May should have been the month that European football seasons were reaching an exciting end; would Liverpool be crowned champions for the first time since 1990? Would Barca and Real reign supreme in Spain? Which teams would suffer the ignominy of relegation?
With the spread of COVID-19 all of these questions remain un-answered (although I dread to think how many moons would need to align for Liverpool not to go on and win the Premier League). The vast majority of European football leagues are in a prolonged period of stasis, whilst some, such as the Dutch Eredivisie have taken the difficult decision to cancel the season early, freezing the final league positions as they were in mid-March when the footballing lockdown began.
For our May 2020 #SportsVizSunday challenge we are providing you with all of the 2019/20 season results, so far, league tables as they stand today, and the remaining fixtures, yet to be played, for:
England’s Premier League
Spain’s La Liga
Italy’s Serie A
Germany’s Bundesliga
You can find the data on our #SportsVizSunday Data.World site here.
Many academic groups have attempted to create complex algorithms to suggest how the end of season tables may look; our May challenge is a little simpler. Explore the results to date, the current league table, and fixtures still to come, and come up with interesting insights and analysis that may shed light on how the seasons may unfold. If this feels a little overwhelming, do not worry, how about simplifying your analysis? Here are some of our suggestions:
What was the form of teams heading into lockdown?
What teams are still to play each other in the final weeks of the season? Do teams have a tougher run in than others and could this influence the final standings?
Points per game could be an angle you take, but what about also exploring if teams have a higher proportion of away games to come? Will this influence the calculation?
Or, as always, you are welcome to come up with any insights of your own and share them with the #SportsVizSunday community.
We can’t wait to see what you come up with, and on a personal note, bonus points for anyone that comes up with a convincing scenario for how Southampton get relegated from the Premier League! (Sorry the Portsmouth fan in me couldn’t resist that little suggestion!). Don’t forget to tweet your visualisations using the hashtag #SportsVizSunday, and tag your Tableau Public viz with the same keyword.