Issue number 368 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post crunched the InStat data on goal scoring chances and effective playing time for 36 European leagues since 2018/19 (or 2018) to determine the level of “game openness”. The findings show that clubs in leagues from the North/West part of the continent tend to play more openly than those from the South/East.

With an average of 11.7 chances and 63’21” effective time per match, the Dutch Eredivisie recorded the highest Game Openness Index, ahead of the German Bundesliga and the Belgian Pro League. At the opposite end is the Spanish Segunda División with just 8.7 chances and 55’06” of effective time. The Greek Super League and the Romanian Liga I also are at the bottom three of the rankings.

On average, the effective playing time of matches in the 36 leagues survey is just above 59 minutes: from 63’21” in the Netherlands to 54’55” in the Czech Republic. Teams create on average 10.2 goal scoring chances per match: from 11.9 in the German Bundesliga to 8.7 in both the Spanish second division and the Greek top one.

Issue number 367 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks current big-5 league clubs according to their net spending on transfer operations concluded over the last ten seasons. Manchester United tops the table with a negative balance of more than one billion euro, ahead of Manchester City and Paris St-Germain. Fourteen English clubs are in the top 20 of clubs with the most negative net transfer spending.

LOSC Lille clubs stands out at the opposite end with a positive transfer balance of €349 million over the last decade. The French side outranks league rivals Olympique Lyonnais and three Italian Serie A teams: Genoa, Udinese and Atalanta. The top three of current big-5 league clubs having generated the most incomes from transfers since 2012/13 are Chelsea, Monaco and Atlético Madrid. In total, 52 out 98 clubs have a positive net spending. This ratio is one (Brentford) out of 20 for Premier League teams.

Gathered with the greatest care through the cross-checking of all possible sources, whether official or unofficial, the data includes eventual add-on fees included in the deals, regardless of their actual payment. Within the limits of available information, incomes deriving from sell-on fees are also taken into account.

Issue number 366 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players born in 2002 or after active in 31 European leagues outside of the big-5 with the highest InStat Index. The latter takes into consideration footballers’ pitch production depending on position played (centre back, winger, etc.) and the general level of the matches in which they participated.

The greatest score overall was recorded for AFC Ajax’s Ryan Gravenberch. Among midfielders, the Dutch talent ranks ahead Arsen Zakharyan (Dinamo Moscow) and Fábio Carvalho (Fulham). Running out contract, the latter is being courted by several major teams. The highest InStat Index for full backs was recorded for another AFC Ajax player who is attracting interest from clubs in the big-5: the 19-year-old Devyne Rensch.

The best score for other positions were measured for Oliver Dovin (Hammarby) among goalkeepers, Ilya Zabarnyi (Dynamo Kiev for centre backs and Jakub Kaminski (Lech Poznan) among forwards. Akinkunmi Amoo (Hammarby) and Sebastiano Esposito (Basel, on loan from Inter) complete the podium for strikers. The InStat Index for players from 36 European leagues is accessible for free in this exclusive tool. More information is available on demand.

For the first time, the CIES Football Observatory research team has compiled a study comparing from a demographic perspective the five major European leagues with ten additional competitions located in three other continents: America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, United States and Canada), Asia (South Korea, Japan, China), as well as Oceania (Australia and New Zealand). All the data is available for free in the 71st edition of the Monthly Report.

The study notably reveals that, during the second semester 2021, club-trained footballers played almost twice in non-European teams than in European ones: 19.4% of total domestic league minutes compared to 11.7%. However, for the MLS in the USA and Canada, players from clubs’ youth academies only played 9.2% of minutes. This is the second lowest figure after that recorded in the Italian Serie A (7.4%). The Argentinean Liga Profesional is at the opposite end with a record high of 29.4% of minutes played by club-trained footballers.

Boca Juniors stands out as the biggest training club with 78 footballers from its youth academy fielded by the 286 teams surveyed, 18 more than city rivals River Plate. The Colombians of Deportivo Cali (56 players) complete the podium of the most productive training teams, ahead of FC Barcelona (50), São Paulo (49) and Colo Colo (48). The 365th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 100 list of clubs having trained the most players fielded in the 15 leagues analysed.

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The 364th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the rankings of European clubs having obtained penalties the most frequently since the start of the 2018/19 season as per InStat data. The sample is composed of teams always present in one of the 31 leagues surveyed during this period. Crvena Zvezda is at the top with a penalty every 239 minutes, while Manchester United heads the rankings in the big-5 (one every 299 minutes).

