Love this analysis of the matches of the Big Four (Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea) in the Premier League over the last eight years.
My uncle and I were speculating on this a few days ago. This was occasioned by Liverpool beating both Man Utd (my uncle's favorite team) and Chelsea in recent weeks. My lightweight analysis showed that if you had more than 6 draws in a season, and more than four losses, you had no practical chance of winning the League.
We wondered whether the matches against the other Big Four were critical. I think this analysis shows that it does have some relevance. At the very least, one has to win or draw most of the six matches against their closest rivals. Interesting that in only one case would Liverpool have one the League had it topped the table against its closest rivals.
Posted by artandscience at November 11, 2008 12:19 PM