There is a sense that this season’s edition of the Premier League has been the most competitive for some time. The relegation battle not being decided until the final day and the battle for European places going to wire, both serving as neat subplots to an enthralling title race.
But how do you actually measure how competitive a league has actually been? Is it the number of points the champions collected or is it the margin between Arsenal and runners-up Manchester City that is used as the metric to try and prove or disprove this theory.
Then again, it could be a more holistic approach and this is where a look at how each of the 20 teams in the division has performed. Not analysis in isolation, but instead by banding the table into three separate groups:
The Top Six The Middle Eight The Bottom Six
From there, we can track how points are distributed across the entire league rather than how they are collected by the teams at the very top. This gives us a clearer view of whether dominance is increasing or whether the league is actually flattening out over time.
Ultimately, this is not about who wins the league each season; it is how the total of 1,140 available points are shared across each season and with that in mind, here is the full breakdown of every Premier League season since 1995/96 (the beginning of the 20-team era)
Season | Top 6 | Midtable | Bottom 6 | Sum | Top 6 % | Midtable % | Bottom 6 % |
1995/96 | 418 | 408 | 216 | 1042 | 40.12% | 39.16% | 20.73% |
1996/97 | 399 | 382 | 237 | 1018 | 39.19% | 37.52% | 23.28% |
1997/98 | 400 | 409 | 236 | 1045 | 38.28% | 39.14% | 22.58% |
1998/99 | 411 | 388 | 226 | 1025 | 40.10% | 37.85% | 22.05% |
1999/00 | 423 | 419 | 206 | 1048 | 40.36% | 39.98% | 19.66% |
2000/01 | 414 | 405 | 220 | 1039 | 39.85% | 38.98% | 21.17% |
2001/02 | 445 | 377 | 217 | 1039 | 42.83% | 36.28% | 20.89% |
2002/03 | 421 | 406 | 223 | 1050 | 40.10% | 38.67% | 21.24% |
2003/04 | 416 | 393 | 223 | 1032 | 40.31% | 38.08% | 21.61% |
2004/05 | 432 | 385 | 213 | 1030 | 41.94% | 37.38% | 20.68% |
2005/06 | 451 | 410 | 202 | 1063 | 42.43% | 38.57% | 19.00% |
2006/07 | 426 | 398 | 218 | 1042 | 40.88% | 38.20% | 20.92% |
2007/08 | 456 | 390 | 194 | 1040 | 43.85% | 37.50% | 18.65% |
2008/09 | 456 | 377 | 210 | 1043 | 43.72% | 36.15% | 20.13% |
2009/10 | 447 | 400 | 188 | 1035 | 43.19% | 38.65% | 18.16% |
2010/11 | 410 | 383 | 236 | 1029 | 39.84% | 37.22% | 22.93% |
2011/12 | 446 | 391 | 210 | 1047 | 42.60% | 37.34% | 20.06% |
2012/13 | 450 | 372 | 210 | 1032 | 43.60% | 36.05% | 20.35% |
2013/14 | 472 | 384 | 206 | 1062 | 44.44% | 36.16% | 19.40% |
2014/15 | 437 | 397 | 213 | 1047 | 41.74% | 37.92% | 20.34% |
2015/16 | 417 | 405 | 211 | 1033 | 40.37% | 39.21% | 20.43% |
2016/17 | 477 | 372 | 207 | 1056 | 45.17% | 35.23% | 19.60% |
2017/18 | 466 | 365 | 210 | 1041 | 44.76% | 35.06% | 20.17% |
2018/19 | 474 | 404 | 191 | 1069 | 44.34% | 37.79% | 17.87% |
2019/20 | 433 | 411 | 204 | 1048 | 41.32% | 39.22% | 19.47% |
2020/21 | 427 | 430 | 200 | 1057 | 40.40% | 40.68% | 18.92% |
2021/22 | 457 | 398 | 197 | 1052 | 43.44% | 37.83% | 18.73% |
2022/23 | 448 | 402 | 203 | 1053 | 42.55% | 38.18% | 19.28% |
2023/24 | 459 | 410 | 177 | 1046 | 43.88% | 39.20% | 16.92% |
2024/25 | 430 | 436 | 181 | 1047 | 41.07% | 41.64% | 17.29% |
2025/26 | 416 | 409 | 211 | 1036 | 40.15% | 39.48% | 20.37% |
Before we look at this data in greater detail, there is a key point of reference and this is the 1,140 points that are on offer across the course of the season. This number may be up for grabs, but it would take an incredibly rare scenario for them to be collected in full.
