Division 4 Season 18 Stats and Facts review.

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

Lille in 3rd get automatic promotion and 2nd in the stats , with Fenerbahce with an amazing +11 VA make the playoffs and 3rd 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 , 2nd favourites slumping to 10th and -8 VA , with Dynamo Moscow, Kyiv also missing out on the playoffs. Villareal get relegated with the joint worse VA.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
SSC Napoli 87.0 87.0 87.3 87.5 85.0 86.8 216.92 17 4 13 3.50
Lille OSC 90.0 86.8 88.5 88.5 85.0 87.8 218.73 8 3 5 2.00
Fenerbahçe SK 89.0 87.0 86.8 87.0 85.0 87.0 216.47 18 7 11 1.71
Cruzeiro 89.0 88.0 88.5 88.5 86.0 88.0 219.73 4 2 2 1.50
CSKA Moskva 87.0 88.0 88.0 88.0 85.0 87.2 218.64 9 5 4 1.00
São Paulo FC 90.0 89.3 89.5 90.0 86.0 89.0 222.62 1 1 0 1.00
Girondins Bordeaux 88.0 87.3 87.8 87.5 86.0 87.3 217.76 13 8 5 0.75
West Ham United 89.0 87.0 87.5 87.5 85.0 87.2 217.36 16 14 2 0.21
1. FC Köln 88.0 86.5 88.3 88.0 83.0 86.8 217.52 14 13 1 0.15
SS Lazio 88.0 87.0 87.5 86.0 82.0 86.1 215.90 19 18 1 0.11
Newcastle United 87.0 85.5 86.3 85.0 84.0 85.6 213.17 20 20 0 0.05
Club Brugge KV 88.0 86.8 88.0 87.5 85.0 87.1 217.44 15 17 -2 -0.06
Chievo Verona 88.0 87.8 88.0 87.0 85.0 87.2 217.91 12 16 -4 -0.19
Crystal Palace 88.0 87.8 87.5 89.0 86.0 87.7 218.93 6 9 -3 -0.22
Málaga CF 87.0 87.8 88.3 87.5 86.0 87.3 218.44 10 15 -5 -0.27
Internazionale 89.0 88.3 88.8 88.0 87.0 88.2 219.92 3 6 -3 -0.33
Dynamo Kyiv 88.0 87.5 87.8 89.0 85.0 87.5 218.81 7 12 -5 -0.33
Villarreal CF 87.0 87.0 87.8 88.5 86.0 87.3 218.09 11 19 -8 -0.37
Dynamo Moskva 86.0 87.3 88.0 90.5 84.0 87.2 219.43 5 11 -6 -0.45
FC Twente 87.0 87.8 88.8 89.5 87.0 88.0 220.26 2 10 -8 -0.70

Division 3 Season 18 Stats and Facts review.

