Tuesday 14 August, 2007

Premier League: re-sort by columns J, K and L

Filed under: Sport

The Premier League, along with every other British footballing league (and indeed all foreign ones, I think), is ordered by points scored, with other measures (goal difference and goals scored) kicking in to rank teams with equal points. Under this method, it's always struck me as unfair, particularly early in the season, that teams that have played fewer games are penalised.

Surely a more equitable initial measure would be average points per game played, with average goal difference and average points scored kicking in as the secondary and tertiary differentiators.

I've thought this since childhood, yet I was only prompted to put it into words on seeing Everton leapfrog Newcastle last night as a result of beating Spurs.

So far, Everton has 2-1 and 3-1 wins under its belt, giving an average points per game of 3, an average goal difference of 1.5 and an average goals scored of 2.5. Newcastle's sole 3-1 win gives us figures of 3, 2 and 3 respectively, putting us top, no? For completeness, under either scenario, Spurs are bottom.


Posted by dan at 6:00pm | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0)
Comments

Would you have penned this were it not Newcastle that would benefit under such a revised system I wonder? The truth is that the table is merely a guide for the likes of you and me up until the middle of May when everyone has played their 38 games and we see who the best team is and the worst. Pre-Sky etc tables were never published anywhere until everyone had played their 3rd game as they were deemed meaningless until such time.

If you want to talk about unfair then Spurs usually start the season in the relegation zone owing to the T in Tottenham whereas Arsenal are always top! This season however we are there on merit. Well here's to promotion for Wolves and West Brom from the Championship and a meteroric rise from the depths of Div 2 for Accrington Stanley over the next few years. Cheers!

Posted by Joost, 10:55pm, Tuesday 14 August 2007
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