How frequently are teams fouling their opponents across Europe? Issue number 338 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post answers this question using the data provided by InStat. At the level of the five major European leagues, the lowest foul frequency was measured for Arsenal (one foul every 10’44”), while Getafe is at the bottom end of the table (one foul every 5’44”).

Issue number 337 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post reveals the employment rate of club-trained footballers (i.e. those having been for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21 in their employer club) in teams from 27 top divisions of UEFA member associations. The highest percentage of minutes by club-trained players overall was recorded for the Slovakian side MŠK Žilina (61.5%), while RC Celta de Vigo (49.0%) has the greatest figure for big-5 league teams.

Issue number 336 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the index developed by the sports data company InStat to assess the performance of football players. This metric considers the technical gestures achieved by players, their playing time, as well as the level of the competitions in which matches were played. For footballers with more than 1,000 domestic league minutes this season, Lionel Messi (405) outranks Neymar Júnior (381) and Robert Lewandowski (371).

While player mobility has increased in recent years, squad stability remains a key success factor in football. Issue number 335 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the footballers among current squad members having played the most domestic league matches during the last ten years for 540 teams from 35 top divisions worldwide. Sebastián Viera holds the record figure with 395 championship games for Junior de Barranquilla (Colombia).

The 334th edition of the Weekly Post presents the squad transfer value for the 98 teams in the five major European leagues. The estimated value for players loaned to other big-5 league teams was computed for the clubs of belonging, while that of players on loan outside of the top five European championships is not considered. The estimates were calculated through the CIES Football Observatory transfer value algorithm.

Issue number 333 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the percentage of domestic league minutes by footballers who had not yet turned 21 at the time of the matches played this season for 999 clubs from 71 top divisions that are currently running worldwide. The highest percentages were recorded for the Danish side FC Nordsjælland (48.9%) among the 30 major European competitions and the Singaporean team Young Lions (47.1%) for the clubs surveyed outside of Europe.

Issue number 332 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares 72 top division leagues worldwide from the perspective of the percentage of matches in which a team won by at least three goals. The lowest proportion of uneven fixtures was recorded in the Colombian Categoría Primera A: just 5 out of 126 (4.0%). At the opposite end of the table is the Solomon Islands top division: 41 uneven games out of 110 (37.3%).

The CIES Football Observatory has developed a unique methodology to compare the performance of players irrespective of their position. Issue number 331 of the Weekly Post highlights the outfield footballers with the highest score for domestic league matches played since the 1st of January 2021 for each of the 98 big-5 league clubs.

The CIES Football Observatory has developed a powerful algorithm to assess the transfer value of professional football players on a scientific basis. Issue number 330 of the Weekly Post presents the top valued footballer for each of the 98 teams from the five major European leagues, as well as the percentage that the value of the most expensive player represents out of the total estimated transfer value of his owner club.

Issue number 329 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights footballers having won the highest percentage of domestic league matches in which they participated as starting 11 players since the 15th March 2020. The sample covers 42 top divisions worldwide. It only includes footballers who started at least 20 games in their current league (regular season or play-off matches).

Issue number 328 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the most promising youngsters worldwide according to the capital experience approach. The latter weights domestic league minutes played by footballers with the sporting level of their teams of employment on a global level. The greatest capital experience since January 1st 2020 for players born in the 2000s was calculated for Borussia Dortmund’s winger Jadon Sancho.

Issue number 327 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post crunches the InStat data on the direction of passes made during current season by more than 500 teams from 31 European leagues. No club made so far a greater percentage of passes backwards than current Premier League leaders Manchester City: 41.6%. This reflects the emphasis put on possession by Guardiola’s side.

Who are the U23 players with the best credentials to make soon their national A-team debut with one of the nations in the 20 top positions of the FIFA rankings? Issue number 326 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post answers this question by considering the experience level that eligible footballers have accumulated during the last year (minutes weighted by sporting level of employment teams or competitions played).

