2025-26 RBDPL: Miscellaneous Stats through 2025-10-06
With the October international break upon us, I wanted to share some additional long-form information that I’m tracking that doesn’t get shared with the regular updates.
First, below are the RBD Points totals for each team, sorted from most to least. As the Premier League has played an additional round of matches than Serie A, it stands to reason that the top 3 point totals so far are for English teams. However, the top 8 is evenly split between EPL and Serie A.
The below table summarizes the total number of goals per game in each league. Overall, the EPL averages more goals per game (2.60, versus Serie A’s 2.38), and Serie A sees slightly more goalless matches. However, each league sees 50% of their matches end with either 2 or 3 total goals, with EPL matches most commonly ending as 3-goal affairs while Serie A matches are most likely to end with 2 total goals.
Looking at when goals are scored, Serie A has a slight edge in goals scored during the first 30 minutes of a match, and a notable advantage in goals scored between the 61st and 75th minute, which is when managers commonly make their first planned substitutions. However, the EPL tends to see more late goals, including a notable advantage in 2nd half extra time.
EPL Form Table and Strength of Schedule
With Crystal Palace’s Round 7 loss to Everton, there are no undefeated EPL teams. Bournemouth has the longest active undefeated streak at 6, having only lost in the season opener at Liverpool. Wolves remains the only team without a victory this season, but they have come close the last 2 matches, having surrendered late equalizers to Tottenham (90+4’) and Brighton (86’).
The below Strength of Schedule estimate is based on the expected final league table position for each team’s opponent, based on Opta data at the time of the match. The Strength of Schedule for remaining matches is based on the final league table position for each team’s opponent per the latest Opta data.
By that measure, Liverpool has had the toughest schedule so far, with tilts against Newcastle, Arsenal, and Chelsea, but as one would expect for a title contender, the remaining schedule looks to be more manageable. West Ham and Wolves have also had tough schedules, but the road ahead does not ease significantly, with the 11th-toughest (West Ham) and 7th-toughest (Wolves) remaining schedules.
At the other end, Tottenham and Sunderland have enjoyed relatively favorable schedules so far, but will conversely face the 2 toughest remaining schedules. Nottingham Forest’s tumultuous season could get even rockier; after failing to take advantage of the 4th-easiest schedule to begin the season, the remaining fixtures comprise the 3rd-toughest.
Serie A Form Table and Strength of Schedule
The Serie A form table paints a slightly different picture. Two teams are yet to taste defeat, but with several draws each, Atalanta (4 draws) and Juventus (3 draws) only rank 5th and 6th in RBD Points within the Italian league. Surprisingly, promoted Cremonese had a chance to be the 3rd undefeated team through 6 matches, but suffered a lopsided defeat at Inter Milan in Round 6. The top 3 teams of Inter Milan, Napoli, and Roma have yet to conclude a match with honors even, with AC Milan nearly making it 4 before their goalless draw at Juventus. At the bottom of the table, there are 4 Serie A teams yet to taste victory this year, with only Torino claiming a win amongst the bottom 5 teams.
As with the EPL strength of schedule, several teams with easier schedules to date will see the road toughen, while those with difficult opening slates should see the schedule lighten. The outlier is Hellas Verona, who having already faced the 5th-toughest schedule so far, still have the 4th most difficult schedule ahead of them.
Auction Efficiency and Relative Performance to Date
Each team’s Auction Efficiency is determined by dividing their RBD Points by their Auction Price and multiplying by 100. (Of course, the 5 unselected teams do not have an Auction Efficiency rating).
By looking at each team’s Standard Deviation performance against both average RBD Points and average Auction Efficiency, we can understand which teams are over- or underperforming relative to expectations. While Cagliari and Udinese both rate highly on Auction Efficiency, their low RBD Point totals mean that they are not necessarily desirable selections. During the next international break in November, I will share this information again, but with end-of-season projections.
The below list is the Standard Deviation performance, filtered to only show teams that are above average on both RBD Points and on Auction Efficiency.