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 2nd spot in the stats for the auto promotion of Hamburg in 3rd 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.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
VfL Wolfsburg 89.0 87.0 88.8 91.0 85.0 88.2 220.63 6 1 5 6.00
River Plate 87.0 88.3 88.3 88.0 86.0 87.5 219.16 11 4 7 2.00
Hamburger SV 89.0 89.0 88.3 89.0 85.0 88.1 220.53 7 3 4 1.67
Borussia Mönchengladbach 87.0 87.3 88.8 88.5 86.0 87.5 219.09 12 5 7 1.60
Feyenoord 87.0 86.8 88.5 88.0 85.0 87.1 218.04 16 8 8 1.13
Zenit Saint Petersburg 89.0 87.0 87.5 86.5 86.0 87.2 216.83 20 16 4 0.31
AS Roma 88.0 88.5 87.2 87.0 85.0 87.1 217.87 17 14 3 0.29
Galatasaray SK 88.0 88.0 89.0 88.0 86.0 87.8 219.68 10 10 0 0.10
Sampdoria 88.0 87.3 88.0 89.0 85.0 87.5 218.81 13 13 0 0.08
Celtic 89.0 87.3 87.2 89.0 85.0 87.5 218.29 15 15 0 0.07
Sevilla 89.0 87.8 87.0 87.0 86.0 87.4 217.35 19 19 0 0.05
Celta Vigo 87.0 88.3 89.5 89.0 85.0 87.8 220.69 5 6 -1 0.00
Leicester City 88.0 89.0 90.0 90.0 85.0 88.4 222.46 1 2 -1 0.00
Besiktas JK 88.0 87.5 87.8 87.0 86.0 87.3 217.63 18 20 -2 -0.05
AS Monaco 88.0 88.0 88.0 90.0 85.0 87.8 220.06 9 11 -2 -0.09
Santos FC 88.0 87.0 88.0 89.0 84.0 87.2 218.49 14 18 -4 -0.17
FK Partizan 88.0 88.0 88.4 91.0 86.0 88.3 221.15 3 7 -4 -0.43
FC Schalke 04 90.0 88.3 88.6 90.0 86.0 88.6 221.10 4 9 -5 -0.44
US Sassuolo 91.0 88.8 88.8 88.0 86.0 88.5 220.44 8 17 -9 -0.47
Swansea City 88.0 88.5 89.3 90.0 87.0 88.6 221.70 2 12 -10 -0.75

Division 2 Season 18 stats and facts review.

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 5th 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 12th with the lowest PVA and Leverkeusen on  -12 VA in 16th.  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.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
West Bromwich Albion 89.0 89.5 89.8 92.0 87.0 89.5 224.32 5 1 4 5.00
Hertha BSC 89.0 87.3 90.0 89.5 86.0 88.4 220.98 16 3 13 4.67
Udinese Calcio 88.0 89.3 88.8 87.5 86.0 87.9 220.16 18 5 13 2.80
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 88.0 87.3 88.5 88.5 86.0 87.7 219.01 19 7 12 1.86
Flamengo 88.0 89.8 89.3 89.5 86.0 88.5 222.26 10 4 6 1.75
Stoke City 89.0 88.0 90.3 89.0 85.0 88.3 221.33 13 6 7 1.33
AC Milan 89.0 88.5 88.8 88.5 87.0 88.4 220.45 17 9 8 1.00
RSC Anderlecht 89.0 90.3 92.0 91.5 89.0 90.4 226.64 2 2 0 0.50
Dinamo Zagreb 89.0 88.3 89.3 89.5 86.0 88.4 221.18 15 13 2 0.23
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 87.0 86.8 87.3 87.5 86.0 86.9 216.84 20 20 0 0.05
Werder Bremen 89.0 89.0 89.3 90.0 85.0 88.5 221.98 12 15 -3 -0.13
Manchester United 88.0 89.0 88.8 90.0 83.0 87.8 221.22 14 18 -4 -0.17
Southampton 87.0 89.5 90.3 90.0 86.0 88.6 223.06 8 11 -3 -0.18
Sporting CP 88.0 89.8 89.0 90.5 82.0 87.9 222.23 11 17 -6 -0.29
Paris Saint-Germain 91.0 88.8 89.5 92.0 87.0 89.7 223.76 6 10 -4 -0.30
Liverpool 90.0 89.8 90.3 89.5 87.0 89.3 223.42 7 14 -7 -0.43
FC AUGSBURG 89.0 88.5 89.8 90.5 87.0 89.0 222.55 9 19 -10 -0.47
Genoa CFC 92.0 90.5 92.3 90.0 86.0 90.2 226.06 3 8 -5 -0.50
Bayer Leverkusen 89.0 90.5 90.6 90.0 86.0 89.2 224.38 4 16 -12 -0.69
Ajax 92.0 90.5 91.3 92.5 85.0 90.3 226.77 1 12 -11 -0.83

Division 1 Season 18 stats and facts review.

