Debating the best soccer leagues in the world can be a fun exercise. But beyond personal opinions, it's possible to quantify the argument with some data to back it up. Thanks to the sports analytics gurus at Opta, we can do just that. Opta's Power Rankings assign an "ability score" of 0-100 to each club, […]

Saturday's scoreless draw against Clermont Foot cost Paris Saint-Germain the opportunity to take over a temporary lead in the Ligue 1 rankings. The defending champions wanted to continue their winning streak after two consecutive outstanding performances against Borussia Dortmund and Marseille. A scoreless draw with a struggling Clermont team shows that they still have ways […]

After Marcelino's resignation last week, French powerhouse Marseille is reportedly set to hire Gennaro Gattuso as their next head coach on Wednesday. Following tensions between the supporters and the administration, Marseille removed Marcelino as head coach after just seven games in charge. The club's fans were unhappy with the Spanish coach’s style of play, and […]

Soccer used to be an incredibly niche sport in the United States. Support for European clubs was largely limited to pockets of expats and areas with large immigrant populations. And on the business side of things, the idea of an American owner for one of these clubs was almost unthinkable. But those days are long […]

These days, more than half of all matches in soccer leagues go on for more than 100 minutes. New data shows that 52.4% of league games exceed 100 minutes. This metric varies considerably from league to league. For example, the Middle East has the highest and Finland the lowest. The CIES Football Observatory analyzed the […]

While the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar grabbed headlines, PSG benefitted from sales of three players to Qatari clubs. The money coming back to the French club allowed PSG to retool its squad. However, the French champions now find themselves in legal trouble for some of these departures. UEFA is planning to examine the […]

The French Ligue Professionnel de Football (LFP) opened bidding for the international broadcast rights to Ligue 1. Any new rights deal would run from 2024 to 2029. The league is looking to significantly boost overseas revenue. In the crucial US market, beIN SPORTS holds the rights to the French league in 2023/24. However, beIN SPORTS' […]

Lyon dismissed manager Laurent Blanc following a disastrous start to the 2023/24 Ligue 1 campaign. Jean-François Vulliez is taking over as interim manager until Lyon can lock in a full-time manager. The club is bottom of the Ligue 1 table following a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of PSG just before the September international break. […]

Neymar, formerly of Paris Saint-Germain, was transferred this summer for 90 million euros to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal. The Brazilian is just one of the sport's biggest stars from across the globe that has moved to the Middle East this season. And now Neymar has made comments regarding PSG and Ligue 1. This summer, […]

Following his departure from Chelsea last year, Graham Potter was widely expected to find a new management position. After leading the Blues for just seven months, Chelsea sacked the Englishman with the club struggling for results. Graham Potter floated as an idea to replace current Lyon boss Laurent Blanc. Blanc is under mounting pressure due […]

Paris Saint-Germain have been attempting to offload Marco Verratti as part of their ongoing purge of unwanted players. Kylian Mbappe, a long-time Real Madrid target, stayed with the Parisian powerhouses during the offseason. They also spent a lot of money to bring in many reinforcements, such as Randal Kolo Muani, Manuel Ugarte, and Ousmane Dembele. […]