★ Moneyball Original · Scouting
The 15 best players in Indonesia's Liga 1 this season, ranked by the numbers
By Moneyball Editorial · published · updated
Indonesian football is rarely given the kind of analysis the European leagues get every day. Player ratings there are mostly a matter of opinion: who the commentators like, who scored last weekend.
Moneyball follows Liga 1 with the same twelve methods it uses for the Premier League. Every player with at least 450 minutes is scored on what he does per 90 minutes, compared with every player in his position. The league is weaker than Europe's, and the score says so honestly, but the ranking inside the league is as fair as any.
How to read this, in plain words. The Moneyball Score is a number from 0 to 100. It asks one question: compared with every player in the same position, how much does this player do of the things his position is there to do, for every 90 minutes he plays? Around 50 is an average regular. Above 70 is a starter for a club in European competition. Above 85 is among the best in the world. Potential is where the score is expected to go as he ages, from the way players in his position usually develop. Moneyball Value is a fair transfer fee worked out from his score, age, position, league and minutes. A young player with few minutes is deliberately scored with caution: the model would rather be late than fooled.
The list
| # | Player | Age | Club | Position | Minutes | Score in his league | Moneyball Score (16 leagues) | Moneyball Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luquinhas | 29 | Persita | Winger | 604 | 99 | 11 | under €0.5M |
| 2 | Kadú | 31 | Borneo | Goalkeeper | 708 | 98 | 13 | under €0.5M |
| 3 | Rafael Ribeiro | 30 | Isenmulang Kalteng F.C. | Centre-back | 482 | 88 | 9 | under €0.5M |
| 4 | Kerim Memija | 30 | Persija | Wing-back | 601 | 88 | 8 | under €0.5M |
| 5 | Dion Markx | 21 | Persita | Centre-back | 589 | 87 | 8 | under €0.5M |
| 6 | Pedro Caracoci | 26 | PSS Sleman | Goalkeeper | 630 | 85 | 11 | under €0.5M |
| 7 | Marcelo Djaló | 33 | Persik Kediri | Centre-back | 720 | 82 | 8 | under €0.5M |
| 8 | Melvyn Lorenzen | 31 | PSS Sleman | Winger | 508 | 81 | 9 | under €0.5M |
| 9 | Vander | 28 | Java United F.C | Defensive midfielder | 540 | 81 | 10 | under €0.5M |
| 10 | Fahrul Aditia | 23 | PSM | Attacking midfielder | 501 | 81 | 8 | under €0.5M |
| 11 | Sergio Chica | 30 | Persijap | Centre-back | 738 | 80 | 8 | under €0.5M |
| 12 | Yaya Sogodogo | 23 | Persijap | Winger | 508 | 80 | 8 | under €0.5M |
| 13 | Jorge | 25 | Java United F.C | Goalkeeper | 630 | 80 | 11 | under €0.5M |
| 14 | Navarone Foor | 34 | PSM | Central midfielder | 469 | 80 | 10 | under €0.5M |
| 15 | Radovan Pankov | 31 | Persija | Centre-back | 723 | 79 | 8 | under €0.5M |
The rule: any age, playing in Indonesia's top division, with at least 450 minutes this season. Minutes are this season's. "Score in his league" ranks him against the players of his own league only; "Moneyball Score (16 leagues)" is the same season as a stronger league would read it. "Moneyball Value" is a fair fee, not a quoted price.
The top 8, one by one
1. Luquinhas (Persita)
Luquinhas, 29, plays as a winger for Persita in Liga 1 Indonesia. Strongest for his role in successful dribbles and key passes. Weakest in dispossessed. His score in his league is 99. This season: 2 goals and 4 assists in 604 minutes. Moneyball Value: under €0.5M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
2. Kadú (Borneo)
Kadú, 31, plays as a goalkeeper for Borneo in Liga 1 Indonesia. Strongest for his role in pass accuracy and goals prevented (team, est.). Weakest in clearances. His score in his league is 98. He has played 708 minutes this season. Moneyball Value: under €0.5M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
