Issue number 296 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post reveals that Lincoln Red Imps from Gibraltar is the current top division team worldwide having won the highest percentage of domestic league matches played between 2015 and 2020 by three or more goals: 49.6%. AFC Ajax is fifth (37.4%), while Paris St-Germain and Barcelona are ninth (35.4%).

The 295th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 150 top division leagues and clubs worldwide according to the percentage of goalless games during the five-year period between January 2015 and December 2019. At the top 30 places are 23 Africans domestic championships. The highest percentage overall was recorded in Gambia (23.5%) ahead of Cameroon (19.1%).

Early professional experience is key to succeed in football. Great discrepancies exist between clubs and leagues in the opportunities given to young players to prove their talent. Issue number 294 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the percentage of minutes played in the current season or the last completed one by U21 footballers from 1,292 clubs and 93 top divisions worldwide.

Between January 2015 and December 2019, Red Star Belgrade won 130 domestic league matches out of the 135 during which they scored the first goal: 96.3%. This is the highest value measured among clubs from 92 top divisions worldwide ahead of Sherif Tiraspol from Moldova (94.1%) and Albirex Niigata Singapore (93.3%). The full analysis is available in the 293rd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Issue number 292 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks countries worldwide according to the number of their representatives having played professional football abroad during the calendar year 2019. Brazil is at the top of the table (1,600 players, of which 74.6% active in top division leagues) ahead of France (1,027, 74.0%) and Argentina (972, 75.5%).

The 291st Weekly Post of the CIES Football Observatory highlights the main clubs from where current big-5 league players departed to reach the five major European leagues. At the top of the stepping-stone club rankings are three regular European Cup participants: AFC Ajax (22 players currently in the big-5 were recruited there), SL Benfica (21) and RB Salzburg (20).

The 290th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks clubs from 87 top divisions worldwide according to the number of players fielded in domestic league matches since January 2015. The highest value was recorded for the Colombian side of Deportivo Pasto (176 different players), while the lowest one was measured for Shanghai SIPG in China (44 players).

The coronavirus pandemic is heavily impacting the football industry. Issue number 289 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the gaps in the players’ estimated transfer value in the event that no matches will be played and no contract will be extended until the end of June. As such, the total player transfer value at big-5 league level would decrease by 28%: from €32.7 to €23.4 billion.

Two Borussia Dortmund players head the rankings of big-5 league footballers born in or after 2000 with the highest transfer values according to the CIES Football Observatory algorithm : Jadon Sancho and Erling Håland. The Englishman is valued at almost €200 M and the Norwegian at €101 M. While the value of Sancho probably reached its peak, that of Håland is destined to grow. The top 50 list is available for free in issue number 288 of the Weekly Post.

The 287th edition of the Weekly Post ranks clubs from the five major European leagues according to the value on the transfer market of players under contract. The analysis takes into account the 20 players per club with the highest values as per the algorithm exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory research team.

The 286th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks current big-5 league players according to the age at which they have reached 50, 100, 200 and 300 caps in these competitions. The Milan AC goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma leads the 50 and 100-match tables, while the Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard is at the top for the 200 and 300-match rankings.

Issue number 285 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the players who created the most big chances for their teammates in big-5 league matches over three different periods: last year, last three years and last five years. Lionel Messi is clearly at the head of the tables for the last five and three years, while Ángel Di María tops the last-year rankings.

Issue number 284 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 92 top divisions worldwide according to the average number of cards (yellow and red) per game during the current or the last completed one. The figures range from 2.3 in Japan up to 7.0 in Bolivia. Within Europe, the extreme values were recorded in Norway (3.1) and Ukraine (6.2).

Issue number 283 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the financial balance for transfers carried out by clubs worldwide during the last two transfer windows. Real Madrid recorded the most negative balance (- €181 million) ahead of Aston Villa (- €169 m) and Barcelona (- €166 m). At the opposite end of the table are Chelsea (+ €205 m), Benfica (+ €167) and Ajax (+ €137 m).