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 3rd 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 4th were well below par this season and Hellas finishing 13th with the lowest VA.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre Fin VA PVA
Arsenal 92.0 91.5 91.8 94.0 88.0 91.5 229.30 4 1 3 4.00
Barcelona 91.0 91.8 91.5 94.5 86.0 91.0 229.27 5 3 2 1.00
Valencia CF 92.0 89.5 90.5 90.5 85.0 89.5 224.07 16 11 5 0.55
Juventus 95.0 91.8 93.8 94.0 88.0 92.5 231.46 2 2 0 0.50
Tottenham Hotspur 89.0 89.3 89.3 90.0 86.0 88.7 222.30 19 14 5 0.43
SL Benfica 93.0 90.8 92.5 92.0 88.0 91.3 228.12 9 7 2 0.43
Manchester City 95.0 91.8 91.0 91.0 85.0 90.8 226.95 11 9 2 0.33
SC Internacional 91.0 89.8 90.0 90.5 87.0 89.7 223.99 17 15 2 0.20
Bayern München 93.0 91.3 93.5 91.5 89.0 91.7 229.12 6 6 0 0.17
Real Madrid 91.0 91.8 91.8 93.5 86.0 90.8 228.82 8 8 0 0.13
Borussia Dortmund 92.0 91.5 91.3 92.0 87.0 90.8 227.48 10 10 0 0.10
Atlético Madrid 92.0 91.0 91.3 91.5 86.0 90.4 226.64 12 12 0 0.08
Levante UD 90.0 88.2 88.5 91.0 86.0 88.7 221.66 20 20 0 0.05
Aston Villa 89.0 90.0 90.8 89.0 84.0 88.6 223.21 18 19 -1 0.00
Everton 89.0 89.5 90.3 91.5 85.0 89.1 224.16 15 18 -3 -0.11
RCD Espanyol 92.0 89.5 90.5 91.5 85.0 89.7 224.72 14 17 -3 -0.12
Standard Liège 91.0 91.3 91.5 91.0 86.0 90.2 226.59 13 16 -3 -0.13
FC Porto 94.0 91.3 92.3 95.0 88.0 92.1 230.39 3 5 -2 -0.20
Hellas Verona 91.0 91.8 92.5 93.0 86.0 90.9 229.09 7 13 -6 -0.38
Chelsea 95.0 93.3 93.3 96.0 83.0 92.1 232.96 1 4 -3 -0.50

The Entirely Too Late Season 17 Division 1 Stats Article

With last season well and truly in the rear view mirror, and more importantly the legal issues with your author right here cleared with the estates of The Two Ronnies, we are back with some tables, charts and data to confuse, bemuse and put you into a snooze ...

The Final Table

The table below shows the final spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch of Division 1 last season

Chelsea put some big reputations to sword, and claim a deserved D1 title in S17

A terrific season from Chelsea, chased all the way by Barcelona, James McKenzie and DanWally going the full 12 rounds, Real Madrid and Porto putting in solid seasons, with some pundits pre-season favorites Juventus having a tough time of it before turning it around in the last third of the season and finishing strong.

The Worm Chart

Across the 38 fixtures ... the plight, woe and delight of the Top 5 in D1 in Season 17

From about a third of the way through the season, James assumed the perch at the top of D1 and fought off the challengers, primarily Barcelona ... Dan putting in a solid effort to fight it out. FC Porto have a nibble mid season but just couldn't sustain the challenge, Real Madrid with a late flourish to climb over their rivals Barca late in the season before that was stomped out ... and Juventus ... the author feels a slight brief fleeting twinge of responsibility for their wretched season, selling wantaway SC Internacional star Bruno 'Ego' Fernandes, for him to only regress at Juve despite being given the responsibility (and honour) of the #10 shirt.

Possession (no ... not The Exorcist kind)

Sorted in final league order | minutes of possession across the 38 fixtures - Winning | Drawing | Losing

Impressive display at the top of the tree, with the Top 5 being pretty even. Chelsea and Real Madrid with a lot of time ahead in matches, Juventus defensively super strong as always, matching Chelsea in not trailing in matches, but significantly spending more time scratching around for goals to go ahead with. Barcelona not able to consistently put in the shifts that keep them ahead in matches. At the caboose of the division, the trend is predictable, however Stoke City did find themselves spending more time ahead in matches, but were unable to close out them out with vital 'keep me up' points.

