool color!' screamed the hint, so clearly it was going to be shades of a particular color; 'cool' made it obvious it would be blue.

That didn't make finding them all that simple of course, because though I got COBALT and AZURE near the top of the board early, then uncovered TURQUOISE by focusing on what the Q could go with, I got a little stuck for a while after that. I could see the word BLUE in the middle of the board and figured it would be part of the spangram, but it took me a while to establish that I needed THEBLUES. The other answers slotted into place fairly easily after that.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Monday, 21 October, game #232)

• PACK
• HERD
• FLOCK
• SWARM
• SCHOOL
• PRIDE
• KNOT
• COLONY
• SPANGRAM: GROUPNAME

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's new word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now out of beta so is a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable and can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

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