Serie A vs EPL - The Age Factor

Italy v England: Serie A Has The Age Advantage - Is It An Edge?
Goal.com has abused the calculator in order to compare the six Italy vs. England Champions League battlers in terms of their average ages, whilst also looking at Serie A and the Premier League as a whole... The Champions League is upon us again in the shape of the last 16. With the knock-out phase comes the beginning of the end for Europe's top sides, and squads will be stretched to the limit. Injuries can start to pile up, managers have already been sacked and fixture lists are becoming packed with both domestic and continental commitments. The big draw of the last 16 is undoubtably the three-headed battle that is Italy vs. England, wherein Serie A's finest - Inter, Juventus and Roma - will take on the cream of the Premier League - Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. Six teams, six games and innumerable bragging rights at stake is the sum total of a mouthwatering round of action.

Inevitable comparisons will be made between the two elite leagues during the ties and in the aftermath of the showpiece clashes. Goal.com is, as ever, one step ahead of the pack and the calculator has been given a beating in order to compare and contrast the Champions League rivals and the leagues they play in, in terms of players' ages. It works two ways: legs become weary and teams can be exploited, while the older heads of those who've been there, done that and got the winners' tee shirt can outfox those with less experience.

So, how does Serie A compare with the Premier League in terms of average ages? Goal.com has used the starting line-ups of all the Serie A sides from last weekend's card [Weekend of February 14] in order to come up with some interesting statistics. The Premier League was a tad more complex, as domestic cup action has found its way into the recent calendar. These matches have been discounted, as managers tend to rotate their squads dramatically. Thus, the weekend starting February 7 has been analysed and some rescheduled fixtures also thrown into the mix.

So, without further ado, here's the key figures:

Serie A average age: 27.5
Premier League Average age: 26.9

Well, there it is: the Premier League is turning out younger sides, but not by as much as some may have expected, given the negative image that certain calcio sides have for their veteran dependence.

Serie A teenagers used: 3
Premier League teenagers used: 4

This is an interesting one. You can count on your hands how many sub-20 stars were in the many starting XIs. Looking through the sides, there does appear to be an ideal age, and, as the primary figures suggest, there's a slew of mid-twenties stars plying their trade across the leagues.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD
Younger in bold

Inter 27.5 – 28.5 United
Juventus 30.2 – 27.36 Chelsea
Roma 28.2 – 25 Arsenal

Barring Arsenal, obviously a youth-driven side, the Champions League participants err on the side of experience. Juve have broken the 30 barrier and the Blues have three years on them, as the Gunners do on Roma. Could this be a factor in the dying stages, perhaps even in extra time?

Italy's CL combined average: 28.7
England's CL combined average: 27

Thanks to Arsenal, then, there's an even bigger gap between the Champions League contenders than there is between the domestic leagues.

The age filter shakes up the two leagues dramatically, it must be said. You will notice below that Middlesbrough and Udinese are currently the youngest teams, with all the Champions League hopefuls barring Arsenal, and also Liverpool, who'll face Real Madrid, being sucked into a relegation battle!

SERIE A BY AVERAGE AGE

Udinese 24.72
Napoli 25
Fiorentina 25.8 eliminated
Palermo 26.4
Atalanta 26.4
Siena 26.5
Torino 26.6
Genoa 27
Catania 27.1
Sampdoria 27.2
Chievo 27.2
Cagliari 27.5
Inter 27.5
Lazio 27.9
Roma 28.3
Lecce 28.6
Reggina 28.6
Juventus 30.2
AC Milan 30.5
Bologna 30.5

PREMIER LEAGUE BY AVERAGE AGE

Middlesbrough 24.6
Wigan Athletic 25
Arsenal 25
Liverpool 25 will play Madrid
Manchester City 25.1
Sunderland 25.8
West Brom 25.9
Tottenham Hotspur 25.9
Everton 26
West Ham 26.3
Bolton Wanderers 26.7
Aston Villa 27
Newcastle 27
Chelsea 27.4
Hull City 27.5
Stoke City 27.8
Manchester United 28.5
Fulham 28.6
Blackburn Rovers 29
Portsmouth 29.7

So there you have it. Feel free to speculate as to whether these findings will have any bearing on the outcome of the Italy vs. England triple-header.

Jaime wrote:I wonder what the difference would be if you just looked at the average age of the probably XI's as opposed to the average age of the whole squad.

Murray wrote:I don't think age will make much difference over 2 games. Other factors such as luck and stupid referees will probably have more impact.