When the ball hits the back of the net ...

Sorted in reverse final league order | when the goals were scored | 0-45 min | 46-60 min | 61-75 min | 76-90 min

I like this one ... always interesting to know when the goals are scored. Starting at the top of the list, not very flippin' often, authors team included. Further down the list ... Arsenal and Real Madrid are the front running first half fancy's, not so good when the legs get weary and the 6'2" defenders studs are raking down the achilles for the fourth time. Chelsea and Barca, evenly distributing the net flaring goodness across the full ninety.

Same chart, but with percentages not goals scored

Provided to save Gav's abacus from taking flight and scattering balls throughout the neighbors garden

Look at the SC Internacional ... scores fark all 50% in the first half ... and the other 50% of fark all in the second half

If they don't have the ball they cannae score

Possession stats, green is good, red is you chasing the ball

Chelsea leading the way, impressive effort that ... at the foot of the table not surprisingly across a full season, even with the judicious application of slow ball, against the talent in D1, you just cannot crack high 40's or 50%. The rebuilding Hertha the outlier, a wretched run of form to end the season blunting superior possession performance

Who has been a naughty naughty boy then

In league finishing order, average YC's and RC's per match across Season 17

They say nice guys finish last, but AC Milan averaged a red card every five matches ... even before VAR was in play to slow down the most inconsequential contact. Having the benefit of a lot of other data, I would lean towards the teams at the top of the table averaging higher YC counts per match being a result of playing a lot Hard football ... comfortable in the knowledge that their squad depth can see the third or fourth midfielder easily being as good at a mid to bottom of the table starter. Stoke City and Liege being the Mr Nice Guys ... thems was raised right by their parents by the looks of it.

Octopus or Concrete Mits ... the GK stats

Now ... some GK stats ... which, I think, provides some key insights into how your team performs, and ultimately where you might finish.

The next few tables will show the Home fixture, Away fixture and Full Season stats for the D1 keepers, which I will explain underneath the first table

It looks scary ... but it isn't | Home fixtures GK stats for D1 in Season 17

Alright alright alright ... here goes nothing

Club & Keeper name - check, matches played - check ...

Clean sheets kept - check, goals conceded - check ... you still with me Gav ...

Goals conceded per game (match) - check, average match rating - check ... we doing ok so far

Average #of shots faced per game - check ... average #of shots on target per game - check ...

MoM - Man of the Match awards - check ... ok ... the easiest part is over

I use the following four categories to measure and rank each ol' concrete mit's

  1. Clean Sheets - the GK with the most gets ranked 1st ... all the way down to last
  2. Goals Conceded per game - the GK with the lowest avg gets ranked 1st ... all the way down to last
  3. Avg. Match Rating - the GK with the highest avg. rating gets ranked 1st ... and you get the drill
  4. MoM's - GK with the most ... 1st ... down to least MoM's gets ranked last

You can also see the shaded "1" being that GK had the best rank in that specific category

I simply then add the four ranking scores together to get a total for each GK, and then I rank those totals from lowest to highest. He who has the lowest sum gets ranked 1st, etc. etc.

I will do this for the Away fixtures (see below) as well. And then for the full season (Home & Away) stats, I simply average the scores for each GK from the Home data and the Away data, and then add these four averages together, and then rank them again

Question - who finished 6th in storming Season 17 ?

Answer - Sami Hando's team ... RCD Espanyol ... who is ranked as the best of the GK wild bunch in Home fixtures

And who is ranked 2nd ... the author's Division 2 playoff promotion winning side who I would suggest owes a very large part of their survival in D1 to the performances of Postman Pat

Same stats ... but for the Away Fixtures below

Would you have a look at that ... Sami Hando's at it again

Superlative performances in goal away from the comfort of Barcelona, Sami was a force for Espanyol, with Moraes at Porto being a top shelf operator as well. Cragno for AC Milan with more screen time fending off more shots than a Page 3 girl at Stringfellows in the 1980's ...

