Every football league is best from its own perspective on the basis of the intensity of play at domestic and national level. It is very fun to watch every football league but it is damn difficult to select the best of them because they all look so good. This is why we decided to make a list of top 10 best football leagues ranking them statistically in the world. In this article, we are going to tell you the top 10 best football leagues based on statistics but which league do you find watching?
Criteria of selection
Before we start giving you the names of top football leagues, let’s have a look at the criteria of their selection. It is necessary for you to know in order to understand the list better. Many teams can be judged good or bad on the basis of several existing statistics. But in spite of diving deep into the stats, we would consider the statistics which matter most to select the best leagues.
We are majorly considering four statistics to select the best football league that include goals scored per game, red cards per game, continental wins and point differential from first to last. As we all know the most entertaining thing that makes the game interesting is goals. And the goal differentiation also decides the winner of the game. Here we will provide you the average goals a League scored per game.
Red card is a sign of disadvantage that means the number of red cards a League gets, helps us to judge how disciplined they are. Whoever team gets the more red cards in a game is more likely to lose. Continental victories will help us to determine the potential of a league and how great the clubs in the domestic League are against other national teams. Point differential needs to be considered because it measures the parity in a single League as it counts the difference between points scored in the first and last game played.
1. English Premier League
Just as we mentioned, on the basis of above given criteria the English Premier League has secured the first rank by having it all. It has won 1.33 goals per game, 0.06 red cards per game, 26 continental wins and 31 point differential. When it comes to ranking, the English Premier League ranked fifth in scoring goals per game, second in continental wins, second in discipline and fourth in point differential. In one of those categories the English Premier League concave over La liga and Bundesliga. Domestically, the amount of parity helped the league as the point differential is only 31. The 7 clubs had 26 continental victories, which is at 3.71 the best win per team average in Europe. It is more than the best wins per team average of La liga and Bundesliga.
2. Bundesliga
Bundesliga is the second top football league after the English Premier League which was just one step ahead of Bundesliga. Goals per game won by Bundesliga is 1.59, red cards per game is 0.11, continental runs: 21 and point differential: 33 which is two more than the English Premier League. La Liga and Bundesliga have very minor differences in statistics that led them to rank second and third top football league. German clubs have also scored over 20 goals this season despite 3 teams failing to score. Bundesliga has only two less than Spanish La Liga. Out of 21 continental wins of Bundesliga, 5 were made by Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt while Borussia Dortmund contributed four wins in Europe.
3. La Liga
Here comes Spanish League La Liga which is already one of the most successful and popular Football Leagues in the world. Goals per game scored by La Liga is 1.45, Red Cards:0.12, continental wins:23 and point differential:39. Generally a league is constituted of 6-7 clubs but Spain is known for two or three club Leagues. Obviously Spain does not regret its formation system as there is only a marginal difference between the statistics of the top three leagues. Top 3 clubs in the league are Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid. These three top clubs alone contributed 14 continental victories and scoring goals was no difficult task for them as they scored between 2.5 and 2.7 goals per game on average. But at the bottom of the league table, the average scored goal is 1.45 which is disappointing.
4. Ukrainian Premier league
It is surprising to see the Ukrainian Premier League in one of the highest ranked places. But when you take a look at the statistics you will know why it is here. Average goals scored by the Ukrainian Premier League per game is 1.26, Red Cards:0.04, Continental wins: 12 and point differential: 33. The only thing that grabbed everyone’s attention is the discipline of the Ukrainian Premier League. Only 14 red cards were handed over to the league this season which is lower than any number achieved by any of the other leagues. The teams are also making a good image in Europe by showing 12 Continental wins this season.
5. Eredivisie
It can be said nothing but the stunning performance of Eredivisie, the Dutch league that brought it here. It may be shocking to a lot of people but the Dutch top the two initial categories of stats- score per game and point differential. Eredivisie scored 1.71 goals per game, 0.13 red cards per game, 7 Continental victories and 22 point differential. Though the Dutch League is very entertaining when it comes to domestic football, it also has some volatility as it has the second most red cards to his name among the top 10 Leagues of this list. At the domestic level Dutch plays very well but when it comes to European level or continental competition, this becomes their weak point. Only two teams of Dutch League teams, Ajax and AZ made it to the continental competition, both of whom are in Europa League. If Eredivisie had been able to maintain its position on European level, it would have made it among the top three for sure.
6. Liga MX
As we are choosing the best leagues from all over the world, we decided to give the North America League a fair say in this discussion. Three teams of the 18-team Apertura, America, Toluca and Santos and Laguna scored more than 30 goals in only 17 games. Liga MX is ranked sixth in the list of top 10 Leagues in the world with 1.23 goals per game, 0.1 0 red cards per game, 19 Continental victories and 26 differential. An interesting fact about ;Liga MX is that they have teams in both the CONCACAF Champions league and the Copa Libertadores.
7. Argentine Primera
Some people question ranking the Argentina League above Brazil and argue that the Brazilian League is superior. But consistency of the Argentine League is the answer to these arguments. Argentine Primera has scored 1.08 goals per game, 0.10 red cards, 18 Continental victories and 27 point differential. Goals scored per game may not excite people but in the season 2014-2015 they got very close and it was proved when top eight clubs came within four points of one another. If we talk about continental competition, Argentina had two quarter finalists at the 2013 Copa Libertadores, Newell’s Old Boys and Boca Juniors. Both of them played in the final 8 and Newell’s Old Boys reached on top.
8. Brasileirão
Point differential can be also considered a reason behind Brazilian League coming at eighth rank. Brasileirao is the team with the highest point differential which has a bad effect on its ranking. The league scored 1.23 goals per game, 0.09 red cards per game, 23 Continental wins and 56 point differential. A gap of 56 points shows the amount of parity is very low. Despite this, the Brazilian clubs amazed everyone as five clubs reached the knockout phase at the 2013 Copa Libertadores. Out of these five clubs, Atletico Mineiro succeeded in becoming the South American Champion.
9. Serie A
It is disappointing for the fans of Serie A to see it down in the list at ninth place. The two main reasons behind Serie A ranking low in this list are the high number of red cards and a huge gap in goals scored in the first and last game. Serie A scored 1.38 goals per game, 0.14 red cards per game, 15 continental victories and 39 point differential. We examined all the leagues and Serie A came out to be the league with the worst red card rate. Call it a coincidence or not, the highest red card rate achieving League also had one of the worst point differentials.
10. Major League Soccer
Last but not least, Major League Soccer has ranked 10th on the list of top 10 best football leagues. Major League Soccer is still growing yet it made it to the list with 1.3 goals per game, 0.09 red cards per game, 11 continental victories and 43 point differential. During the 2013 season, it made many strides forward. The Amount of parity is very low with a 43 point differential. It is one of the highest gaps between points scored in the first and last game. Along with the High point differential, a very low count of continental wins also led League ranking at the bottom of the list.
