| Updated: Early-season defensive records can move quickly, especially when domestic leagues have completed different numbers of rounds. Looking only at total goals conceded can therefore give a distorted picture of which teams are actually proving hardest to score against and which are struggling most defensively.
SportingPedia analysed the strongest and weakest defensive records across the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Eredivisie and Liga Portugal. The comparison covers teams that have played between four and seven league matches and looks at both their total goals conceded and their average per match, allowing clubs from all seven competitions to be compared on the same basis.
Some of Europe’s biggest clubs are already separated by striking defensive margins. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are conceding just 0.50 goals per match, Roma and Lazio 0.60, while Arsenal, Liverpool and AC Milan are all at 0.80. Chelsea are much further down at 2.40 after conceding 12 goals in five Premier League matches. Cagliari and Lyon have enjoyed the best defensive starts of all, allowing only 2 goals in 5 matches for an average of 0.40 per game, with Porto close behind at 0.43 after 7 matches. At the other end, Union Berlin have conceded 17 goals in just 4 games, an average of 4.25, while Borussia Mönchengladbach stand at 4.00. The gap between the strongest and weakest defensive records is already more than tenfold.
Teams with the best defences
in Europe’s top 7 leagues – Goals conceded per match
Data Source: Flashscore
Cagliari and Lyon share the strongest defensive record, with both conceding only twice in five league matches. Porto are just behind them at 0.43 after allowing 3 goals in 7 games, while Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have both conceded twice in 4 Bundesliga matches for an average of 0.50. Santa Clara complete the group below 0.60, having allowed 4 goals in 7 matches.
Another six teams sit at exactly 0.60 goals conceded per game: Leeds United, Everton, Roma, Lazio, Monaco and Paris FC. Freiburg follow at 0.75, while Arsenal, Brentford, Liverpool, AC Milan, Frosinone and Lille are all at 0.80. Serie A and the Premier League each place five teams below one goal conceded per match.
Teams with the worst defences
in Europe’s top 7 leagues – Goals conceded per match
Data Source: Flashscore
The picture at the opposite end is dramatically different. Union Berlin have conceded 17 goals in only 4 matches, an average of 4.25 per game, while Borussia Mönchengladbach have allowed 16 over the same period and average exactly 4. Utrecht have the highest total, with 24 conceded in 7 matches, while Hamburger stand at 3.25 per game and Racing Santander at exactly 3.00.
The Eredivisie is particularly heavily represented among the weakest defences. PEC Zwolle and Willem II have each conceded 20 goals in 7 matches, or 2.86 per game, while Cambuur have allowed 19 and average 2.71. Together with Utrecht at 3.43, that gives the league four teams conceding more than 2.70 goals per match. Sparta Rotterdam are also among the weaker records at 2.43.
The Bundesliga produces the sharpest contrast within a single competition. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have conceded only 2 goals each in 4 matches, while Union Berlin have allowed 17 and Borussia Mönchengladbach 16 over exactly the same number of games. Union are therefore conceding at 8.5 times the rate of Bayern and Dortmund, while Gladbach’s rate is eight times higher.
England shows another clear divide. Leeds United and Everton have conceded 3 goals in 5 matches, while Arsenal, Brentford and Liverpool have allowed 4. Chelsea have conceded 12 over the same five-game period, leaving them at 2.40 per match. That is four times the rate of Leeds and Everton and three times the rate of Arsenal, Brentford and Liverpool.
Serie A contains another substantial same-league gap. Cagliari have conceded only 2 goals in 5 matches, while Roma and Lazio have allowed 3 and AC Milan and Frosinone 4. Venezia, by comparison, have conceded 13 over the same five games and average 2.60, while Monza and Fiorentina are both at 2.40. Venezia are therefore conceding at 6.5 times Cagliari’s rate.
Liga Portugal provides an equally direct seven-match comparison. Porto have conceded only 3 goals and Santa Clara 4, while Casa Pia have allowed 16. Their averages stand at 0.43, 0.57 and 2.29 respectively, meaning Casa Pia are conceding more than five times as many goals per match as Porto.
Ligue 1 shows a similar separation over five games. Lyon have conceded only 2 goals, Monaco and Paris FC 3 and Lille 4, while Auxerre have allowed 12. Auxerre are therefore conceding six times as many goals per match as Lyon.
The clearest pattern is not simply that defensive records vary widely between leagues. Some of the largest differences appear between teams playing in the same competition over exactly the same number of matches. Germany ranges from Bayern and Dortmund at 0.50 to Union Berlin at 4.25, England from Leeds and Everton at 0.60 to Chelsea at 2.40, and Italy from Cagliari at 0.40 to Venezia at 2.60. Even this early in the season, those gaps are already substantial.