Arent Asso matches just straight knockouts? so who is stronger between 2nd and 3rd is beside the point for placings.Its all about the semi final matchups. If the engine that decides who plays who seperates the different Assos by strength (star rating) which it should be doing roughly and if you have matchups A v b and C v d where capital depicts stronger team then the process logic would be A beats b ,C beats d so finals are A v B ,c v d which is strong to weak. However this is not always the case when the engine only has depleted resources to search such as toward the end of a server search where it will just best match the remainder and maybe deliver uneven matchups,
Then there are the variables to add into the equation which influence the direct results of each matchup such as attendance , formations , team orders etc. For example teams A v b again ,at what point if any does a disparity in attendance which effects possession bonus in the favour of the weaker team b overwhelm team A causing either b to win or making the result much closer and therefore distorting the illusion of relative strength.
Using this logical trail the op surmise that result in points comparative to opponent determines strength then fails and is shown to hold no relative meaning. In short results against given opponent have little bearing or relationship to the relative variable strengths of a small pool of teams,