Earlier this month on general chat, leedsarewe was complaining about real-world football:

Bundesliga, Liga Portugal, Eredivisie and most other leagues in Europe are just as bad as it's the same 2/3 teams every season

Soccerverse's Season 4 has gone the other way. After 22 of 38 gameweeks, these are the top two in the six top flights where the title is still open, with last season's finish in brackets:

• England — Liverpool (4th) 46, London Red (champions) 41
• Germany — Bayern (5th) 56, Dortmund (runners-up) 50
• Italy — Roma (4th) 41, Napoli (champions) 37
• France — Paris (champions) 42, Marseille (runners-up) 40
• Netherlands — Ajax (5th) 50, Feyenoord (runners-up) 46
• Portugal — Lisboa (3rd) 53, Porto (champions) 50

Every second-placed club finished first or second last season, and all six still have Continental League fixtures to play. Paris are the only leader with the same midweek load. Lisboa and Roma have nothing left but the league, and Liverpool, Bayern and Ajax have only a domestic cup. Spain is not a race: Barcelona, third last season, are 13 points clear.

In four of these six leagues the top two have already played each other twice. Those titles will be won or lost against the rest of the division.

France: two points, no meetings left

This is the tightest race. Paris (Janca) took four points out of six from Marseille, winning 3-1 at home and drawing 1-1 away. But they draw too often: nine times this season and four times in their last six games, with one win in that run (4-2 at Strasbourg on Wednesday). Marseille have drawn their last three. Their remaining opponents are almost equally hard, averaging 1.26 points per game for Paris and 1.24 for Marseille.

Two things separate them. The first is goal difference: Paris +26, Marseille +5. The second is Brest. They are level with Lorient on 37, beat Lorient 5-0 on Wednesday and have taken 22 of 30 points at home. They host Marseille on 14 November and Paris on 9 December. Marseille play at Lorient on the same night.

Portugal: Porto won the meetings, Lisboa win everything else

Porto beat Lisboa 2-1 away in July and drew 2-2 last Saturday. That July game is still Lisboa's only league defeat. Lisboa (SAIKARU) are unbeaten in 20, have taken 22 points from their last eight games and have scored 72 goals in 22 matches. Their goal difference is +56; Porto's is +24. Lisboa have played only league football since they went out of the cup on penalties at Setúbal on 3 August. Just two of their 16 remaining opponents are in the top six: Benfica at home on 25 November and Faro away on 16 December.

Porto (SoccerversePortugal) won the title with 93 points last season, but they have 11 points from their last six games. They also lost 4-1 at home to Dortmund in Europe on 12 October, and they play at Benfica in the cup on 2 November. Benfica are ten points back, unbeaten in 18 and have already beaten Porto. Their trip to Lisboa is the fixture most likely to change this race.

Netherlands: Ajax have already done the hard part

Ajax (Huggo) took 10 of 12 points from their two rivals: 4-1 and 1-1 against Feyenoord, 2-1 and 3-0 against Eindhoven. The top three do not meet again. Ajax are unbeaten in 16 but have drawn four of their last eight.

Feyenoord are unbeaten in nine, with 14 points from their last six. They have the easiest run-in of the three: their opponents average 1.21 points per game and only two are in the top six. They also have European games to play. Eindhoven won the title last season with 86 points. This season they lost all four games against Ajax and Feyenoord and have seven points from their last six.

Italy: Napoli fall away

When I last looked at Italy on 11 October, Napoli were top on goal difference. Since then they have lost at home to Milano Blue and away to Lazio. That is four points from their last six games and seven from their last eight. Roma now lead by four from three clubs on 37 (Napoli, Torino White and Milano Red), with Como on 36. On 17 October GreenFuryx posted on general chat: "Roma back in 3-points lead". The lead is now four.

Roma's record has an odd shape. They have 26 points from 12 away games but only 15 from ten at home, including home defeats of 3-0 and 5-0. Nine of their last 16 games are at home, among them Milano Red on 18 November, Torino White on 19 December and Napoli on the final day.

The chasers all have problems:

• Milano Red play Como, Torino White, Roma and Milano Blue in four straight gameweeks from 7 November.
• Torino White are unbeaten in six but still have five games against top-six sides.
• Como have 13 points from their last six and 25 of 30 at home, but only 11 of 36 away.

England: a final-day meeting

Liverpool (Biarritz) have won seven in a row and are unbeaten in 14, including a 1-0 win at London Red on 7 October. London Red (Sjow) have 15 points from their last six and the stronger squad on paper, with an average player rating of 89 to Liverpool's 86. Their remaining opponents are almost equally hard, averaging 1.33 points per game for Liverpool and 1.31 for London Red.

Both still play Manchester Red, who have beaten each of them, and Aston Villa, who drew 0-0 with each. Then Liverpool host London Red on 23 December.

As a Londoner and an Arsenal supporter, I would like to believe that will be a decider. The evidence says otherwise. Liverpool have a five-point lead, a better away record (25 of 36 points) than home record (21 of 30), and no European nights. They should arrive on the final day with room to spare.

Germany: fifteen in a row

Bayern (DerKaiser) have won 15 league games in a row since losing 3-1 at Mönchengladbach on 15 August. The run includes 1-0 wins over Dortmund home and away, and Wednesday's 1-0 win over Stuttgart, who beat them 6-0 in July. At their season rate, Bayern will finish on about 97 points.

Dortmund play at Hoffenheim on Saturday, then at Frankfurt and Leverkusen in consecutive gameweeks in late November. Frankfurt are unbeaten in 11 and are the only contender who still play both of the other two.

Momentum: points from the last six league games

• Bayern, Liverpool — 18
• Lisboa — 16
• London Red — 15
• Feyenoord, Benfica — 14
• Dortmund, Como — 13
• Ajax, Torino White — 12
• Porto, Brest — 11
• Marseille, Roma — 9
• Paris, Eindhoven — 7
• Napoli — 4

The verdict

1. Germany: Bayern. The safest call in Europe.
2. Portugal: Lisboa. Porto won the meetings; Lisboa will win the league.
3. England: Liverpool, with the title settled before the final day.
4. Netherlands: Ajax. They have already beaten both rivals, and Feyenoord would need to keep winning with European games on their schedule.
5. France: Paris, narrowly. If the points end level, a 21-goal lead on goal difference should decide it. Brest will have more say than anyone.
6. Italy: Roma. This is my least confident pick, because of their home form, and both of their last two games are at home.

If I am right, Paris will be the only one of last season's seven top-flight champions to keep their title.