February 17 – The professional leagues of Northern and Western Europe see teams playing more ‘openly’ that the leagues in South and East of the continent, according to data from the CIES Football Observatory.
Using InStat data on goal scoring chances and effective playing time for 36 European leagues since 2018/19 (or 2019) to determine the level of “game openness”, the CIES research found that the Dutch Eredivisie, with an average of 11.7 chances and 63’21” effective time per match, recorded the highest Game Openness Index.
The Dutch were ahead of the German Bundesliga and the Belgian Pro League, while Italy’s Serie A ranked fifth and the English Premier League eigth.
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 in 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,” say the report authors.
To see the full ranking click here.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1718591135labto1718591135ofdlr1718591135owedi1718591135sni@n1718591135osloh1718591135cin.l1718591135uap1718591135