Paris St-Germain (305 minutes), Lazio and Inter (both 315’), Real Sociedad (374’), as well as Borussia Mönchengladbach and RB Leipzig (both 397’ ) top the table in the other major championships. Real Madrid scored all the 24 penalties obtained. The lowest conversion rate among big-5 league teams was recorded for Montpellier (8 out of 14, 57%) and the lowest overall was measured for Stoke City (6 out of 15, 40%). In total, the teams surveyed scored 78.6% of the penalties awarded.

The Greek of Panathinaikos obtained the most penalties compared to the number of big chances created: one penalty every 15 goal scoring chances. Bristol City are at the opposite end with one penalty obtained every 91 big chances. This is partially due to different refereeing styles. The number of penalties awarded per match vary indeed between 0.23 in the English Championship up to almost the double in the Ukrainian top division (0.45).

Issue number 363 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares points achieved by teams from 32 leagues of UEFA member associations with points expected according to a statistical model including ball possession and the number and distance of both shots taken and conceded (InStat data). With 2.71 points per match achieved and 1.75 expected, the Romanians of CFR Cluj have the most positive gap (+0.96). The Italian second division side Vicenza Virtus are at the opposite end (-0.81).

At big-5 league level, the greatest positive difference between points achieved and expected was recorded for Paris St-Germain (+0.77, 4th overall behind Cluj, Trabzonspor and FC Zurich), ahead of Milan AC (+0.71) and Eintracht Frankfurt (+0.50). At the other end of the spectrum are AS St-Etienne (-0.48), RB Leipzig (-0.43) and Greuther Fürth (-0.42). In the English Premier League, the gaps vary between +0.40 for Tottenham Hotspur and -0.32 for Newcastle United.

Bayern Munich is the most dominant teams from an expected point perspective (2.65 per match), followed by Crvena Zvezda, Ajax, Celtic, Rangers, Dynamo Kyiv, Porto, Manchester City, Young Boys and RB Salzburg. Conversely, Hrvatski dragovoljac, Sandhausen and Fortuna Sittard are the three most dominated teams among the 518 surveyed. Further data from our partners InStat data is accessible for free in the Performance Stats tool.

Issue number 362 of the Weekly Post presents the traditional bi-annual list of the 100 big-5 league players with the top estimated transfer value according to the CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The Real Madrid’s Brazilian rising star Vinícius Júnior (€166 million) outranks Phil Foden and Erling Haaland. These figures are irrespective of eventual buy-out clauses in players’ contract.

Per position, the top transfer values were calculated for Gianluigi Donnarumma among goalkeepers, Rúben Dias for centre backs, Alphonso Davies among full backs, Jude Bellingham for defensive midfielders, Florian Wirtz for attacking ones, as well as for Vinícius Júnior among forwards. Kevin de Bruyne has the greatest valuation among players aged 30 or over, while Kylian Mbappé tops the list for players running out of contract next June.

The values were calculated using the exclusive econometric approach developed by the CIES Football Observatory research team. A paper presenting the method has been recently published in the peer-review and open access journal Economies. It can be accessed here. The transfer value estimates for all big-5 league players are also available in free access here. Go to the Weekly Post to find out the top 100!

Issue number 361 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the best XI for each of the five major European leagues. Players were selected according to the CIES Performance Index powered by Opta data. Only footballers fielded for at least 900 domestic league minutes since the start of the 2021/22 season were included in the line-ups.

Ten of the eleven players in the English Premier League best XI are from Manchester City (Dias, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodri, Silva) and Liverpool FC (Alexander-Arnold, Henderson, Salah, Jota, Mané), the only exception being Chelsea FC’s goalkepeer Edouard Mendy. In Spain, we find six Real Madrid players (Courtois, Alaba, Casemiro, Modri?, Benzema and Vinícius), three from Sevilla (Koundé, Acuña and Jordán), and one from both Barcelona (Dest) and Betis (Fekir).

Only three clubs are represented in the German Bundesliga best XI: Bayern (7 players), Borussia Dortmund (3) and Bayer Leverkusen (Patrik Schick). Conversely, the French Ligue 1 best XI includes players from a record number of six clubs: Paris St-Germain (4 players), Olympique de Marseille (3), as well as Montpellier, Lens, Rennes and Brest. Finally, in Italy, Inter is the most represented club (4 players), ahead of Milan (3), Napoli (3) and Sassuolo (Domenico Berardi).