Now for the combined seasons stats

CLEAR ... a CLEAR winner of the golden concrete mits from Season 17

Pretty impressive ... no ... farken impressive work from Sami in goal all of Season 17. Probably the dominant reason that Espanyol were flying high and finished 6th. Experience matters, and Sami has it, and gave Glen a massive boost and huge rewards in Season 17. A new contract beckoned. Champions Cup football beckoned. It was to be a golden twilight to a magnificent career.

Narrators sagely serious voice footnote - on Saturday 18th June, the day before the first fixture in Season 18 Sami was sold to Ajax along with Robert Firmino for Paulo Dybala and Edin Dzeko. At the time this article went to press, Espanyol were languishing in 17th place, 2 points from safety with a final day home fixture against 13th place Hellas Verona needing a victory to remain in Division 1. Away from the bright lights in Division 1, Sami has struggled at Ajax in Season 18, with the Dutch powerhouse out of the playoff positions in 13th place, well ahead of the relegation places. Sami declined our request to be interviewed for this article, though his agent provided a sliver of insight into what he thought of his transfer one day before the start of the season, "did you see the photo's of Glen leaving grab a granny at 6am last weekend ... ?!"

"Though we will never know if Sami could have maintained his level of performance from Season 17, it can be safely stated that the Espanyol manager would have taken half of those performances not be in perilous danger of relegation the following season"

Postscript

With the same level of record keeping for the soon to be completed Season 18 ... there will be some charts tables and mildly comedic moments coming in the near future ...

Division 5 Season 18 Stats and Facts

Top of the stats but not the league?

Rubin and Sunderland are the clear stats leaders but the first two games haven’t been kind to them.

Kazan and Sunderland are almost two rating points better than most.  Solid all round teams, that should be able to double bounce with ease .  When you consider the 5th place team in D3 has a ranking of 219.43 they should have no trouble winning the league with games to spare.

Then as is usual for D5 there are a huge amount of team separated by a tiny margin. Lyon and Spartak are give or take identical. Torino just really need to add a keeper, Stuttgart could add a little depth.  Atalanta are a much more solid outfit now and they would be my prediction for a good cup run.

No relegation of course but always the sack race to look forward to.  Shaktar are the weakest by far,  then as far up as Athletic club any of those could finish in the lowest 3 positions,  some TLC or maybe TCP needed for a few of those clubs I think.

Division 5 is slightly weaker than last season about 0.1 across the board , which would equate to 1 88 becoming an 87.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
Rubin Kazan 89.0 88.5 88.4 88.0 86.0 88.0 219.72 1
Sunderland 88.0 88.5 87.8 88.0 86.0 87.7 219.12 2
Olympique Lyonnais 87.0 87.0 88.0 88.0 85.0 87.0 217.84 3
Spartak Moskva 87.0 87.0 88.0 88.0 85.0 87.0 217.84 4
Torino 86.0 86.8 87.6 88.0 86.0 86.9 217.32 5
VfB Stuttgart 89.0 87.0 87.8 87.5 83.0 86.9 217.32 6
Montpellier HSC 87.0 86.8 88.0 87.5 85.0 86.9 217.32 7
Olympique Marseille 88.0 87.8 87.3 87.0 85.0 87.0 217.31 8
Atalanta BC 88.0 87.0 87.8 87.0 86.0 87.2 217.23 9
Boca Juniors 89.0 86.8 88.3 86.5 85.0 87.1 217.11 10
AZ Alkmaar 87.0 86.8 88.0 87.0 85.0 86.8 216.99 11
AS Saint-Etienne 87.0 87.3 87.5 87.0 85.0 86.8 216.99 12
Olympiacos 88.0 87.3 86.5 87.5 85.0 86.9 216.64 13
Lokomotiv Moskva 87.0 86.3 87.5 87.5 85.0 86.7 216.52 14
Athletic Club 87.0 87.0 87.0 87.0 85.0 86.6 216.39 15
FC Basel 87.0 87.3 86.3 87.0 85.0 86.5 215.99 16
Independiente 88.0 86.3 87.2 87.0 84.0 86.5 215.95 17
PSV 87.0 86.0 87.0 87.5 84.0 86.3 215.80 18
ACF Fiorentina 87.0 86.8 87.0 86.0 85.0 86.4 215.54 19
Shakhtar Donetsk 86.0 86.5 85.4 87.0 83.0 85.6 214.35 20

