Evolution of Premier League Competitiveness
April 26, 2026
Problem
Has the Premier League become less competitive over time? Which seasons stand out as unusually tight or unusually dominant, and has the era of 95+ point champions really left us?
Key Insights
- • The 10/11 season was one of the most competitive: only 41 points separated the champions from the relegation zone
- • Between 2017/18 and 2019/20, the league winner averaged over 95 points — an anomaly in the 20-year record
- • Since 2022/23, winner points totals have returned to the long-run average, suggesting the era of dominance has passed
Tech Stack
Data Source
Kaggle
Evolution of Premier League Competitiveness
Final league points since 05/06 until 24/25
Each dot represents a team's final points tally in a given season. The spread from rank 1 (dark green) to rank 20 (deep red) shows how compressed or stretched the table was each year. Club badges mark the champion for every season.
One of the most competitive seasons was the 10/11
The gap between the champions and the relegation zone was only 41 points
In 2010/11, Manchester United won the title with 80 points — far below the Manchester City's 100 points mark we'd later see. West Ham were relegated with 33 points, just 8 away from safety and 16 points difference with 8th place, Fulham. The entire table was bunched together in a way that made every game feel competitive. Zooming into that column reveals how few points separated survival from mid-table comfort.
The era of Man City and Liverpool dominance has left us
Between 17/18 and 19/20, champions won by over 95 points. We haven't seen anything like it since.
Isolating just the champions' points totals tells a clear story: the 2017–2020 window was not normal. Three consecutive seasons ended with the title winner above 95 points, peaking at 100 in 2017/18. The 18/19 season produced perhaps the greatest title race in league history — Man City edged Liverpool by a single point, 98 to 97. Since 2021, totals have reverted toward the 85–90 range that defined the '00s and early '10s.