Celtic and Rangers have been named among world football's top passing teams.
Data from the CIES Football Observatory reveals which sides are a cut above the rest when it comes to attempting the most passes-per-game in domestic matches so far this season. Unsurprisingly, Premier League champions Manchester City lead the way with an mind boggling 755 per 90 minutes at a success rate of 90.8 per cent, followed by Japanese second-tier side Albirex Niigata.
The top 10 features plenty of the sides you'd expect - Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Ajax are all in the mix. Celtic just edge out Rangers, with the Glasgow rivals coming in at 12th and 13th, respectively. Interestingly, both clubs average 655 passes per 90 minutes but Ange Postecoglou's side are ranked one place higher thanks to their higher accuracy. There's not much in it, mind you.
The current Premiership champions have completed 87.4 per cent of their passes, with Rangers just behind on 87 per cent. CIES report 30.7 per cent of Celtic 's passes are played forward, compared to Rangers' 26.1 per cent. Celtic's forward pass percentage places them highest of all the clubs in the top 15.
Elsewhere, Hibs are the third Scottish club to appear on the list with their 463 attempted passes per-90 and 82.6 per cent success. That places them ahead of Hearts with their 449 attempted per-90 with 78.8 per cent success.
World football top 15 (Club, attempted passes per 90, percentage success)
1. Manchester City - 754 (90.8 per cent)
2. Albirex Niigata - 713 (89 per cent)
3. Benfica - 708 (88.1 per cent)
4. Paris Saint-Germain - 693 (91.3 per cent)
5. Maccabi Tel-Aviv - 682 (87.2 per cent)
6. Liverpool - 675 (85.6 per cent)
7. Bayern Munich - 671 (87.7 per cent)
8. Kaspiy FK - 663 (88.5 per cent)
9. Shakhtar Donetsk - 660 (87.6 per cent)
10. Ajax - 657 (88 per cent)
11. Silkeborg IF - 657 (88.2 per cent)
12. Celtic - 655 (87.4 per cent)
13. Rangers - 655 (87 per cent)
14. Al Nasr - 647 (86.7 per cent)
15. Dynamo Kyiv - 643 (86.8 per cent)