Issue number 325 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the points projected at the end of the season for teams from 22 leagues across Europe. The projection was calculated using a statistical model taking into account shots on target and from the box attempted or conceded, ball possession, as well as teams’ own passes and those of opponents in the opposite third of the pitch.

During the last ten transfer windows, Manchester City total the most negative net transfer spending among current big-5 league clubs (-€631M) ahead of city rivals Manchester United (-€586M). Two French Ligue 1 clubs are at the opposite end of the table: LOSC Lille (+€191M) and Olympique Lyonnais (+151M). Issue number 324 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the data for each club.

Issue number 323 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 31 European leagues according to the number of shots per goals as per the data provided by InStat. The most clinical team overall is Hamburger SV (one goal every 4.7 shots), followed by Olympiacos and Bayern Munich. At the opposite end, the highest figure was recorded for Belenenses (one goal every 20.5 shots).

Empty stadiums impact teams very differently. Despite the lack of supporters due to the pandemic, Atlético Madrid recorded the highest proportion of home wins among teams in the five major European leagues: 13 out of 15 including yesterday night’s fixture against Valencia (86.7%). The data for teams in 66 top divisions worldwide are available in issue number 322 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Issue number 321 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 72 domestic leagues worldwide according to the percentage of minutes played by the 11 most fielded footballers. The highest figures for the five major European championships were measured for two English Premier League teams who performed beyond expectations since the start of the season: Aston Villa (87%) and Southampton (85%).

Issue number 320 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from the five major European leagues according to the frequency of dribbles attempted by their players. Paris St-Germain tops the table with a dribble attempted every 3’58’’, while Burnley FC is at the bottom of the rankings with a dribble attempt every 8’46’’.

Issue number 319 of the Weekly Post presents the traditional biannual list of the big-5 league players with the greatest transfer values according to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The top estimated value was calculated for the 23-year-old Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford: €165 M. With only 18 months of contract remaining, the former leader Kylian Mbappé falls back to fifth place.

No professional footballer has played as many minutes in official matches in the calendar year 2020 as Manchester United’s centre back Harry Maguire. Up until December 17th, the English international was fielded during 4’745 minutes (53 matches). The top 100s for both goalkeepers and outfield players are available in issue number 318 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Data is more than ever a must when it comes to scouting. The CIES Football Observatory has developed a unique methodology to assess the performance of players on an objective basis. Using the data from InStat, issue number 317 of the Weekly Post presents the 10 best performing footballers born in the 2000s for each of the six areas of the game covered in our approach.

Issue number 316 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares clubs from 31 top divisions of UEFA member associations according to the average age at which they recruited their current players (not including footballers from the youth academy). CSKA Moscow made the earliest recruitment (21.1 years), ahead of FC DAC 1904 (21.7) and SC Heerenveen (22.1).

Issue number 315 of the Weekly Post highlights the big-5 league players whose transfer value has increased the most in November according to the CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The Norwegian prodigy Erling Haaland tops the table for footballers with a transfer valuation of more than €80M: €155M compared to €120M at the end of October (+€35M).

Issue number 314 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the ten most represented foreign origins in 126 professional leagues worldwide. The Brazilians represent the biggest contingent of expatriates in 23 championships, followed by the Argentineans (15) and the French (13). The Atlas of migration presents more exclusive data on international transfer networks.

Issue number 313 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players from the 10 best European leagues who won the highest percentage of aerial defensive duels since the start of the season. Chelsea’s centre-back Kurt Zouma tops the table with 26 aerial duels won out of 27 (96.3%). Berat Djimsiti (Atalanta) and Harry Maguire (Manchester United) complete the podium.

Issue number 312 of the Weekly Post presents the exclusive CIES Football Observatory annual rankings of the clubs having trained the most players active in 31 top divisions of UEFA member associations. With 85 footballers trained, the Serbian side FK Partizan tops the table ahead of AFC Ajax (77) and Dinamo Zagreb (71). With respect to big-5 league players, the podium consists of Real Madrid (43), Barcelona (32) and Lyon (31).

Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich) heads the exclusive CIES Football Observatory list of the highest estimated transfer values for big-5 league players born in the 2000s: €180 M. The Champions League winner outranks Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund, €125 M) and Ansu Fati (Barcelona, €123 M). The top 100 is available in issue number 311 of the Weekly Post.

Issue number 310 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 67 top divisions worldwide according to the average age of line-ups fielded in the current season. The lowest figure among teams from countries in the top 20 positions of the UEFA club association ranking was measured for the Danish side Nordsjælland (22.7 years), ahead of Famalicão and Den Haag.

Issue number 309 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents players having committed and suffered the most fouls per minute in 33 European championships according to the data provided by our partners InStat. With one foul suffered every 20’39”, Neymar (PSG) heads the rankings for big-5 league footballers.

Issue number 308 of the Weekly Post presents the annual CIES Football Observatory analysis on the transfer fee expenditure to assemble the squad by big-5 league teams. As for 2019, Manchester City tops the table with an estimated 1.036 billion euro invested in transfer indemnities to sign their current players (including add-ons).

Issue number 307 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks clubs having played at least 27 domestic league matches since 01/10/2019 according to the number of players fielded. The sample is composed of 1,014 top or second division teams from 50 countries across the world. The Brazilian club Avaí FC tops the table with 59 players used, 37 more than the two teams having fielded the least footballers: Halmstad (Sweden) and Wellington Phoenix (New Zealand).

Issue number 306 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 127 footballers having scored at least 10 goals in 94 top division leagues worldwide during the calendar year 2020. The 33-year-old Brazilian Júnior Negão from the South Korean team of Ulsan Hyundai tops the list with 24 goals, two more than the 35-year-old Portuguese superstar Ronaldo from Juventus.

Issue number 305 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 80 top divisions worldwide according to the percentage of minutes by 21-year-old or younger players since the 2015/16 (or 2015) season. The lowest percentage among the five major European leagues was recorded in the English Premier League (7.1% of minutes), while the highest was measured in the French Ligue 1 (15.4%).

Home teams traditionally win more matches than away ones. This is often explained by the support of local fans. Issue number 304 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the difference in the percentage of home wins before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in 63 leagues worldwide. It reveals that the home advantage persisted without spectators, even though in a less marked way.

The 303rd edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the big-5 league players whose transfer value would increase the most if their contract with the club of belonging was extended for an additional year. The most positive gap overall was recorded for Jadon Sancho (+€43M), ahead of Kylian Mbappé (+€39M) and Lionel Messi (+€35M).

Issue number 302 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the InStat data on ball movement (in km) during possession phases by teams from 35 European competitions for the seasons 2018/19 and 2019/20 (2018 and 2019 for summer leagues). Bayern Munich (12.7 km per match) outranks Manchester City (12.5 km) and Liverpool (12.3 km).

Issue number 301 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the rankings of the most represented origins among expatriate coaches of 1,875 clubs from 128 leagues in 91 countries. At the top of the table is Argentina. The 68 Argentinians present abroad on the 1st June 2020 were at work in 22 different countries.

The 300th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares 35 European leagues according to the number of penalties per game whistled by referees since the 2017/18 season (2018 for summer leagues) as per data provided by our partners InStat. At the top of the table is the Polish Ekstraklasa (a penalty every 230 minutes), while at the opposite end is the Norwegian Eliteserien (every 389 minutes).

The 299th edition of the Weekly Post presents the 100 big-5 league players with the highest estimated transfer values according to the CIES Football Observatory algorithm. Kylian Mbappé tops the list ahead of four Englishmen: Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Marcus Rashford. The young Bayern Munich prodigy Alphonso Davies enters the top 10.

The German Bundesliga was the first major European league to restart after the COVID-19 break. Issue number 298 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the players with the best statistics during current season for eight different indicators according to the data provided by our partners OptaPro.

Issue number 297 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the employment of head coaches in 84 top divisions worldwide between January 2015 and December 2019. During this period, the average number of coaches per club in charge for at least three domestic league matches goes from 9.1 in Bolivia to 2.6 in Sweden. On average, a coach managed 40.6 games.