Barcelona and Chelsea top the table.

First of all the explanations.

This is purely statistical and takes no account of squad building or managerial ability.

How it works: I look at the likely picks for the first eleven and take an average of the ability in Gk, Def, Mid , Att and the Top 18th player ( unlikely you will need to go down any further )

Then using a formula developed in the first few seasons on the relevant importance of key positions. I calculate the ETOT the estimated total strength of the team.

There is some human input if you lack say 2 decent forwards in the first eleven or your 18th players was 5 ratings below anyone else.

It is really tight between Barcelona ,depth vs Chelsea strength.  A few injuries would push it the way of Barcelona with Juventus a kind of halfway house between the two teams.

There is then a huge gap down to Porto a defensive based team and Arsenal and attacking force who could still trouble the top 3.

Real and Bayern are the next nearest challengers with Hellas perhaps a keeper away from a great squad.

Relegation cut of is around 225.5 there are therefore 7 teams realistically who could face the drop this season.  Maybe as said last season it is difficult to see Stoke surviving this season unless they pick up the scraps from the other lower ranked teams.  Milan also sit well beneath the comfort zone and will struggle.  Espanyol should survive if they avoid injuries, Hertha likewise.  This leaves Internacional , Bremen and Levante fighting it out for the last survival spot.

Interestingly D1 is half a point weaker than last season perhaps as a result of the unusually strong teams who were relegated..

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
Barcelona 95.0 93.3 93.3 94.5 88.0 92.8 232.59 1
Chelsea 95.0 92.5 93.8 95.5 82.0 91.8 232.32 2
Juventus 95.0 92.3 93.8 94.0 85.0 92.0 231.50 3
FC Porto 94.0 91.8 92.5 93.5 88.0 92.0 230.02 4
Arsenal 92.0 91.5 91.3 94.5 88.0 91.5 229.23 5
Real Madrid 91.0 91.5 91.3 94.0 88.0 91.2 228.78 6
Bayern München 93.0 91.0 92.8 92.0 89.0 91.6 228.64 7
Hellas Verona 89.0 90.3 92.5 93.0 87.0 90.4 227.77 8
Atlético Madrid 92.0 90.8 91.8 92.3 86.0 90.6 227.32 9
Borussia Dortmund 92.0 91.3 90.8 92.0 88.0 90.8 227.00 10
SL Benfica 93.0 91.3 92.0 90.0 88.0 90.9 226.82 11
Standard Liège 91.0 91.0 91.5 91.5 86.0 90.2 226.72 12
Manchester City 90.0 90.5 90.8 93.0 86.0 90.1 226.57 13
RCD Espanyol 92.0 90.3 91.5 89.5 85.0 89.7 224.82 14
Hertha BSC 89.0 90.3 90.8 90.5 85.0 89.1 224.51 15
SC Internacional 91.0 89.8 89.8 90.5 87.0 89.6 223.79 16
Levante UD 89.0 89.5 90.3 90.0 86.0 89.0 223.30 17
Werder Bremen 89.0 89.3 89.5 91.0 85.0 88.8 223.03 18
AC Milan 89.0 89.0 89.8 89.0 85.0 88.4 221.73 19
Stoke City 89.0 87.8 90.0 88.5 86.0 88.3 220.73 20