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Which defensive actions count in Opta's PPDA denominator?
Opta PPDA divides opposition passes allowed outside the pressing team’s own defensive third by that team’s defensive actions in the same area. Its listed actions are fouls, tackles, interceptions, challenges and blocked passes.
For Soccer fans and readers comparing team pressing metrics · Updated
Both sides of the ratio use the same zone
Opta defines PPDA as opposition passes allowed outside the pressing team’s own defensive third, divided by defensive actions by that pressing team outside its own defensive third. The zone applies to both the pass count and the action count.
A table that changes the event set or the area is no longer applying this exact public definition. Keep the numerator, denominator and zone together when interpreting the value.
The denominator uses five listed action types
For its PPDA calculation, Opta lists fouls, tackles, interceptions, challenges and blocked passes as defensive actions. These categories form the denominator described on the page; the source does not say to count every defensive movement or every period of pressure.
- Numerator: opposition passes allowed outside the pressing team’s own defensive third.
- Denominator: that team’s fouls, tackles, interceptions, challenges and blocked passes outside its own defensive third.
- Calculation: numerator divided by denominator.
A PPDA value is a ratio, not a verdict
Because PPDA is a quotient, its value depends on both the number of opposition passes allowed and the counted defensive actions. A reader can compare the arithmetic without concluding from this one number alone that a team’s strategy succeeded or failed.
A fictional PPDA calculation
Consider a made-up sequence of 48 opponent passes allowed outside the pressing team’s defensive third and eight listed defensive actions in that same area: three tackles, two interceptions, one foul, one challenge and one blocked pass. The arithmetic is 48 divided by 8, which gives 6 passes per listed defensive action. The counts are fictional and illustrate the formula only; actions outside the named zone are excluded from this example.
Related questions
Does Opta PPDA count defensive actions anywhere on the pitch?
No. The published formula restricts both opposition passes and defensive actions to areas outside the pressing team’s own defensive third.
Is PPDA the number of pressures a team makes?
No. Opta presents it as opposition passes allowed divided by a listed set of defensive actions. It is a ratio, not a raw count of pressure events.