Does the Premier League table get you down? Try one of our five alternatives

A league table is a pretty helpful barometer of each team’s fortunes. That’s why we use it to decide where teams finish at the end of the season. However, league tables do not tell us the whole story. Arsenal are top in reality (just about), but they might not be in all of our alternative Premier League tables.

First half v second half

Football is most certainly a game of two halves. It may not come as much of a shock to learn the table changes quite drastically when looking at first-half or second-half results in isolation.

Some teams will be fitter or mentally stronger than others, and this may contribute to them being better in second halves. Similarly, others are more fired up in the first half and this can contribute to them running out of steam later.

A good place to start is with Manchester City. You might remember that, across their first six league games of 2026, they didn’t score a single goal in the second half of matches – they did score six first-half goals, however.

That is very much in keeping with their first-half superiority over the whole season. If we only considered results at half-time, City would be nine points clear of Arsenal at the summit. But if we look at second halves in isolation, they would drop to sixth, 13 points behind Arsenal.

But that’s not the starkest difference. Manchester United go from fourth in the first-half table to 13th in the second-half table; Aston Villa are 13th in the first, second in the second; West Ham slide all the way from 10th in the half-time table to 20th in the second-half standings (albeit with a game in hand on Wolves).

It would seem there is a slight correlation between teams who do well in the second half and those that are younger; the top 10 of the second-half table (26 years, 91 days) are, on average, 224 days younger (starting XIs only) than those in the bottom 10 (26 years, 315 days). This might not be enough to jump to conclusions, though.

There is also game state to consider. If a team is winning at half-time by at least two clear goals, they don’t need to ‘win’ the second half as well. For example, Manchester City led Fulham 3-0 at the break last week, which is how the game finishes, so they technically only drew the second half. With the three points already in the bag, the hosts did not need to bust a gut to score again.

Say goodbye to stoppage time

Premier League referees are adding more and more stoppage time at the end of matches. It’s no longer unusual to see eight, nine or even 10 minutes shown on the fourth official’s board around the 90th minute. But what if games ended on the 90-minute mark? Stoppage-time goals wouldn’t be a thing and that would impact certain clubs.

Leeds, for instance, would be five places better off in 10th if we removed all goals scored after the 90th minute. That’s because they have conceded nine in the league this season, more than anyone else. Everton and Fulham, however, would each drop three places if their stoppage-time goals were suddenly taken away from them.

Liverpool have had a problem with late concessions, but they have also scored a few, so they would only be two points better off if stoppage-time goals were removed. Still, that would be enough to put them fourth, trading places with Manchester United.

Out with set pieces

Set pieces are so trendy at the moment, but what if teams just didn’t bother with them? Admittedly, we are requiring you to really stretch your imagination here, but that’s the point of our alternative tables.

So, in this alternate universe, goals from set pieces and penalties aren’t a thing, and it probably won’t take you long to work out who would lose out the most in such a dimension.

Arsenal’s points total would decrease by eight without goals from set pieces and penalties. After all, 21 of their 52 goals in the league this term have come from set plays and spot-kicks.

Aston Villa would also be big losers, seeing their points total reduce by seven, while Everton and Sunderland would each miss out on six.

The biggest winners would be Burnley as they have only scored nine set-piece or penalty goals but have conceded 19. Other beneficiaries would be Brighton and Bournemouth, the latter of whom have let in more set-piece/penalty goals than any other team this term (20).

(Re)moving the goalposts

What if every shot that hit the post or crossbar actually went in? It’s a light-hearted hypothetical, so don’t take it too seriously. The point is to show how fine the margins are. After all, the width of a goalpost or crossbar is 12 centimetres, though the curvature of the goal frame means it’s slightly less in reality – as such, a team can feasibly miss out on a title, European place or safety by a matter of centimetres.

Of course, teams also benefit from having their own post/crossbar struck, it’s not just a one-way street. But it doesn’t happen in equal measure.

It stands to reason that the better teams might benefit more in our hypothetical woodwork table. Better teams generally have more shots and face fewer than the worst sides, so they’re more likely to hit the post/crossbar than their opponents.

But Arsenal would be among the biggest losers in a world without goalposts. Fulham would lose the most points (five), followed by Aston Villa (four), but then it’s Arsenal (three). That would see them drop down to third in the table because we also have to take into consideration the outputs of other teams. Manchester City would gain four points to go top, and Manchester United earn an extra 10 points to shoot up to second, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference.

United have hit the woodwork 18 times in the league this season, four more than any other team. Also, only Brentford (three) and Chelsea (six) have seen their own post/bar hit less often than United (seven).

What does it all mean, then? Well, we put it somewhere between everything and nothing. The actual Premier League table will continue to reign supreme, though these alternatives at least serve to remind us of the sport’s rollercoaster nature and that there is often more to it than meets the eye.

This is an article by Opta Analyst