Actually a Sports Blog

Which team has the better defense?  Croatia v. Denmark Croatia: 10 Denmark: 6 Predicted Winner: Denmark (four fewer goals yielded) Slovakia v. Ukraine Slovakia: 10  Ukraine: 11  Predicted Winner: Slovakia (one fewer goal yielded) Ireland v. Israel Ireland: 10  Israel: 10 Iceland v. Czech Republic Iceland: 7 Czech Republic: 6 Predicted Winner: Czech Republic (one fewer goal yielded)  

Learning more from a loss then from a win Croatia v. Denmark Croatia: 2 Denmark: 1 Predicted Winner: Croatia (1 more loss) Croatia is also the predicted winner in goals scored and goal differential  Slovakia v. Ukraine Slovakia: 3 Ukraine: 1 Predicted Winner: Slovakia (2 more losses)   This is where things get interesting because Ukraine is the predicted winner in both goals scored and goal differential  Ireland v. Israel Ireland: 3 Israel: 3 Iceland v. Czech Republic   Iceland: 2 Czech Republic: 2

Playoffs will take place next month  Croatia v. Denmark Croatia: 25 Scored, 10 Yielded (+15) Denmark: 12 Scored, 6 Yielded (+6) Predicted Winner: Croatia (13 more goals and +9 in goal difference) Slovakia v. Ukraine Slovakia: 18 Scored, 10 Yielded (+8) Ukraine: 20 Scored, 11 Yielded (+9)  Predicted Winner: Ukraine (2 more goals and +1 in goal difference) Ireland v. Israel Ireland: 16 Scored, 10 Yielded (+6) Israel: 19 Scored, 10 Yielded (+9)  Predicted Winner: Israel (3 more goals and +3 in goal difference)   Iceland v. Czech Republic Iceland: 25 Scored, 7 Yielded (+18) Czech Republic: 23 Scored, 6 Yielded (+17) Predicted Winner: Iceland (2 more goals and +1 in goal difference)