Issue number 360 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 50 outfield players and the 50 goalkeepers worldwide who accumulated the greatest pitch experience since the start of the year. The rankings are elaborated on the basis of the exclusive capital experience method, which combines within a single metric the playing time of footballers and the sporting level of the teams for which they played or the competitions they participated in.

The Real Madrid and formerly Bayern Munich David Alaba heads the pack for outfield players ahead of two other centre backs: Rúben Dias (Manchester City and Portugal) and Milan Škriniar (Inter and Slovakia). Carlos Casemiro (Real Madrid and Brazil) and Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and France) top the table for midfielders and forwards. For goalkeepers, Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid and Belgium) outranks Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid and Slovenia) and Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich and Germany).

Since 2018, the winners were Ivan Rakiti? and Alisson Becker (2018), Virgil van Dijk and Ederson Moraes (2019), as well as Andrew Robertson and Thibaut Courtois (2020). The final 2021 rankings will be published next January. The full experience capital methodology is presented in the seventieth edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report, which also presents current tables for players born in 2001 or after.

Go to the Weekly Post with the top 50s for goalkeepers and outfield players

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Issue number 359 of the Weekly Post presents the ten U23 big-5 league players per position with the greatest estimated transfer value as per the exclusive CIES Football Observatory econometric model. Three U23 forwards could theoretically be transferred for up to €150M or more during January’s window: Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund and Norway), Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid and Brazil) and Phil Foden (Manchester City and England).

For other positions, the top estimated transfer values were recorded for Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris St-Germain and Italy) among goalkeepers, Eric García (Barcelona and Spain) for centre backs, Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich and Canada) for full backs, Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund and England) for defensive midfielders, as well as for Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen and Germany) among attacking midfielders.

Seventeen of the sixty U23 footballers listed play in the English Premier League, fourteen in the German Bundesliga, twelve in the Spanish Liga, ten in the French Ligue 1 and only seven in the Italian Serie A. Bayer Leverkusen is the most represented club with six players, followed by Barcelona (5) and Chelsea (4). The transfer value estimate intervals for all big-5 league players are available for free on the CIES Football Observatory website.

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Issue number 358 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the InStat data on the number of passes attempted per match and their average length for teams from 40 leagues worldwide. The multiplication of these two variables shows the ball circulation distance for teams during possession. This distance varies between 12.8 kilometres per match for the Scots of Celtic FC and 6.9 km for the Mexicans of Atlético San Luis.

At big-5 league level, the teams moving most the ball are Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga (4th among the 654 teams analysed), Manchester City in the Premier League (5th), Sevilla in the Liga (6th), Monaco in the Ligue 1 (29th), as well as Fiorentina in the Serie A (51th). At the top of the rankings for the four non-European leagues surveyed are Flamengo in Brazil, Tigres UANL in Mexico, Atlético Nacional in Colombia and Unión La Calera in Chile.

The lowest values for the average length of passes attempted were recorded for two teams with a well-defined style of play: Roberto De Zerbi’s Shakhtar Donetsk and Mauricio Pochettino’s Paris St-Germain (15.7 meters in both cases). Three British teams are at the opposite end of the table: the Scots of Livingston FC (24.4 m) and Motherwell FC (23.2 m), as well as the English side Birmingham City (23.4 m).

Full data for free here!

Issue number 357 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 84 top divisions worldwide according to the number of players fielded in domestic league matches during the last 365 days. The figures greatly vary from only 21 players at the Finnish side Inter Turku up to 61 for four clubs: Club Aurora (BOL), Colo Colo (CHI), EC Juventude (BRA) and Royal AM (RSA).

At the level of the five major European leagues, Genoa Calcio fielded the most players in domestic league matches since the 15th November 2020: 50 footballers. Two English clubs also engaged in European Cup competitions are at the opposite end of the table: Manchester City and West Ham United (25 players). Among the 14 big-5 league teams who fielded less than 30 players notably are Spanish champions Atlético Madrid (26 players) and European champions Chelsea FC (29).

Per league, the average number of players fielded per team stretches from 25.7 in the Faroe Islands up to 48.4 in Honduras. In the big-5, the extreme values were recorded in the English Premier League (31.0) and the Italian Serie A (37.7). Per Confederation, the figures vary from 35.3 at AFC level up to 43.5 in the CONMEBOL. Click here to access the Post.