Sao Paulo predicted to double bounce with relegated Sporting and Augsburg predicted to return to D2.

The top 3 all offer something a bit different , Sao Paulo the best keeper and Midfield. Sporting lack depth but are potent in attack.  Augsburg weaker at the back but can match anyone up top.

Swansea can threaten any team in the league with their attack and should fancy the playoffs, with Schalke’s mean defence also able to withstand those 90/91 attackers.

Borussia surely a wild card team. Poor keeper , lack depth but otherwise strong , how will the fair?

Partizan , Zenit , Roma and sadly the fair tail of Dnipro who may well be returning to D4 or beyond.  Zenit perhaps with a good keeper may be able to turn a few loses into draws but can they covert draws to wins?

Genoa top of the stats, will they be top of the table.

With only 1 player beneath 90 in their starting XI Genoa should romp to the title.  Relegated Everton and promoted Leicester should be a strong challenge sitting in the 224 range, which is worth noting is the minimum to survive in the higher division.

Having said that Hamburg , and Leverkeusen have potent attack/ midfield combos that could prove a threat to the top 3 teams with Liverpool and Ajax being solid at the back.

Hard to see how Levante will not suffer another drop with the worse defence and attack in the league. River Plate will leaked too many goals, with Udinese, Milan , Wolfsburg all hoping they don’t fall into the lower reaches.

AZ Predicted to double bounce with a rapid rise to D3.

AZ perhaps have a weakness in their keeper but otherwise are a strong side.  Chievo will challenge them in second. Sunderland have a great balance about their side and they should make up  the top 3.

Sassuolo will hope to at least make the playoffs and should be  tight at the back

Sevilla and Besitkas will have to work hard to get relegated for a second time but there are a bunch of teams within a whisker of the 218 cut off for relegation to the lower league.  Lokomtive and Napoli realy need to shore up their back lines to stand a chance of survival.

Rubin , Lazio and Spartak should be the promoted teams next season. Lazio should be able to overwhelm most teams defences easily enough but lack depth. Rubin look a more balanced team and like Spartak have enough depth to cope.

Lyon have a good defence/ offence combo. Relegated Brugge and Villareal should make the playoffs. This should be incentive enough for Boca and Atalanta to try and get to D4 this season as next it may be tougher.

Shaktar sit at the foot of the table again but will have close companions with Newcastle looking little better at the moment.  Fiorentina and over performing Athletic club look like they could struggle next season

Chelsea to claim back title? Champs to finish 2^nd, how will promoted teams do?

For the uninitiated. I work out the average rating for GK,Def,Mid,Att , the lowest rated top 18 player ( excluding 2^nd/3^rd keeper ) and apply a magic formula.

I use some “ common “ sense in making logical changes if players are unlikely to feature or the lowest 18^th player is far lower than anything.

Chelsea should win  the league , with relative ease, but Arsenal now only need to catch up 1 place , far less than this year. Barca , Porto and Real Madrid should be a threat and especially so with those potent attacking line ups.

Juve are always solid at the back, as are Benfica and Man City.  Hellas lack a little depth but have a strong attack.

Anderlecht should get a mid table finish , higher if they uprate the keeper some how. WBA are just off the relegation zone, unlike Hertha and playoff team Hoffenheim who sit right in it. 223 or less meant probable relegation last season. So Internacional and Tottenham will need to up their game to survive next season.

AZ lead the stats and win the league +10VA and +11PVA.

Playoff bound PSV have the highest VA on +14 and are 2^nd in the stats. Big shout outs for Lokomotive on +7 VA, Boca +5 and Athletic club +7  and Fiorentina on +8 VA all great performances.

All those good scores must mean an equal number of bad ones, Division 5 is for rebuild but -16VA for promotion favourites Rubin Kazan and -10 for possible promotes Lyon are still a shock.  Montpellier fair little better and Stuttgart failed to live up to the hype.

Napoli +13VA and +3.5PVA lead the stats.

Lille in 3^rd get automatic promotion and 2^nd in the stats , with Fenerbahce with an amazing +11 VA make the playoffs and 3^rd place in the stats.  CSKA and Bordeaux managed great performances this year.  Sao Paulo did what they needed to, winning the leagues as favourites.

Most disappointed must be FC Twente , 2^nd favourites slumping to 10^th and -8 VA , with Dynamo Moscow, Kyiv also missing out on the playoffs. Villareal get relegated with the joint worse VA.

Third time is a charm as the winners of D3 lead the stats.

Wolfsburg the champs top PVA.

Looking at the playoff spot as the season started but at seasons end on top of the pile +5 VA +6PVA for Wolfsburg.

Feyenoord had the highest VA on 8 just missing out on the playoffs. River Plate would perhaps their + 7VA and 2^nd spot in the stats for the auto promotion of Hamburg in 3^rd spot.

Credit to Zenit for avoiding relegation on +4 VA.

Swansea underperformed on -10 VA , as did Sassuolo on -9 VA. Partizan can redeem a poor performance with a win in the playoffs.

WBA top of the league and top of the stats.

Seen that headline before. Well as Arsenal did in D1 , WBA did the same but more so in D2. +4 VA and +5 PVA a dominant season.  Third place Hertha and 5^th place Udinese share the best VA on + 13 with Hoffenheim not far behind on + 12.

The worse performing teams were Ajax who fell from grace to 12^th with the lowest PVA and Leverkeusen on  -12 VA in 16^th.  Less said about Augsburg the better. Not very consistent in the stats this year but perhaps that is indicative of the tightness of the division.

Arsenal top of the league and top of the stats.

No one can deny Arsenal are the team of the season in D1. Three places above prediction and finishing above a resurgent Barcelona and Juve.

Valencia come 3^rd in the stats table , a creditable 5 places above prediction which was matched by Spurs. Mid table in D1 went largely to form.  This meant the lowest rated teams stats wise were Chelsea despite coming 4^th were well below par this season and Hellas finishing 13^th with the lowest VA.