3. Rafael Ribeiro (Isenmulang Kalteng F.C.)
Rafael Ribeiro, 30, plays as a centre-back for Isenmulang Kalteng F.C. in Liga 1 Indonesia. Strongest for his role in dribbled past and pass accuracy. Weakest in long balls. His score in his league is 88. He has played 482 minutes this season. Moneyball Value: under €0.5M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
4. Kerim Memija (Persija)
Kerim Memija, 30, plays as a wing-back for Persija in Liga 1 Indonesia. Strongest for his role in dribbled past and successful dribbles. Weakest in duels won. His score in his league is 88. This season: 0 goals and 3 assists in 601 minutes. Moneyball Value: under €0.5M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
5. Dion Markx (Persita)
Dion Markx, 21, plays as a centre-back for Persita in Liga 1 Indonesia. Strongest for his role in dribbled past and pass accuracy. Weakest in fouls committed. His score in his league is 87. He has played 589 minutes this season. Moneyball Value: under €0.5M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
6. Pedro Caracoci (PSS Sleman)
Pedro Caracoci, 26, plays as a goalkeeper for PSS Sleman in Liga 1 Indonesia. Strongest for his role in pass accuracy and goals prevented (team, est.). Weakest in clearances. His score in his league is 85. He has played 630 minutes this season. Moneyball Value: under €0.5M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
7. Marcelo Djaló (Persik Kediri)
Marcelo Djaló, 33, plays as a centre-back for Persik Kediri in Liga 1 Indonesia. Strongest for his role in pass accuracy and dribbled past. Weakest in fouls committed. His score in his league is 82. He has played 720 minutes this season. Moneyball Value: under €0.5M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
8. Melvyn Lorenzen (PSS Sleman)
Melvyn Lorenzen, 31, plays as a winger for PSS Sleman in Liga 1 Indonesia. Strongest for his role in successful dribbles and fouls won. Weakest in dispossessed. His score in his league is 81. This season: 3 goals and 0 assists in 508 minutes. Moneyball Value: under €0.5M. His full report in Scouting Players Research.
What the list tells us
The list is ranked on each player's score inside Liga 1, against the players of his own league. Beside it is his Moneyball Score on the scale of all 16 leagues, which is much lower because it is adjusted for league strength. That is not disrespect: it is what lets a scout compare a midfielder in Indonesia with one in Belgium on the same scale. For local players in particular, the percentile lines in Scouting Players Research show what a move abroad would demand.
Persita have 2 names on the list, Persija have 2. More than one name from the same club is rarely a coincidence: it usually means a coach who gives minutes and a recruitment team that knows what it is looking for. By position, the most common is centre-back (5 of 15).
The youngest name is Dion Markx, 21.
A warning that belongs on every list like this one. A score is a summary of what a player has done, not a promise of what he will do. Injuries, a change of coach, a move to a stronger league and plain luck all move careers in ways no number sees coming. Use the list the way a scout would: as the place to start watching, not the place to stop thinking.
How the list is made
Every player in the leagues Moneyball follows is scored the same way. His figures are divided by his minutes, adjusted for the strength of his league, pulled toward the average of his position when he has played little, blended with last season, and then ranked against the players in his own position. Nothing is typed in by hand, and nobody at Moneyball chooses who goes on the list. That is also why some names will surprise you: the model has never seen a highlight clip and does not know which clubs are famous.
- Per 90 minutes: every figure divided by minutes played, so a substitute and a starter can be compared fairly.
- League-strength adjustment: Moneyball Scout weighs a season in Ligue 1 at 0.90 of the same season in the Premier League (Serie A 0.95, La Liga 0.96, Bundesliga 0.94).
- Bayesian shrinkage: with few minutes a figure is pulled toward the average of his position, so three good matches are not mistaken for a great player.
- Last season at 70% weight: last season's figures are blended in, a little lighter than this season's.
- Percentiles within his position: a centre-back is ranked against centre-backs, a winger against wingers. The 90th percentile means better than 90 of every 100.
- Role templates: each position is judged on what it is there to do; a striker on chances and goals, a full-back on defending and crossing.
- Position familiarity: where else he could play, from where he has played.
- Win-rate impact: the points he adds to a club over a season, by replaying its matches with and without him through the Dixon-Coles model.
- Expected goals (xG): the quality of every chance, so a team is judged on what it created and allowed, not only on what went in.
- Expected points: each match's xG run through a Dixon-Coles score matrix (the Poisson model with the low-score correction the Match Board uses) to give the points a performance usually earns.
- Age curve: how players of his position usually develop year by year, used for his potential.
- Moneyball Value: a fair fee from his score, age, position, league and minutes.
Analysis by Moneyball Editorial. The list is worked out from the Sportmonks data at each update; names move up and down as the season goes on. Moneyball Value is an estimate, not a quoted price.
Open Scouting Players Research Luquinhas in the Stats Centre
Questions
- Who is the best player in Liga 1 Indonesia in 2026/27?
- On Moneyball Score today it is Luquinhas of Persita (99 out of 100), ahead of Kadú and Rafael Ribeiro. The list is worked out again at every update.
- What is the Moneyball Score?
- A number from 0 to 100 for how much a player does of what his position is there to do, per 90 minutes, against every player in the same position, adjusted for the strength of his league and for how many minutes he has played.
- Why is a well-known name missing from the list?
- The list only reads players with 450 minutes or more this season who fit the rule in the title. A player who is injured, outside the age limit or short of minutes is not on it.