CBC-Sports

Premiership, Serie A more similar than you think

February 2, 2009 11:55 AM | Posted by   John Molinaro  

To borrow a phrase from Seinfeld, it was a 'bizarro' weekend as Serie A turned into the Premiership, and the Premiership turned into Serie A.

Of the 10 games on the Premiership schedule, three ended in a 0-0 draw. Goals were at a premium in England's top division as only 19 goals were scored in total (an average of 1.9 goals per game, or one goal every 47 minutes).

Compare that with what took place in Serie A, where no games ended in a goal-less draw and the country's top division produced 29 goals in 10 games (an average of 2.9 goals per game, or one goal every 31 minutes).

I thought England produced wide-open, attacking games and Italy was renowned for its tactical and defensive soccer?

To a certain extent that is true, but the two leagues are not as far apart as you would think when it comes to goal-scoring: last season, the Premiership averaged 2.63 goals per game, while Serie A averaged 2.55.

And what about diving? Serie A is full of divers and such chicanery doesn't take place at the highest level of the Premiership, right?

Somebody must have forgotten to tell Steven Gerrard, because he picked up a yellow card for a shameful dive in the penalty box in Liverpool's 2-0 win over Chelsea at Anfield Sunday in the marquee match of the weekend.

It's not the first time Gerrard has tried to win a penalty this season - remember that dive against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League back in November?

Unlike the clash at Anfield, players weren't throwing themselves to the ground in Italy's big match of the weekend, AC Milan's 3-0 demolition of Lazio in Rome on Sunday.

The truth of the matter is that both the Premiership and Serie A "boast" their fair share of divers (Gerrard, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Francesco Totti, Pavel Nedved, Filippo Inzaghi) and both leagues produce sparkling, offensive soccer with plenty of goals.

I've long contended that the perceived differences between the Premiership and Serie A have been grossly exaggerated and that the two leagues are more similar than they appear to be on the surface.

With three Serie A-Premiership matches slated for later this month in the Champions League (Inter vs. Man U, Chelsea vs. Juventus and Roma vs. Arsenal), we're bound to see plenty of goals (and a dive or two) from teams from both countries.

" Previous Post | Main
  •