Lifted from rec.sport soccer... League 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 Bundesliga 2.71 2.98 2.88 2.83 2.80 2.93 2.92 2.68 Engl. Prem. 2.60 2.55 2.68 2.52 2.78 2.61 2.63 2.63 France 2.27 2.33 2.36 2.36 2.57 2.51 2.34 2.20 Holland 3.00 2.82 3.27 3.14 3.26 3.01 2.75 2.76 La Liga 2.69 2.73 2.65 2.64 2.62 2.88 2.53 2.67 Serie A 2.66 2.63 2.77 2.76 2.50 2.76 2.63 2.58 On the broad scale, scoring continues to decline, down 2.6% from 95-96 to 02-03. It's also interesting is the fact that France is consistently low-scoring, Holland consistently high-scoring, and Germany a bit higher than the other top leagues. Any thoughts about why? EDITED to ask if someone can help put this into a proper table? Thanks.
I plotted the data, and the top three leagues (EPL, Series A, La Liga) have similar plots. A quick and dirty average calculation over all listed years yields, respectively: 2.625, 2.676, 2.661. The other leagues differ more, and they correspond with beineke's observations. Interesting, yes. It would be interesting to see France and Holland data compared to other "feeder" leagues. My initial question is it the quality of the players, or a prevalent league style? And is either influenced by the player's prevalent place(s) of origin?
League_____95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 Bundesliga_ 2.71__2.98__2.88__2.83__2.80__2.93__2.92__2.68 Engl. Prem. 2.60__2.55__2.68__2.52__2.78__2.61__2.63__2.63 France_____ 2.27__2.33__2.36__2.36__2.57__2.51__2.34__2.20 Holland____ 3.00__2.82__3.27__3.14__3.26__3.01__2.75__2.76 La Liga____ 2.69__2.73__2.65__2.64__2.62__2.88__2.53__2.67 Serie A____ 2.66__2.63__2.77__2.76__2.50__2.76__2.63__2.58 To make a table, use "font=courier" and "/font" tags to force a fixed pitch font. The remaining problem is that consecutive space characters will be reduced to a single space. That can be solved either with "code" and "/code" tags, or by using a fill-in character like "_" to eliminate consecutive space characters, which is what I did.
I watch the German and English leagues, so I'll limit my comments to them. 1. The German league is pretty balanced. There are fewer mismatches, and less bunkering. 2. Tactics in England vary little from team to team, compared to Germany. All the 4-4-2s in England might lead to a kind of stasis, and fewer chances. OTOH, in Germany, you may have two teams in different formations, which means there are holes to exploit. 3. Germany and Holland each take 3 weeks off in midseason. I don't think they do that in the other leagues. Just something to think about; I have no idea WHY that would have an effect. In fact, the data from when goals are scored in a match suggest that tired defenders increase goals, so you'd think the 3 weeks off would mean FEWER goals. So maybe it's just coincidence. 4. Germany doesn't have any American keepers.
Code: [size=2]League 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 BL 2.71 2.98 2.88 2.83 2.8 2.93 2.92 2.68 EPL 2.6 2.55 2.68 2.52 2.78 2.61 2.63 2.63 France 2.27 2.33 2.36 2.36 2.57 2.51 2.34 2.2 Holland 3 2.82 3.27 3.14 3.26 3.01 2.75 2.76 Liga 2.69 2.73 2.65 2.64 2.62 2.88 2.53 2.67 Serie_A 2.66 2.63 2.77 2.76 2.5 2.76 2.63 2.58 [/size]
I believe the Belgian League had the most goals last year, averaging around 3.3/game. In the case of belgium and Holland, you have a lot of 4, 5 and 6 goal games from the big clubs as they pound the lesser clubs. That probably has something to do with it. So far in 2003-2004: EPL: 2.85 Bundesliga: 2.89 Serie A: 3.22 La Liga: 2.33 Scotland: 2.82 Belgium: 2.46 France 2.19 source: gamebookers.com I imagine some of those will look quite different within a couple months and certainly by the end of the season.
Justin makes a good point. A good deal of the variation in goals scored might have to do with the big teams in the league beating up on the little teams. You could take that a step further and say that the higher the parity, the lower the goals/game. I've heard la ligue described as the league with the most parity, but I really don't know about the accuracy of this statement. What would be interesting, though, would be historical stats of Scotland (no parity) and Mexico (high parity).