The Best Premier League Team Of All Time In Terms of Points Per Game (PPG)
Who is the best Premier League team of all time? A question that has been asked for more than a quarter century and although there is no one definitive answer, there is perhaps another way to frame the debate.
When supporters put forward the likes of Arsenal in the 2003/04 season and their ability to go a whole campaign unbeaten or Manchester City’s centurion effort of 2017/18, there is often to and fro as to which outfit comes out on top.
While of course, it would be unfair to leave out Liverpool’s herculean efforts last time out and any of Manchester United’s dominant championship winning showings under the legendary stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Add a Jose Mourinho led Chelsea into the mix and you can already see the argument is being contested by all manner of parties, as each of these five elite clubs can lay claim to the moniker of best ever.
With that said, these are just individual seasons in isolation and trying to compare one to another is something of a fruitless task – a task which ultimately heralds no overall winner, as the debate just rages on further.
Debate that we can thankfully solve once for all and to do so, we are going to use data and lots of it. By looking at every Premier League result, from the competition’s inception in 1992 to the end of the 2019/20 season, our analysis will finally provide the answer.
Working on a Points Per Game (PPG) method, we’ve tallied up every single point that has been earned and ranked each of the 49 clubs that have played in the English top flight since 1992 into an all-time Premier League table.
A table that sees the top 10 teams look like this:
|
Team |
PPG |
|
Manchester United |
2.08 |
|
Arsenal |
1.87 |
|
Chelsea |
1.86 |
|
Liverpool |
1.81 |
|
Manchester City |
1.64 |
|
Tottenham |
1.54 |
|
Leeds |
1.48 |
|
Blackburn |
1.39 |
|
Newcastle |
1.37 |
|
Everton |
1.37 |
Which means it is good news if you are a fan of the Red Devils, as although your beloved team may not have lifted an actual Premier League trophy since 2013 and the report suggest they will fall short again this season, you can at least celebrate at earning the highest average overall PPG in the competition.
The 13 Premier League titles that were won under Sir Alex Ferguson, have put the Manchester outfit in very good stead for this metric and by racking up an average of 2.08 PPG, it shows that the weight of history has served them incredibly well.
Arsenal’s own title winning success under Arsene Wenger has also given them a high standing when it comes to overall PPG and as one of six ever presents in the competition, they find themselves lying second in 1.87.
However, if we are to revisit this topic in September 2021, there is every chance that Chelsea could overtake them and with the West London outfit currently at 1.86, Frank Lampard could steer the Blues to the second rung of the overall ladder.
Liverpool and Tottenham comprise two more of the Premier League ever presents and they find themselves lying in fourth and sixth place respectively, as the two 2019 Champions League finalists have earned 1.81 and 1.54 PPG for their troubles.
They sandwich Manchester City, who offer up the first notable statistical quirk and that is the fact that they have played 190 less games (five full seasons) than their considered “big six” rivals but still have managed to accrue the fifth highest PPG of all.
This is testament to their recent title winning prowess, as they earned 198 points across two title winning seasons under Pep Guardiola and if they can keep that level of attainment up across the next couple of years, they may see further upward trajectory.
One other team to consider in all of this are Everton, as they are the sixth and final member of the ever presents club and although they are yet to be relegated from the competition, they only find themselves lying tenth in the all-time PPG table.
Their relatively consistency has either been equalled or bettered by the more boom or bust elements that took place at either Leeds, Blackburn and Newcastle and even though this trio have spent elements in the second tier, their Premier League points haul is still rather impressive.
One other component to take into account, is the average league finish for each of these clubs and when we compare the PPG table against this one, this is how it looks:
|
Team |
Avg Pos |
|
Manchester United |
2.32 |
|
Arsenal |
3.89 |
|
Chelsea |
4.68 |
|
Liverpool |
4.46 |
|
Manchester City |
8.00 |
|
Tottenham |
7.61 |
|
Leeds |
8.83 |
|
Blackburn |
10.00 |
|
Newcastle |
9.96 |
|
Everton |
10.21 |
As you can see the correlation between the two tables is pretty much the same, although Tottenham can lay claim to more consistency than Manchester City with an average league finish of 7.61 compared to 8.00.
However, City fans will be able to point at actual success as a far greater measure of where the two clubs are currently at and although they suffered relegations in both the 1995/96 and 2000/01 seasons, they have not looked back since their Abu Dhabi cash injection.
While Liverpool’s second and first places in the past two Premier League seasons have seen them record a better average league finish than rivals Chelsea and they subsequently see themselves ranked third by this metric.
Looking down the table, Newcastle have edged Blackburn in terms of average league finishes, and they have switched their previous eighth and ninth standings over, as Everton bring up the rear of the top 10 teams once again.
Ultimately though, credit once again must go to Manchester United and with them recording an average league finish of 2.32, it only further solidifies their claim as the best Premier League team of all time. Whether you agree with that statement or not, is totally up to you.