There are 18 football teams in a league. Each team plays two matches against each of the other teams. Work out the total numbers of matches played.

“If there are X teams in a league and each team plays every other team twice, then the total number of games (N) to be played is given by N=x^2-x.”

Example: Three teams: A, B, C

Games: AB AC BA BC CA CB [note that AB and BA means that they played twice; 3*3-3=6]

Example: Four teams: A, B, C, D

Games: AB AC AD BA BC BD CA CB CD DA DB DC [4*4 – 4 = 12]

For 16 teams, 16*16 -16 = 16*(16-1) = 16*15 = 240