With 380 Premier League games played each season (since the start of the 1995/96 campaign), a loser in each of them would mean the 1,140 points have been distributed to winning teams only. However, with draws also being permitted, this is where the total number starts to erode.
Therefore, the further away the total points won per season drifts away from 1,140, the first signal of competition throughout the division can be spotted. For example, if we take the 2025/256 season, we can see that a total of 1,036 points were collected – 104 short of the magic total.
That does not sound too far away from the figure, but when you compare it to the most recent previous seasons it is the furthest away from 1,140 since the 2015/16 season where 1,033 points were mopped up collectively.
This suggests that there were more draws this season than in any other campaign in the past decade and if you look at the 2018/19 season, the total points of 1,069 were; only 71 away from the absolute maximum – confirming that drawn games were at a real premium.
Then again, points collected will only offer one angle of insight and to get a better idea of how competitive this season has been, we need to look at it from the perspective of the three bands mentioned earlier.
If we drill down to the 2025/26 season, just over 40% of the points were collected by the top six teams in the division. 40.15% to be exact and although that sounds like a large proportion, it is actually the smallest percentage share since the 2010/11 season.
That was the season where only 39.84% of the points were collected by the top six teams. From a total points perspective, only 1.029 were collected. 111 away from the absolute maximum and this will be because of a greater number of draws – which in turn leads to a wider points spread.
AT THE BOTTOM
Of course, it is not only the top six teams that need a lower percentage value to offer a sign of competitiveness, but also the two other bands and this is where the mid and bottom packs of this season’s Premier League have stood up to the plate.
Especially when you look at the teams fighting relegation and although Wolves and Burnley’s respective survival bids fell short before the final day, they still played a part in the bottom six collectively picking up the highest percentage split of points since the introduction of VAR.
The teams finishing between 15th and 20th this season collected 20.37% of the 1,036 points collected. We already know that this was more of a draw heavy campaign, we also know that the ‘weaker’ teams were not blown away either.
Compare that 20.37% to the two seasons prior and you will notice a marked difference. The 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons were known for being foregone conclusions when it came to the relegation battle, it also give the three teams above the drop zone little urgency to collect points themselves.
Just 16.92% of the points earned by teams 15th to 20th during the 2023/24 season, a figure rising to just 17.29% a season later when the same relegation woes were on show. Compare those figures to this and there’s a difference of 3.45% and 3.08%, respectively.
IN THE MIDDLE
At the same time, we should not overlook what happens in the middle of the Premier League table and this is arguably the most important factor of all. If we compare this season’s top six percentage of 40.15% to the middle belt of 39.48%, there is almost parity between the two.
We should not ignore the fact that there are two more teams in the middle belt, but for them to collectively pick up nearly as many points as the top bracket while there is also a higher proportion of bottom six points validates how strong the Premier League has been.
Compare that to last season and the middle belt of eight clubs actually picked up more points collectively than the top six but this can be explained by such a low percentage of bottom six – in essence, the middle is taking from the bottom.
WHAT IT ALL MEANS
For much of the last decade, Premier League competitiveness has often been defined by concentration at the top and fragmentation at the bottom. But the 2025/26 season doesn’t quite fit that model.
Now we are seeing something closer to equilibrium across all three bands. The top six are no longer as dominant as their peak consolidation years, the bottom six are no longer as structurally detached as they were in recent seasons and the middle is no longer being squeezed into irrelevance.
In simple terms, the points are spreading out more evenly across the division.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the league is better or worse, but it does mean it is structurally different. Less top-heavy, less bottom-heavy, and more evenly distributed across the entire 20-team ecosystem and that is where the idea of “tightness” becomes more complicated.
Because what we are really measuring here is not just competitiveness in terms of results, but competitiveness in terms of balance. On that metric, this season doesn’t stand out as chaotic or exceptional; instead, it stands out as compressed.
A league where the gaps between tiers have not disappeared but have narrowed enough to change how the season feels from top to bottom and that is what ultimately is driving the perception of a tighter Premier League.
