Sao Paulo 2 points above the rest clear favourites The Brazilian team should make light work of the opposition. Strong in all departments , plenty of depth . Should romp to victory.  Twente lack a keeper and 2nd  could flatter them but not if they make a great signing , maybe cash in some depth, …

Leicester lead the pack but other teams have options. Leicester sit 0.7 points above nearest rivals Swansea who are kind of Leicester lite. Partizan are a different prospect in 3rd weaker in most areas but potentially stronger up front.  Similarly for Schake, weaker in defence and midfield but with the strong keeper, attacker combo. Maybe…

Three teams should be solid for promotion. Playoffs for the rest? Ajax, Anderlecht and Genoa would sit mid table or better in D1. They are 2 rating points or better above all the rest. Ajax lack a little depth; Anderlecht are full of depth but are perhaps a keeper away from greatness. Genoa are the…

Dawn of a new era will Chelsea be dominant again? Ratings are calculated using a formula based on rankings in GK,MID ,ATT and DEF. The average and top 18 are also taken into account to balance odd formations and  potential injuries. This gives the ETOT, with Pre being the predicted position. Hard to see past…

Some wild results in division 5 with rebuilds a plenty. +14 VA for Malaga and +8 PVA for Koln. Koln are worthy winners of D5 and came in 7 places above expected.  They just lead fellow promoted team Malaga who may have had the performance of the year.  Independiente had +10 VA in 9th from…

Swans fly high in D4 with Besitkas a Turkish Delight. Two promoted teams lead the stats. Swansea always a promotion favourite over achieved and got top spot in the league and  the stats.  Besitkas have the highest VA on + 7 , just above Bordeaux on +6 who just miss out on the playoffs. A…

Udinese promoted in second have the highest PVA with Zenit and Celtic showing great VA. As expected division 3 shows more variance than D1 or 2.  Udinese expected the playoffs but got 2nd place and promotion.  They just beat Celtic who had the 2nd best VA of +8, with +11 VA Zenit just missing out…

Spurs lead the stats with Dnipro having +13 VA. A much greater level of over and underperformance in division 2. Spurs finish 7 places higher than expected and finish 2nd in the real table but just pip champs Villa in the stats.  Dnipro make the playoffs not bad for a relegation favourite but that has…

Chelsea champions and stop of the stats.  Espanyol and Real Madrid make great progress. A few notes. Value added is literally how many places above the expected position a club finishes. PVA or positional value added is the value added +1  divided by the finishing position, so a high position counts more. Chelsea are well…

Rubin and Inter lead the pack is defence the best form of attack in division 5. Both the leading clubs have a good keeper and defence combo and a fairly strong attack. Athletic club also have a strong keeper and stronger attack in the top and tail approach.   Twente and Spartak have 87 rated keepers…