Xabi Alonso has Bayer Leverkusen ranked as world's no.1 team

Xabi Alonso is currently coaching the world's best team, according to data. The Spaniard is the favourite to take over at Liverpool.

Football Critic currently ranks Bayer Leverkusen as the best team on the planet. The website scores the performance and form of clubs and players and ranks them accordingly.

You can get an idea of how they come to their conclusions here and it's pretty easy to understand. FC essentially scores teams out of 10 for a given game, depending on their dominance, their opponent, whether they were home or away, the weight of the competition, and their xG.

Then it assigns a 'fairness' rating to the game - did it play out as it should have, or was the result a fluke?

From there, teams are scored out of 100. Leverkusen currently boast a score of 99, making them the most in-form team in football right now.

It's easy to understand why. Alonso's team haven't lost all season and are now five points clear of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. Underlining how impressive that is, Bayern are considered to be the second-most in-form team.

Real Madrid are third on the list, with Manchester City fourth. Bayern, Real and City all have a score of 96. Next is Arsenal on 94, then Liverpool on 93. Essentially, the Reds' defeat to Arsenal has cost them here - they'd be right up there if not for that.

Rounding out the top 10 are Stuttgart (92), Inter (92), Girona (91) and Paris Saint-Germain (87).

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Alonso is the favourite to take over at Liverpool in the summer, with Jurgen Klopp stepping down at the end of the season. The rankings here demonstrate why.

Leverkusen, after all, are not a team you'd expect to see in the top 10, let alone topping the pile. What he's achieved there this season has been pretty ridiculous - and this is only his second year of senior management.

Alonso might just be something very special, then, and the timing couldn't be better for Liverpool. If he's eager to jump on board, the Reds will surely snap him up.