Division 4 Season 18 Stats and Facts

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,  Inter should grab third, a more balanced side than Twente , similar to their close rivals Cruziero.

Dynamo Moscow risking it all with an attacking formation ,they too need a keeper and could finish much higher if they can pick up an 88.

218 is the Division 3 cut off, so Palace, Kyiv, Lille, CSKA, Malaga , VIllareal can all still hope for a playoff with security in D3 if they make it up.

216.5 was the relegation danger zone last season,  by in large Newcastle and Lazio are doomed at the moment, with Fenerbache likely to join them . West Ham maybe have a strong enough keeper to pull them through , which could leave Brugge or Koln if they get injuries hanging on the edge.

Cup run? Bordeaux, Inter or Twente.

Division 4 is considerably weaker than last season with a 0.3 rating point drop across the board.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
São Paulo FC 90.0 89.3 89.5 90.0 86.0 89.0 222.62 1
FC Twente 87.0 87.8 88.8 89.5 87.0 88.0 220.26 2
Internazionale 89.0 88.3 88.8 88.0 87.0 88.2 219.92 3
Cruzeiro 89.0 88.0 88.5 88.5 86.0 88.0 219.73 4
Dynamo Moskva 86.0 87.3 88.0 90.5 84.0 87.2 219.43 5
Crystal Palace 88.0 87.8 87.5 89.0 86.0 87.7 218.93 6
Dynamo Kyiv 88.0 87.5 87.8 89.0 85.0 87.5 218.81 7
Lille OSC 90.0 86.8 88.5 88.5 85.0 87.8 218.73 8
CSKA Moskva 87.0 88.0 88.0 88.0 85.0 87.2 218.64 9
Málaga CF 87.0 87.8 88.3 87.5 86.0 87.3 218.44 10
Villarreal CF 87.0 87.0 87.8 88.5 86.0 87.3 218.09 11
Chievo Verona 88.0 87.8 88.0 87.0 85.0 87.2 217.91 12
Girondins Bordeaux 88.0 87.3 87.8 87.5 86.0 87.3 217.76 13
1. FC Köln 88.0 86.5 88.3 88.0 83.0 86.8 217.52 14
Club Brugge KV 88.0 86.8 88.0 87.5 85.0 87.1 217.44 15
West Ham United 89.0 87.0 87.5 87.5 85.0 87.2 217.36 16
SSC Napoli 87.0 87.0 87.3 87.5 85.0 86.8 216.92 17
Fenerbahçe SK 89.0 87.0 86.8 87.0 85.0 87.0 216.47 18
SS Lazio 88.0 87.0 87.5 86.0 82.0 86.1 215.90 19
Newcastle United 87.0 85.5 86.3 85.0 84.0 85.6 213.17 20

Division 3 Season 18 Stats and Facts

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 you need 221 to survive D2 so Celta who just need a keeper, Wolfsburg weak at the back and Hamburg who lack a little depth just need a small improvement to move up to the next step.

Last year 217.5 was pretty much the relegation cut off.  Roma have the best defence of the relegation candidates, if they could pick up an attacker who know? , Sevilla have decent keeper as do Zenit. Besitkas could also do with an attacker or two.

Swansea look best placed for a cup run, with Borussia also in with a chance of making it deep into the knock out rounds.

