Until a few days ago, Driblab had a single Score: a rating system that combines and weights several metrics into a single value to compare and rank players. Our original Score measures a player's performance from their event data, that is, our Driblab XY data.
Now, two new Scores join that eventing-data Score, both focused on a player's physical performance.
We need two because defining what makes a footballer's physical performance optimal has many angles, and raises a question a single Score cannot answer: is it about running very fast, or about covering a lot of ground? Do we value sustained speed more, or occasional bursts of high intensity?
To address this, and with the aim of adding precision and clarity, we have created two dedicated rankings, each built from metrics weighted according to their importance:
- Endurance Score: an enduring player is one who can cover a lot of ground at a sustained pace while also adding occasional high-intensity actions.
In our Endurance Score, the metrics that carry the most weight are total distance covered, running distance (medium-to-high pace) and the number of runs a player makes.
- Speed & Power Score: this ranking measures a player's ability to reach high peaks of speed and to repeat maximum-intensity efforts, as well as their ability to accelerate explosively and often.
Here the most influential metrics are, among others, top speed reached, the number of sprints and the most explosive accelerations.
Both Scores run on a scale from 0 to 100. It is an absolute rating that cuts across positions: it measures physical performance in the same terms for a centre-back, a midfielder or a forward, which makes them directly comparable.
Alongside that rating, each player also has an internal percentile by league and position that places them against their direct peers. A player who physically dominates everyone in their position and competition will approach the 100th percentile. In short, the Score answers how good a player is physically, and the percentile answers how good they are compared with those who play in the same role and league.
These two new Scores have been added to every player's individual profile in DriblabPro.
Their visual design lets us identify two things at a glance: the score a player receives and, through the percentile, how they compare with others in their position in the same league.
In the case of Matías Fernández-Pardo, we can see that his Speed & Power Score (shown with a lightning-bolt icon) is 80.3, placing him in the 98th percentile among Ligue 1 forwards. He is the second-highest-scoring forward for Speed & Power.
He also fares well for Endurance (the battery icon): with a score of 68.7, he ranks 18th of the 60 forwards with more than 450 minutes in Ligue 1.
We have looked at one player's individual profile. Now let us look at the best in a given competition. Take the Premier League, a league full of high-intensity actions, and check which centre-backs score highest in our Speed & Power Score.
Note: we have applied a filter of players with at least 8 matches of more than 60 minutes each to build the most reliable possible sample. However, our Score assigns a rating to any player with more than 450 minutes played.
Khusanov was the player Guardiola turned to in January 2025 to revitalise City's back line, and above all to add a dose of speed it lacked. Our Speed & Power Score could have explained that signing on its own.
The Uzbek was not, and still is not, the most complete centre-back. He makes reading errors in defensive situations, he is not especially secure on the ball and he shows the lapses of a young player, but in emergency situations, covering across open space and chasing runners in behind the defensive line, he is already one of the best in the world.
On top of this, he also ranks above 75% of Premier League centre-backs in the Endurance Score. Even so, he clearly stands out far more in the highest-intensity actions and in those measuring top speed. He is the centre-back with the highest average top speed in the league.
We have compared several players in the same position and the same league. Now we will look for the forward with the best Endurance Score across every club in the big five leagues: possibly a forward who can press frequently, who covers ground to offer passing options and who stays constantly active, perhaps without the explosiveness of a more aggressive type of forward.
Coincidence or not, the two forwards at the top of this list both suffered long-term injuries in the closing stretch of the season. They are, however, two different cases.
Hollerbach is a forward who does fit the profile described above: one who harries opponents heavily, puts in pressing efforts and stays consistently active, above all in defensive work. The German is the 9th-highest forward in the Bundesliga for pressures attempted on the ball carrier.
Panichelli, by contrast, racks up a high Endurance Score because he too is a very active forward, but above all in his attacking movement.
He has to compensate for his lack of top-end pace with relentless movement. He is a forward who will try to break in behind the defence far more often than others whose pace would give them a greater advantage.
As a final exercise, we will look at the forward profiles in the Premier League, home to the best-known players and where our examples become clearest, by combining our two Scores.
This chart shows which forwards are above average in each of our Scores, and which are above average in both.
That is the case for Ismaïla Sarr, one of the players who has come on the most in recent seasons. He is the second-best forward in the league for our Endurance Score and the top forward for our Speed & Power Score.
He is a forward capable of averaging 10.1 km per match (the second-highest figure among Premier League forwards) and 556.3 metres covered at sprint speed (the fifth-highest in the league).
A profile that blends the best of our two physical performance Scores, which are already live via DriblabPro and our API.
