How the last five PL tables would look if the league was postponed at 29 games

Quick Reads
  • Planet Football
  • 14th March 2020

The upcoming Premier League fixtures have been postponed until April at the earliest due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Liverpool could be handed the league title if the 2019-20 season is abandoned as they are top of the table after 29 games.

We’ve looked at how every league table over the last five years would look if the season had been stopped at this stage.

2018-19

1. Manchester City – 71 points
2. Liverpool – 70
3. Tottenham – 61
4. Manchester United – 58
5. Arsenal – 57
6. Chelsea – 57
7. Wolves – 43
8. Watford – 43
9. West Ham – 39
10. Everton – 37
11. Leicester City – 35
12. Bournemouth – 34
13. Crystal Palace – 33
14. Brighton – 33
15. Newcastle United – 31
16. Burnley – 30
17. Southampton – 27
18. Cardiff City – 25
19. Fulham – 17
20. Huddersfield Town – 14

This time last season, Manchester City were one point clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League and that didn’t change over the last nine fixtures.

Manchester United’s great run of form under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saw them move into the top four after 29 games, but they won only two of their last nine fixtures and eventually finished sixth.

Just like the top two, the bottom three stayed exactly the same so Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield Town were all relegated at the end of the season.

2017-18

1. Manchester City – 78 points
2. Manchester United – 62
3. Liverpool – 60
4. Tottenham – 58
5. Chelsea – 53
6. Arsenal – 45
7. Burnley – 40
8. Leicester City – 37
9. Watford – 36
10. Brighton – 34
11. Everton – 34
12. Bournemouth – 33
13. Swansea – 30
14. West Ham United – 30
15. Huddersfield Town – 30
16. Newcastle United – 29
17. Southampton – 28
18. Crystal Palace – 27
19. Stoke City – 27
20. West Brom – 20

City were 16 points clear of United and had practically wrapped up the league title by this point in 2017-18 and they finished the season with 100 points.

United maintained their hold on second place while Tottenham overtook Liverpool in third as the Reds were preparing for a Champions League final against Real Madrid.

Stoke and West Brom weren’t able to turn things around at the bottom of the table but Palace ended the season in great form and Swansea took their place in the relegation zone.

2016-17

1. Chelsea – 69 points
2. Tottenham – 62
3. Manchester City – 58
4. Liverpool – 56
5. Arsenal – 54
6. Manchester United – 54
7. Everton – 50
8. West Brom – 43
9. Southampton – 37
10. Stoke City – 36
11. Watford – 34
12. Bournemouth – 33
13. West Ham – 33
14. Leicester City – 33
15. Burnley – 32
16. Crystal Palace– 31
17. Swansea City – 27
18. Hull City – 24
19. Middlesbrough – 23
20. Sunderland – 20

After 29 games in 2016-17, the Premier League table was starting to take shape with Chelsea seven points clear of second placed Tottenham.

City and Liverpool took up the remaining Champions League places while Hull, Middlesbrough and Sunderland were struggling at the bottom of the table.

It wouldn’t have made much difference if the league had been suspended at 29 games as the top seven and bottom three positions didn’t change over the final nine games.

2015-16

1. Leicester City – 60 points
2. Tottenham – 55
3. Arsenal – 52
4. Manchester City – 51
5. West Ham United – 49
6. Manchester United – 47
7. Liverpool – 44
8. Stoke City – 43
9. Southampton – 41
10. Chelsea – 40
11. West Brom – 39
12. Everton – 38
13. Watford – 37
14. Bournemouth – 35
15. Crystal Palace – 33
16. Swansea City – 33
17. Sunderland – 25
18. Norwich City – 24
19. Newcastle United – 24
20. Aston Villa – 16

At this point in 2015-16, people were starting to realise that Leicester City could actually go all the way and win the Premier League title.

The Foxes held their nerve over the final nine games to become champions as Tottenham had a poor end to the season and eventually finished third behind Arsenal.

Manchester City had to rely on goal difference as they came fourth ahead of Manchester United while Liverpool and Chelsea both finished outside of the top seven.

Villa only picked up one more point before the end of the season while Norwich and Newcastle would both join them in the Championship.

2014-15

1. Chelsea – 67 points
2. Manchester City– 58
3. Arsenal – 57
4. Manchester United – 56
5. Liverpool – 54
6. Southampton – 50
7. Tottenham – 50
8. Stoke City – 42
9. Swansea City– 40
10. West Ham – 39
11. Newcastle United – 35
12. Crystal Palace – 33
13. West Brom – 33
14. Everton – 31
15. Hull City – 28
16. Aston Villa – 28
17. Sunderland – 26
18. Burnley – 25
19. QPR – 22
20. Leicester City – 16

The top four places at the end of the 2014-15 season were exactly how they were after 29 games and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side won the league.

Leicester looked certain for relegation after picking up 16 points from 29 games, but they completed the great escape with seven wins in their last nine games.

Hull City took their place in the bottom three while QPR and Burnley couldn’t escape the drop.

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