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Simply the best?

Is the Premier League truly the greatest league in the world? The statistics may surprise you…

With a little help from Bwin, SunSport runs down every aspect of Europe's top leagues to determine who really rules the roost

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THERE'S always a lot of talk about the Premier League being the greatest division in the world.

After all, there's always a ton of money thrown at the biggest stars - just look at Paul Pogba's £109million transfer from Juventus to Manchester United.

Premier League fans are celebrating the major coup of French midfielder Paul Pogba
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Premier League fans are celebrating the major coup of French midfielder Paul PogbaCredit: Getty Images

That prompts most people to suggest that the English top flight is the best league, as it attracts the best players.

Others argue that the best in the world ply their trade in Spain - with stars such as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo all on the books.

So to settle the argument once and for all, SunSport - - have crunched the numbers to officially announce the greatest league in Europe... With some surprises.

1. COMPETITIVENESS

SO, to kick us off, how competitive are the top five leagues in Europe?

This category takes into account such factors as gap between the top five and first to last, as well as how many different champions there have been this past decade...

Competitiveness_1a[1]
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The Premier League title race is joint closest in Europe
Competitiveness_1b[1]
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The gap between first and fifth is also a tightly run thing
Competitiveness_1c[1]
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However, the gap between first and last is one of the biggest
Competitiveness_2[1]
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It takes on average 36 points to survive the Premier League
Competitiveness_3a[1]
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The Prem sits in the middle of the pack in terms of different champions
Competitiveness_4[1]
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The Premier League again sits in the middle of the pack for most titles by a single club in the past ten years
Competitiveness_5[1]
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The top four is often a case of the 'usual suspects' in England

2. ENTERTAINMENT

HOW entertaining is each league?

For instance, how many goals per game can you expect in each of Europe's big five leagues - and who is the dirtiest league across the continent?

Entertainment_1a[1]
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The Premier League also sees just 2.7 goals per game
Entertainment_1b[1]
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Both teams score in an impressive 52 per cent of Prem games
Entertainment_2a[1]
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A low-scoring draw is the most likely result in the Premier League
Entertainment_2b[1]
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It's the same story when it comes to La Liga
Entertainment_2c[1]
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1-1 dominates in Germany too, alongside a 2-1 scoreline
Entertainment_2d[1]
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Italy also loves a 1-1, while 1-0, 2-0 and 2-1 also rank highly
Entertainment_2e[1]
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1-1 is streets ahead of the chasing pack in France too
Entertainment_2f[1]
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Belgium however sees 2-1 as the most common scoreline
Entertainment_3a[1]
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The Premier League sits on a lowly 73 per cent of 1.5+ per game
Entertainment_3b[1]
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And it ranks middle of the pack for over 2.5 goals per game
Entertainment_3c[1]
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It's a similar story in the over 3.5 competition too, with Germany in front
Entertainment_3d[1]
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The Prem is joint-last in the over 4.5 goals per game, with Belgium ahead
Entertainment_3e[1]
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The Prem sees a relatively eight per cent of games end goalless
Entertainment_4a[1]
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And there are fewer home wins in England than any other league
Entertainment_4b[1]
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It's a different story on away wins though, as England ranks second
Entertainment_4c[1]
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It's joint top of the pile in most drawn games to boot
Entertainment_4d[1]
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England and France sit bottom of most games with a winner stakes
Entertainment_5[1]
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 The Premier League appears to be the cleanest in Europe

3. EURO RECORD

EUROPEAN competition is becoming increasingly important for the big clubs.

But which of the five nations performs best at the highest stage?

EuroRecord_1a[1]
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La Liga dominates the European competitions according to the stats
EuroRecord_1b[1]
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And it's not just the Champions League; the Europa League too
EuroRecord_2b[1]
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Germany come out on top in reaching the last 16, ahead of Italy
EuroRecord_3a[1]
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Spain featured most heavily in European competition last season, with the Prem second

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EuroRecord_3b[1]
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Spain also saw the highest win-rate, ahead of Germany and England
EuroRecord_3c[1]
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Teams from France draw more often than other European clubs
EuroRecord_3d[1]
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While Belgium come out as unsurprising 'winners' in the losing stakes
EuroRecord_4a[1]
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Yet more Premier League players were on show at Euro 2016
EuroRecord_4b[1]
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100 Premier League players reached the last-16 of the Euros
EuroRecord_4c[1]
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Premier League players accounted for 48 stars in the quarters
EuroRecord_4d[1]
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And Prem boys were still top with 28 in the semi-finals
EuroRecord_4e[1]
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The Premier League eclipsed hosts France too for the final with 13 stars
EuroRecord_4f[1]
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The Prem had over twice as many players represented per stage

4. SUPPORTERS

DON''T forget the fans though, they're an integral part of football.

Here, we look at which nations have the most well-supported clubs...

Supp&Stad_1a[1]
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German clubs are easily the highest attended in Europe
Supp&Stad_1b[1]
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Yet Bundesliga clubs also have the biggest stadia on average
Supp&Stad_1c[1]
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No one filled up their stadia as well as the Premier League clubs

5. TRANSFER MUSCLE

FINALLY, which league has the most pull - and money - when it comes to the transfer market?

Does the Premier League really spent the most, or do Spain's giants splash more cash?

TransMuscle_1[1]
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No league spent more money on players than the Premier League

 

TransMuscle_2[1]
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Yet the Premier League was a heavy loser in the transfer profit ranks
TransMuscle_3[1]
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Pre-Paul Pogba, Spain held the record for most expensive buy
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