Division 3 is slightly stronger than last year, potentially 2 87s are now 88s.. with an increase of 0.25 rating points.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
Leicester City 88.0 89.0 90.0 90.0 85.0 88.4 222.46 1
Swansea City 88.0 88.5 89.3 90.0 87.0 88.6 221.70 2
FK Partizan 88.0 88.0 88.4 91.0 86.0 88.3 221.15 3
FC Schalke 04 90.0 88.3 88.6 90.0 86.0 88.6 221.10 4
Celta Vigo 87.0 88.3 89.5 89.0 85.0 87.8 220.69 5
VfL Wolfsburg 89.0 87.0 88.8 91.0 85.0 88.2 220.63 6
Hamburger SV 89.0 89.0 88.3 89.0 85.0 88.1 220.53 7
US Sassuolo 91.0 88.8 88.8 88.0 86.0 88.5 220.44 8
AS Monaco 88.0 88.0 88.0 90.0 85.0 87.8 220.06 9
Galatasaray SK 88.0 88.0 89.0 88.0 86.0 87.8 219.68 10
River Plate 87.0 88.3 88.3 88.0 86.0 87.5 219.16 11
Borussia Mönchengladbach 87.0 87.3 88.8 88.5 86.0 87.5 219.09 12
Sampdoria 88.0 87.3 88.0 89.0 85.0 87.5 218.81 13
Santos FC 88.0 87.0 88.0 89.0 84.0 87.2 218.49 14
Celtic 89.0 87.3 87.2 89.0 85.0 87.5 218.29 15
Feyenoord 87.0 86.8 88.5 88.0 85.0 87.1 218.04 16
AS Roma 88.0 88.5 87.2 87.0 85.0 87.1 217.87 17
Besiktas JK 88.0 87.5 87.8 87.0 86.0 87.3 217.63 18
Sevilla 89.0 87.8 87.0 87.0 86.0 87.4 217.35 19
Zenit Saint Petersburg 89.0 87.0 87.5 86.5 86.0 87.2 216.83 20

Division 2 Season 18 Stats and Facts

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 midfield maestros.

This leaves the chasing pack feeding off the scraps.  WBA and PSG have a potent attack, with PSG also having a decent keeper, they could give the top 3 a run for their money.  Leverkusen and Liverpool are more balanced.  Southampton lack a decent keeper but should they find, one could finish way above 8th spot.  As for my side Augsburg, good upfront but the defence still lets us down a little.

Looks like 224 is needed to survive in D1 so really only the top 5 should aim for promotion without substantive improvement.

In the lower reaches relegation was set just under 221 last seasons.  Dnipro look even more detached than last season, I think it has to be the end of them now. Hertha has a good midfield and that should be enough. Udinese have very little threat up the front, while Hoffenheim are vulnerable at the back and Milan also lack a midfield threat.

Good cup run, AC Milan may be up for that but Anderlecht could do a rare D2 and cup double

Division 2 is around .3 rating points stronger than last season , which is perspective would men 3 players in most sides who were 89's are now 90s

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
Ajax 92.0 90.5 91.3 92.5 85.0 90.3 226.77 1
RSC Anderlecht 89.0 90.3 92.0 91.5 89.0 90.4 226.64 2
Genoa CFC 92.0 90.5 92.3 90.0 86.0 90.2 226.06 3
Bayer Leverkusen 89.0 90.5 90.6 90.0 86.0 89.2 224.38 4
West Bromwich Albion 89.0 89.5 89.8 92.0 87.0 89.5 224.32 5
Paris Saint-Germain 91.0 88.8 89.5 92.0 87.0 89.7 223.76 6
Liverpool 90.0 89.8 90.3 89.5 87.0 89.3 223.42 7
Southampton 87.0 89.5 90.3 90.0 86.0 88.6 223.06 8
FC AUGSBURG 89.0 88.5 89.8 90.5 87.0 89.0 222.55 9
Flamengo 88.0 89.8 89.3 89.5 86.0 88.5 222.26 10
Sporting CP 88.0 89.8 89.0 90.5 82.0 87.9 222.23 11
Werder Bremen 89.0 89.0 89.3 90.0 85.0 88.5 221.98 12
Stoke City 89.0 88.0 90.3 89.0 85.0 88.3 221.33 13
Manchester United 88.0 89.0 88.8 90.0 83.0 87.8 221.22 14
Dinamo Zagreb 89.0 88.3 89.3 89.5 86.0 88.4 221.18 15
Hertha BSC 89.0 87.3 90.0 89.5 86.0 88.4 220.98 16
AC Milan 89.0 88.5 88.8 88.5 87.0 88.4 220.45 17
Udinese Calcio 88.0 89.3 88.8 87.5 86.0 87.9 220.16 18
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 88.0 87.3 88.5 88.5 86.0 87.7 219.01 19
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 87.0 86.8 87.3 87.5 86.0 86.9 216.84 20

