Issue number 221 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the percentage of matches with a gap of three or more goals in 29 European competitions. The highest figure so far this season was observed for the Champions League: 29% (+8% compared to the same moment during last season). This percentage is twice as high as at Europa League level: 16% (+3%).

The 220th issue of the Weekly Post presents players from the big-5 who performed the best in domestic league matches during the last three months. Footballers are ranked according to the exclusive approach developed by the CIES Football Observatory to measure the technical performance of players.

The CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post number 219 presents the 50 big-5 league players with the most positive gap between their current transfer value and the fee paid for them by their employer club. The greatest potential added value could be achieved by Tottenham Hotspur with Harry Kane: €198 million.

Issue number 218 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights big-5 league players whose transfer value has increased the most during the last six months. Only footballers who did not change team or extend their contract are included in the rankings. In the top positions are three English Premier League players: Mohamed Salah (+€74.7M), Ederson Moraes (+€74.4M) and Leroy Sané (+€63.0M).

The CIES Football Observatory has partnered with the leading football data company InStat to analyse the performance of teams across Europe. Issue number 217 of the Weekly Post lists the 100 clubs from 31 competitions with the best ratios between shots taken and conceded from the box during the current domestic league season. Porto ranks first ahead of Ludogorets and Crvena Zvezda.

Issue number 216 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post uses OptaPro data to analyse the dribbling skills of big-5 league players. The dribbling index is calculated by multiplying the average number of dribbles achieved per 90 minutes with the percentage of successful ones. This allows us to take into account both the quantity and quality of dribbles. Three players clearly distinguish themselves in this area: Eden Hazard, Neymar and Lionel Messi.

The CIES Football Observatory has analysed the domestic league experience cumulated during the last two years by U20 players from 22 European competitions to identify those with the best career prospects. Minutes played by each footballer were weighted according to the sporting level of leagues and the results achieved by employer clubs. Weekly Post number 215 presents the 50 players with the highest experience capital scores.

No club in football history has invested as much money in transfer indemnities to assemble the squad than Manchester City presently. Despite the loan of Mangala to Everton, the expensive signing of Laporte brought the total squad recruitment cost to a record high of €878 M. The data for all big-5 league teams is available in issue number 214 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Issue number 213 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses transactions carried out by big-5 league clubs during January’s transfer window. For the first time in history, the total estimated spending was over one billion €. Transfer expenditure increased by 36% compared to the previous record figure measured in 2017. English Premier League investments accounted for 51% of transfer indemnities paid by big-5 league clubs as a whole.

The CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post number 212 presents the 100 clubs from 31 European competitions having achieved the most accurate passes per domestic league game since the start of the season. The Post also includes the exclusive InStat data on the percentage of accurate passes and the average number of passes completed per minute of possession.

Issue number 211 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from the five major European championships according to the percentage of players signed from foreign clubs. Manchester City tops the rankings with 17 international recruitments out of 22 players fielded so far in domestic league games (77.3%). At the opposite end of the table is Athletic Club Bilbao (one player, Aymeric Laporte, out of 23).

The technical statistics produced by the leading data football company InStat are very valuable to analyse performance on an objective basis. Issue number 210 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 50 teams in 35 European competitions with the most positive and negative gaps between points per match achieved and predicted on the basis of a performance model including the variables of shots conceded from the box, possession and shots on target.

Like every January, the CIES Football Observatory has calculated the transfer values of players in the five major European leagues. The assessment takes into account the key criteria used by market actors such as age, position, contract duration, performance, international status, etc. Neymar (€213m) heads the table ahead of Lionel Messi (€202m) and Harry Kane (€195m). The top 100 list is available in issue number 209 of the Weekly Post.

FC Barcelona currently employs 20 players fielded by national A-teams in 2017 for a record number of 139 matches and 10,846 minutes. The Catalan side outranks two English clubs (Manchester United and Tottenham), Juventus FC and Bayern Munich. At sixth place is the Nicaraguan team Real Estelí. The top 100 list is available in issue number 208 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Every semester, the CIES Football Observatory lists players who performed the best in big-5 league matches using an exclusive statistical approach. Issue number 207 of the Weekly Post presents the top 10 tables for eight positions. Only footballers who played at least 720 domestic league minutes are included in the rankings.

The young French prodigy Kylian Mbappé heads the CIES Football Observatory table for the U21 big-5 league players with the highest estimated transfer values. The Paris Saint-Germain striker outranks Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur) and Leroy Sané (Manchester City). The top 100 list is available in the issue number 206 of the Weekly Post.

The 205th Weekly Post of the CIES Football Observatory presents the 50 clubs from 31 European top divisions having fielded players signed during the current year for the lowest and highest percentage of minutes in domestic league matches played since the 1st of July. At the top of the tables are SSC Napoli and Hapoel Acre.

The 204th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post lists the 10 most fielded footballers per position born in or after 1997 in both the big-5 leagues and 26 other top division European championships. With 19 players, the French Ligue 1 is by far the most represented competition. The youngest footballer in the big-5 league tables is Dan-Axel Zagadou (Borussia Dortmund).

Issue number 203 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses data provided by InStat to highlight the 100 clubs from 35 European competitions that conceded the least shots from their own box per domestic league game played since the start of the season. The lowest figure was recorded for Olimpija Ljubljana, while Manchester City heads the big-5 league rankings.

Issue number 202 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks big-5 league teams according to the estimated transfer value of their players. The aggregated value of current squad members is above one billion euro for four clubs: Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona and Chelsea.

Issue number 201 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the lists of the 50 clubs from 36 European leagues who fielded the tallest and shortest line-ups since the start of the season. At the head of the rankings are FC København (186.2cm) and Ludogorets Razgrad (177.0cm). But does height explain success at adult level?

Issue number 200 of the increasingly popular CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the clubs having trained the most footballers present on the 1st of October 2017 in 31 top division European leagues. At the top of the table is Ajax Amsterdam, while Real Madrid trained the most big-5 league players.

The ability of teams to shoot is a key success factor. This holds even more true with regard to shots on target. Using the exclusive data produced by InStat, issue number 199 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 clubs from the main top division European leagues presenting the highest figures for shots on target per match during the current season.

Issue number 198 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks top division teams from 31 European associations according to the percentage of domestic league minutes played by expatriates since the start of the season. Three Cypriot clubs tops the table: Apollon Limassol (99.8%), Anorthosis Famagusta (95.3%) and AEK Larnaca (91.5%). Chelsea heads the big-5 league rankings (90.4%).