Issue number 282 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the list of players born in the 2000s who played the highest percentage of domestic league minutes during current season. Dejan Kulusevski (Parma, on loan from Juventus) tops the table for the big-5 league players ahead of Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Max Aarons (Norwich) and the 17-year-old French talent Eduardo Camavinga (Stade Rennais).

Issue number 281 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares points achieved by teams from 31 European leagues with points expected according to a statistical model taking into account ball possession, as well as the number and distance of both shots taken and conceded as per InStat data. The analysis highlights the great efficiency of clubs such as Benfica (+0.71 points per match), Liverpool (+0.66), Juventus (+0.64), Schalke 04 (+0.57) and Valencia (+0.55).

Issue number 280 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 35 European domestic leagues according to their number of fouls per game as per InStat data. Champions League titleholders Liverpool FC committed the least fouls per match so far this season (8.1). This is partially related to the less strict refereeing style in the English Premier League: 20.4 fouls whistled per game compared to an average of 27.2 in the 35 competitions surveyed.

The CIES Football Observatory opens a new exciting decade of football analytics with the exclusive publication of its traditional list of the big-5 league players with the greatest estimated transfer values. At the top three positions of the table are Kylian Mbappé (France and Paris St-Germain), Raheem Sterling (England and Manchester City), as well Mohammed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool). Issue number 279 of the Weekly Post presents the 166 footballers in the big-5 valued at more than €50 million.

The CIES Football Observatory has developed a property algorithm to assess the performance of footballers from the exclusive data produced by the leading sports company OptaPro. Issue number 278 of the Weekly Post presents the MVP per big-5 league club, as well as the top values for each of the six areas of the game analysed. Only players fielded for at least nine (MVPs) and respectively six (per domain) full domestic league matches are included.

The leading sports data company InStat has developed an exclusive Index to assess the performance of football players on an objective basis. Issue number 277 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 10 rankings for 35 European competitions. The highest InStat Index overall was recorded for the recent Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi (401).

No outfield footballer played a higher percentage of domestic league minutes of a big-5 league team in the 2010s as Lionel Messi. The Argentinean was fielded for 83.4% of total minutes played by Barcelona in the Liga. This is the second value overall behind that measured for Steve Mandanda (84.2% of Olympique Marseille minutes). The 276th issue of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the most fielded footballer for each of the 42 clubs always present in the big-5 in the 2010s

Issue number 275 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post maps the origin of expatriate players in 31 European top divisions. With 466 representatives, Brazilians are the most numerous (10.3% of the total number of expatriates), followed by the French (350 players). However, the latter are the most present in the big-5 European leagues: 115 French players abroad compared to 104 Brazilians.

Dominating opponents does not always lead to success. However, the InStat data analysed in the 274th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post shows that most of the best performing teams are able to maximise their passes in the opponent’s third of the pitch, while minimising the opponent’s passes in their own third. The best ratio overall in the 35 European leagues surveyed was measured for Manchester City.

Issue number 273 of Weekly Post presents the top 50 transfer values for players currently on loan in big-5 league teams. At the head of the table is Philippe Coutinho. However, the price for the Brazilian as estimated by the CIES Football Observatory algorithm (€96.5M) is lower than the option to buy negotiated between Bayern and Barcelona (€120M)

The effective playing time of a football match greatly varies according to league and club. According to the exclusive InStat data on 35 European competitions, during current season, the highest percentage of effective playing time was measured in the Swedish top division (on average 59.7% of minutes per match). At the opposite is the Czech league (50.2%). The data at both league and club level are available in the 272th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Which teams train the most professional footballers? As every year, the CIES Football Observatory has established the rankings of the best training clubs for players active in the big-5, as well as for footballers in 31 European top divisions. Real Madrid and Partizan Belgrade head the tables. The top 60s are available in issue number 271 of the Weekly Post.

The CIES Football Observatory research team has developed an exclusive approach to measure the experience capital of footballers according to their playing time and the level of matches played. Issue number 270 of the Weekly Post presents the 50 highest figures worldwide for players born in 2000, as well as the top 50 for footballers born in or after 2001

The partnership with the football data company InStat allows the CIES Football Observatory to present exclusive analysis on the technical performance of teams from 35 European competitions. Issue number 269 of the Weekly Post highlights domestic league matches during which a team had the highest percentage of ball possession (calculated out of effective playing time). The record figure for current season was measured for Fulham against Millwall on the 21st August: 78.7%.

