Thursday becomes Fergsday 1) Thursday nights become big again. It is a certain scenario that we will have each of the current big four (yes I know, I have replaced Liverpool with City) live on our screen over a period of three nights midweek. 2) For those worried about the effect on England's UEFA coefficient, [.

Dinamo Zagreb vs. Olympique Lyonnais

Matchday 6, UEFA Champions League Group Stages 2011/12.

The equation is simple really. Make mincemeat out of Dinamo Zagreb in Zagreb, and bribe Madrid to make fruit punch out of Ajax in Amsterdam. Seven strikers, one defender (Lovren, of course) and three goalkeepers ought to be enough, one would think?

With the completion of Tuesday's Euro 2012 playoff qualifiers, the four pots are set for next month's finals draw, and there's a pretty solid chance that we could see some stacked groups in the summer.

Co-hosts Poland and Ukraine occupying two of the four spots in the top pot, with defending Euro (and World Cup) champion Spain joining them.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 27, 2011) US Soccer Players -- Any discussion of strictly defining domestic leagues starts with Wales. Though that country has it's own Premier League, it's own UEFA coefficient ranking, and qualify four clubs for European competition. What they don't have are the two best teams in the country, with Swansea City playing in England's Premier League and Cardiff City playing in England's Championship.

Big ears

We all know about the Champions League and how it is now the most prestigious football trophy out there right now. To some, it's even bigger than the World Cup (yes, I'm sure Ryan Giggs would agree). It is now the competition that every club in Europe wants to participate in. Not only because of the glory involve in winning the cup but also the huge money that will be paid out to participating clubs.

We're right in the middle of the summer transfer season. Lots of rumors swirling about, and scouts driven to distraction by the demands of coaches, agents, and executives to provide quick and reliable information about a player's performance and worth.
In a global market for players, many of the potential transfers involve the proposal to move a player from one league to another.

This post is a slightly edited reprint of an article in Sports, Inc., a magazine edited by students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. To read the full issue, which is full of analytic insights about the major professional sports, click here or on the image below.
Open publication - Free publishing - More analysis
The article is a little bit of this, that, and everything from SBTN - some highlights and some low lights - intended for people with an interest in analytics but not necessarily expertise in soccer.

Here's a follow-up to an earlier post where I looked at the connection between a league's quality and its level of player imports. There is a positive correlation: the better leagues import a higher percentage of footballers. But there also are some notable outliers, especially Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus.

Here's a follow-up to an earlier post where I looked at the connection between a league's quality and its level of player imports. There is a positive correlation: the better leagues import a higher percentage of footballers. But there also are some notable outliers, especially Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus.

The big leagues are nice and all, and the 40% that is the winter transfer market will somewhat suffice, but sometimes we just need our Bundesliga (German or Austrian), the Norwegian Tippeligaen or the many Super Leagues which, let's be honest, aren't really all that super.

Some have already launched (England, Spain, Italy, Scotland, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Israel, etc.