Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal: What are the world's top 30 football teams? | OneFootball

What is the best team in men’s football right now: Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Barcelona, Real Madrid or maybe even Arsenal?

Well, as with most things in football, it’s ultimately a subjective question, but the data analysts over at FiveThirtyEight bring us as close as possible to finding an objective answer for it.

That’s because their ‘Global Club Soccer Rankings’ serves as a fascinating tool by which the very best men’s teams around the world are ranked based on an in-depth algorithm that digests the numbers churned out by each and every game.

You can find out more about how exactly the system works here, but the moral of the story is that each team is given an ‘SPI rating,’ which is the best estimate of a side’s strength based on both their offensive and defensive capabilities.

It’s the method by which they then make remarkable predictions on the world’s top competitions, using these ever-updating strength estimates to infer how certain match-ups will play out.

Naturally, it’s by no means a perfect method – no statistical analysis of football ever truly is – but it nevertheless gives us an engrossing look into who the world’s best teams are at any one time.

The ultimate football quiz of 2022

1 of 20

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Gareth Bale Luka Modric Federico Valverde Vinicius Junior

What are the top 30 teams in the world?

Right then, don’t you want to find out who the data analysts are rating the highest right now? Of course you do, so be to sure to check out the top 30 sides at the time of writing down below:

29. Juventus

28. Eintracht Frankfurt

27. Red Bull Salzburg

26. Villarreal

25. Real Sociedad

24. Atletico Madrid

23. Athletic Bilbao

22. Zenit St. Petersburg

21. Marseille

20. Borussia Dortmund

19. AC Milan

18. Brighton & Hove Albion

17. Tottenham Hotspur

16. Inter Milan

15. Benfica

14. Chelsea

13. Ajax

12. RB Leipzig

11. Manchester United

10. FC Porto

9. Napoli

8. Newcastle United

7. Real Madrid

6. Liverpool

5. Paris Saint-Germain

4. Arsenal

3. Barcelona

2. Manchester City

What has changed since the start of the season?

So, interestingly, we actually looked at what the data said on this very topic back in September and there have been some fascinating changes over the last four months.

Perhaps the most impressive rise of all has actually come from United with Erik ten Hag inheriting a side that was barely ranked in the top 30, occupying 29th place, but nevertheless launching them to within touching distance of the top 10 in the blink of an eye.

The data also reflects the fantastic work that Mikel Arteta has done at Arsenal this season as the Gunners soared from 10th to 4th spot, which is quite the achievement all things considered.

The top two continue to be occupied by Manchester City and Bayern Munich with FiveThirtyEight also considering them to be the leading contenders to lift the Champions League trophy in June.

And wouldn’t you just look at Brighton? A massive shoutout is in order for both Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi as the Seagulls find themselves ranked above European juggernauts such as AC Milan, Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

However, as we all know, statistics aren’t the be all and end all in the world football, so what changes would you make to the current rankings pedalled by the data analysts?

It’s tough to tell, but ahead of an epic weekend of football containing both the Manchester and north London derbies, rest assured that everything can change in the space of just a few games.

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