Issue number 268 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the percentage of domestic league minutes played by footballers signed at the start of the season for all of the big-5 league clubs. Last Champions League finalists, Tottenham (5.0%) and Liverpool (8.3%), as well as Manchester City (7.7%), are among the 14 teams where new recruits played less than one tenth of minutes.

Issue number 267 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the exclusive data produced by our partners InStat by ranking Champions League teams according to the average length of the passes achieved in domestic league games so far this season. Past edition semi-finalists Ajax have the lowest figure (15.96 meters), ahead of Paris St-Germain (16.17) and Barcelona (16.56).

For the first time in history, a football club invested more than one billion euro in transfer indemnities to assemble its squad: Manchester City. Following last summer transfer window, two clubs are close to this figure: Paris St-Germain (€913 million) and Real Madrid (€902 million). Issue number 266 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the data for all teams in the big-5.

Issue number 265 of the Weekly Post presents the 100 players from the five major European leagues with the highest transfer values according to the freshly updated and further improved CIES Football Observatory algorithm. Three forwards are in the top three positions: Kylian Mbappé (€252M), Mohammed Salah (€219M) and Raheem Sterling (€208M).

What is the percentage of points needed to win the title in the five major European leagues? Issue number 264 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post answers this question for the last twenty seasons. The analysis reveals a progressive increase in the percentage of points achieved by champions.

Issue number 263 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the average length of passes by teams from 35 European domestic leagues. The study highlights big discrepancies in playing styles. There are almost 8 meters difference between the teams that executed the longest and shortest passes: Rotherham United (23.42m) and Paris St-Germain (15.85m).

Issue number 262 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the three best and worst teams per league in terms of points that they should have achieved according to their pitch production. Virtual points were projected according to a statistical model including shots taken and conceded (both on target and from the box), as well as the percentage of ball possession.

Issue number 261 of the Weekly Post presents the top 50 list of the U20 players from the big-5 with the highest transfer value according to the CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The English full international Jadon Sancho heads the table with an estimated value of €150M. Borussia Dortmund’s winger outranks Arsenal’s Mattéo Guendouzi (€70M) and AS Roma’s Nicolò Zaniolo (€67M).

The 260th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the age at which players fielded during this season in 24 European top divisions were signed by their clubs of employment. Academy graduates are not included in the sample. RB Leipzig recruited its footballers at the youngest age (21.43 years on average), while MKE Ankaragücü signed them at the oldest one (29.28 years).

Marcelo Guedes (Olympique Lyonnais) heads the big-5 league rankings of players having won the highest percentage of defensive air challenges in domestic league matches this season: 136 out of 159 (85.5%). The Brazilian outranks three English Premier League players: Harry Maguire, Virgil van Dijk and Shane Duffy. The top 50s for the big-5 and 26 other European competitions are available in issue number 259 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Issue number 258 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 27 top division leagues of UEFA member countries according to the percentage of goals scored during the current season by expatriate footballers. At the top of the table is Cyprus (86.8% of foreign goals), ahead of Turkey (80.7%) and England (68.8%).

Issue number 257 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the players with the highest estimated transfer value per big-5 league club. The potentially most expensive player overall, Kylian Mbappé (€228 million), represents 25.9% of the total squad value of Paris St-Germain. A similar percentage was measured for Jadon Sancho (€148 million, 24.9%) at Borussia Dortmund.

The CIES Football Observatory has developed an exclusive approach to measure the technical performance of players on an objective basis using data provided by OptaPro. Issue number 256 of the Weekly Post presents the best performing big-5 league footballers for last 1,000 minutes played. The rankings only include players fielded for at least 630 minutes since January 1st 2019.

Issue number 255 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks big-5 league teams according to the ratio between fouls suffered and committed during the current season using data from OptaPro. FC Barcelona players suffered the most fouls with respect to those committed (1.5 times). At the opposite end is Brighton & Hove with a ratio of 0.68.