Division 1 Season 18 Stats and Fact

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 Chelsea winning the league again, almost 1.5 points above their nearest rival. They may lack depth and can be stung in midfield but the defence looks near unbeatable and they will knock them in at the other end.

Juventus also stand clear of the pack. They should get second and if Chelsea pick up injuries they would be there to pounce.  Porto also look strong in defence, as do Arsenal. Barcelona rebuilding slip to 5th favourites, with Bayern just below them now. Barca is still potent up top but I think they will lack the possession they crave and the fans won’t be happy.

Benfica look to be stronger than their mid table ranking suggests and Madrid will hope to challenge up top once again.

Last year if you were in the lower 3 or had a rating less than 223 you were sure to be relegated. Looks like Levante will be taking the fall this year, with Spurs joining them.  Spurs lack in GK, DEF and MID. Villa and Internacional will be fighting it out hoping to do what Levante did last year and beat the stats. Looks much tougher for Villa as they are almost 0.7 rating points beneath their rival.

Good cup run well Internacional look the team for that with Benfica or Dortmund sure to want something from the season. Division 1 is slightly higher rated than last season.

  GK DEF MID ATT Top18 Ave ETOT Pre
Chelsea 95.0 93.3 93.3 96.0 83.0 92.1 232.96 1
Juventus 95.0 91.8 93.8 94.0 88.0 92.5 231.46 2
FC Porto 94.0 91.3 92.3 95.0 88.0 92.1 230.39 3
Arsenal 92.0 91.5 91.8 94.0 88.0 91.5 229.30 4
Barcelona 91.0 91.8 91.5 94.5 86.0 91.0 229.27 5
Bayern München 93.0 91.3 93.5 91.5 89.0 91.7 229.12 6
Hellas Verona 91.0 91.8 92.5 93.0 86.0 90.9 229.09 7
Real Madrid 91.0 91.8 91.8 93.5 86.0 90.8 228.82 8
SL Benfica 93.0 90.8 92.5 92.0 88.0 91.3 228.12 9
Borussia Dortmund 92.0 91.5 91.3 92.0 87.0 90.8 227.48 10
Manchester City 95.0 91.8 91.0 91.0 85.0 90.8 226.95 11
Atlético Madrid 92.0 91.0 91.3 91.5 86.0 90.4 226.64 12
Standard Liège 91.0 91.3 91.5 91.0 86.0 90.2 226.59 13
RCD Espanyol 92.0 89.5 90.5 91.5 85.0 89.7 224.72 14
Everton 89.0 89.5 90.3 91.5 85.0 89.1 224.16 15
Valencia CF 92.0 89.5 90.5 90.5 85.0 89.5 224.07 16
SC Internacional 91.0 89.8 90.0 90.5 87.0 89.7 223.99 17
Aston Villa 89.0 90.0 90.8 89.0 84.0 88.6 223.21 18
Tottenham Hotspur 89.0 89.3 89.3 90.0 86.0 88.7 222.30 19
Levante UD 90.0 88.2 88.5 91.0 86.0 88.7 221.66 20