The 2025/26 Premier League season is upon us and the top 20 clubs in the country are about to begin their quest to be crowned champions of England. But how many points must they set their sights on if they are to win the title?
Last year, Liverpool were triumphant, ending the campaign with a table-topping total of 84 points. However, their form dipped after their title glory was confirmed in late April, picking up only two points from a possible 12.
In fact, 84 was one of the lowest winning points totals in recent times, with only Leicester City (81) in 2015/16, and Manchester United (80) in 2010/11 finishing top with fewer points over the past two decades.
The average points won by champions across the 32-year Premier League era (including the first three seasons when clubs played 42 matches rather than their current 38) is 87.7. However, in the nine seasons that Pep Guardiola has been at the Manchester City helm, that average stands at 92.6, suggesting the cream of the crop are improving.
Highest points tallies in PL history
| Club | Season | Pts | Position |
| Man City | 2017/18 | 100 | 1st |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 2019/20 | 99 | 1st |
| Man City | 2018/19 | 98 | 1st |
| Liverpool | 2018/19 | 97 | 2nd |
| Chelsea | 2004/05 | 95 | 1st |
Man City have won the title in six of the last nine seasons including 2017/18, when they became the only Premier League side to hit the 100-point mark.
City and Liverpool – who claimed two of the three other available titles during that time – are far ahead of all other clubs for average season points totals in the Guardiola era.
Clubs' average final points totals 2016/17 to 2024/25
| Team | Points |
| Man City | 87.4 |
|---|---|
| Liverpool | 82.3 |
| Arsenal | 71.2 |
| Chelsea | 68.7 |
| Man Utd | 65.7 |
| Spurs | 65.6 |
But final points totals tell only half the story. While Slot’s side finished the 2024/25 campaign with 84 points, they could actually have claimed top spot with 74 points, given Arsenal finished second with that tally and possessed an inferior goal difference.
No team has ever won the title with a points tally as low as 74 – the lowest totals came in three successive seasons when the title was won by Man Utd in 1996/97 (75), Arsenal in 1997/98 (78) and Man Utd in 1998/99 (79).
Over the course of Premier League history, dating back to the first season in 1992/93, the average points required to win the title – effectively, what was needed to beat the second-placed team – was 81.3.
Again, that has increased in the nine years since Guardiola took charge of Man City, with 84.2 points required to claim top spot during his reign.
The highest points tally for a team who did not win the title was the enormous 97 registered by runners-up Liverpool in 2018/19. That total would have crowned them champions in all bar three of the 33 Premier League seasons so far but they fell one point short of Man City's 98.
So, relative to what had come before, Liverpool had one of the easiest tasks in recent times to lift last season’s Premier League title. Time will tell whether a 2025/26 title challenge will prove more difficult.