Goalkeepers are lucky because strikers aren't aware of statistics, say researchers
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If a tossed coin comes up 'heads', ten times in a row, is it more or less likely to show 'tails' on the next throw?
If you think it must be tails, you are falling for the gambler's fallacy, the idea that sequences of results are connected. And you're not alone.
Some of the world's top goalkeepers are prone to making the same mistake.
Researchers from University College London analysed videos of penalty shootouts at every World Cup since 1976. They found that after three kicks in a row towards the same side of the goal, on the next shot the goalkeeper dived for the opposite side 69% of the time.
This small but statistically significant pattern could be enough to win shootouts. But so far the goalkeepers have been lucky. Penalty takers are under such pressure to score, they've failed to notice and take advantage of the flaw.
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thrown into the air, often without care
one after the other, in a sequence
(here) the side of a coin which doesn't show the head of a person
an idea people usually think is true but it isn't
likely to
(here) jumped to the ground in order to catch the football
(here) to kick the football into the goal
weakness
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