Nottingham Forest ranked 34 places above Derby County in Global Club Soccer Rankings

Add as preferred source on Google

Nottingham Forest are currently positioned 34 places above fierce rivals Derby County in a list compiled by opinion poll/sports blogging website FiveThirtyEight.

The compilation lists the best teams in world football, with Forest currently sitting in 179th place out of 628 teams; with the Rams sat in 213th position.

Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Liverpool top the poll, which can be viewed in full here.

__VIDEO__

On the website, the company explain the method behind their madness which is sure to contribute towards rival fans giving each other a bit of stick.

Forest’s position is worked out based on an SPI rating calculated on the expected number of goals scored and the expected number of goals conceded.

The website says: “Every team has an offensive rating that represents the number of goals it would be expected to score against an average team on a neutral field, and a defensive rating that represents the number of goals it would be expected to concede.

“These ratings, in turn, produce an overall SPI rating, which represents the percentage of available points the team would be expected to take if that match were played over and over again. A win is worth three points, a tie one and a loss zero.”

With these rankings like to change on a weekly basis based on the team’s form and performances. Based on that Forest are currently miles ahead of Derby with the 2019/20 season in its infancy.

A look at the future?

The polling group also predicts, using their statistics, how the league table will finish at the end of the season.

The full predicted league table can be viewed on their website and they currently have Forest down to finish fourth after 46 games; with Derby down in 12th.

Of course, these sort of ratings will naturally be taken with a pinch of salt by supporters. As a result, some people might choose to banish them as nothing more than a bit of idle fun.

Leeds United are currently the highest-ranked club from the Championship. Marcelo Bielsa’s team sit in 73rd position, with Fulham at 78th the next best.

The next challenge for Sabri Lamouchi’s men is a trip to Wigan on Sunday. If the Reds can avoid defeat they will go 11 games unbeaten since the opening day of the campaign.