There are many different ways of assessing the relative performance of a sports team. When one factors in a variety of data points, from a team’s historic defensive and offensive abilities, the calibre of rivals it competes against regularly in its domestic leagues, to how deep the franchises’ pockets are (which correlates with an ability to secure top talent), one can arrive at a pretty solid predictive model of what kind of form a given team is in at any one time.
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Among the most popular methods for assessing the performance of club football teams is the ESPN’s SPI – short for Soccer Power Ranking. This model crunches all available data on every team in the world, and uses it to arrive at a reasonable estimate of a team’s likelihood to win, lose or draw against an opponent on a theoretical level playing ground.
Of course, predictive models can only go so far, and will always fail to account for unseen “black swan” events, surprise injuries or other upsets that can skew the data. Thus, while these power rankings are not foolproof, they represent the next best thing.
It is for this reason that bookmakers, including the very best football betting sites as collated by industry leader SBO, draw upon the SPI ranking as a valuable data point when arriving at the latest odds for a given match-up. In prioritising only the most sophisticated data sets, SBO can rely on its affiliates to furnish patrons with the most balanced odds and picks available. It is for this reason that this platform and others like it are confident in offering competitive sign-up bonuses and welcome offers for use with these sportsbooks.
Of course, the SPI can also be used to give a more general view of a team’s overall form, and as we enter a new year we’re going to be taking a look at what the power rankings tell us about the relative condition of the world’s leading clubs.
This is an unusual moment in world football, as many of the leading lights of the teams in question have returned from competing against one another on the world stage for the ultimate accolade in the FIFA World Cup, which was hosted by Qatar at the end of 2022.
In returning to league play after this unusual pause, the risk of injury and fixture fatigue is higher than it ordinarily would be mid-season, thus the power rankings may prove insightful when it comes to pinpointing any arrested momentum in the various franchise’s ongoing campaigns.
Paris Saint-Germain
Home to rival World Cup finalists Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, PSG’s resurgence as a leading club continues in 2023 with the Parisian side scoring 87.7 in the SPI, kicking them up to 5th place in the world rankings.
Arsenal
Arsenal have come screaming out of seemingly nowhere this season, putting in the best run of form they’ve enjoyed since their early 00s heyday. This has resulted in them presently leading the Premier League, and their SPI of 86.5 – which lands them in 4th globally, amply reflects this. Whether they have what it takes to go the distance against Man City is an open question, however.
FC Barcelona
Barcelona continue to bring the fight to rivals Real Madrid – who sit at 7th in the SPI – with a strong run of domestic form that finds them comfortably sitting atop the La Liga table, and globally coming in at 3rd place in the power rankings with a score of 87.7.
Manchester City
Having secured victory in the EPL for two years running, many see Manchester City as arguably the strongest side in the world. A ranking of 90.9 certainly fans the flames of this speculation, though while in the past Manchester City sat comfortably atop the SPI, a resurgent Bayern Munich has knocked them back to 2nd.
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich have redefined domestic dominance in the modern football era, having won the Bundesliga ten times in a row. As such, their place at the top of the SPI, with a score of 92.6, is justly deserved and 2023 will no doubt bring greater victories to come.
